A soubrette is a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy".^[1]

Theatre[link]

In theatre, a soubrette is a comedy character who is vain and girlish, mischievous, lighthearted, coquettish and gossipy—often a chambermaid or confidante of the ingenue, she often displays a flirtatious or even sexually aggressive nature. The soubrette appeared in commedia dell'arte scenarios, often in the role of Columbina, where the actress would provide the details of her behavior and dialogue.^[2] From there, she moved to the works of Molière, which were influenced by commedia; the role of Dorine in Tartuffe (1664) fits the description. A famous example, though a hundred years later, is Suzanne in Beaumarchais' Le Mariage de Figaro (1784).^[3]

Opera[link]

In classical music and opera, the term soubrette refers to both a soprano voice type and a type of opera role. A soubrette voice is light with a bright, sweet timbre, a tessitura in the mid-range, and with no extensive coloratura.^[4] A soubrette's range extends approximately from middle C (C4) to "high C" (C6).^[5] The voice has a lighter vocal weight than other soprano voices with a brighter timbre. Many young singers start out as soubrettes but as they grow older and the voice matures more physically they may be reclassified as another voice type, usually either a light lyric soprano, a lyric coloratura soprano, or a coloratura mezzo-soprano. Rarely does a singer remain a soubrette throughout her entire career.^[6] The tessitura of the soubrette tends to lie a bit lower than the lyric soprano and spinto soprano.^[7]

The soubrette roles are typically found in comic operas or operettas and they usually portray good-looking, youthful girls who are flirtatious, saucy, and street-wise. Typically these roles are sung by younger singers and both sopranos and mezzo-sopranos are cast in them.^[8] Many soubrette roles have a considerable amount of spoken German dialogue, and therefore the soubrette singer must possess both an excellent comprehension of the German language and considerable acting skills. It is rare today to find true soubrettes singing in major opera houses as their voices are typically unable to carry over larger orchestras in larger halls. Often lyric, coloratura, and mezzo sopranos are cast in soubrette roles, especially in the early part of their singing careers. This does not mean that these singers are soubrette sopranos but it does mean they can play soubrette roles.^[8] The coloratura soprano has a higher range, can sing more dexterous vocal passages and has a somewhat brighter sound than the soubrette. The lyric soprano has a richer voice and higher range than the soubrette soprano. The mezzo-soprano can sing as high as a soubrette but with a darker timbre and heavier weight in the voice. Mezzos also have a much more extensive range in the lower register.^[9] In addition, the beautiful light voice of the soubrette is ideal for baroque music, early music and baroque opera, as well as many art songs. However, the soubrette soprano voice is limited even in this repertoire by its lack of coloratura skill and relatively limited range.^[8] Many operettas and musicals include soubrette characters, such as Valencienne in The Merry Widow^[10] and in Gilbert and Sullivan, the Jessie Bond mezzo-soprano roles such as Cousin Hebe (H.M.S. Pinafore) and Lady Angela (Patience).^[11] Another example is the character Ellie Mae Chipley, who sings "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" in Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat.^[12]

Sopranos who sing or sang soubrette roles[link]

Mezzo-sopranos who sang or sing soubrette roles[link]

• Agnes Baltsa
• Cecilia Bartoli
• Jane Berbié
• Christa Ludwig

[edit] Soubrette roles in opera and operettas^[13]

Soubrette actresses[link]

• Effie Germon

Listen and compare[link]

Here are five different voice types singing the same soubrette role, Susanna, in The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart.

• To hear soubrette Dawn Upshaw as Susanna click here

• To hear coloratura soprano Diana Damrau as Susanna click here

• To hear light lyric soprano Lucia Popp as Susanna click here

• To hear full lyric soprano Anna Netrebko as Susanna click here

• To hear mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli as Susanna click here

See also[link]

• Fach
• French maid
• List of important operas

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Boldrey, Richard (1994). Guide to Operatic Roles and Arias. Caldwell Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-877761-64-5. 
• Boldrey, Richard; Robert Caldwell, Werner Singer, Joan Wall and Roger Pines (1992). Singer's Edition (Light Lyric Soprano): Operatic Arias - Light Lyric Soprano. Caldwell Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-877761-02-7. 
• Boldrey, Richard; Robert Caldwell, Werner Singer, Joan Wall and Roger Pines (1992). Singer's Edition (Soubrette): Operatic Arias - Soubrette. Caldwell Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-877761-03-4. 
• Coffin, Berton (1960). Coloratura, Lyric and Dramatic Soprano, Vol. 1. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.. ISBN 978-0-8108-0188-2. 

External links[link]

• Collection of public domain scores (Indiana U)
• Smaller collection of public domain scores (Harvard)
• Collection of librettos and translations
• Collection of librettos (Karadar)
• Collection of librettos (Stanford)
• Aria database

Josef Strauss

Josef Strauss (German: Josef Strauß) (August 20, 1827 – July 22, 1870) was an Austrian composer.

He was born in Vienna, the son of Johann Strauss I and Maria Anna Streim, and brother of Johann Strauss II and Eduard Strauss. His father wanted him to choose a career in the Austrian Habsburg military. He studied music with Franz Dolleschal and learned to play the violin with Franz Anton Ries.

He received training as an engineer, and worked for the city of Vienna as an engineer and designer. He designed a horse-drawn revolving brush street-sweeping vehicle and published two textbooks on mathematical subjects.^[1] Strauss had talents as an artist, painter, poet, dramatist, singer, composer and inventor.^[2]

Family orchestra[link]

He joined the family orchestra, along with his brothers, Johann Strauss II and Eduard Strauss^[3] in the 1850s. His first published work was called "Die Ersten und Letzten" (The First and the Last). When Johann became seriously ill in 1853 Josef led the orchestra for a while. The waltz-loving Viennese were appreciative of his early compositions so he decided to continue in the family tradition of composing dance music. He was known as 'Pepi' by his family and close friends, and Johann once said of him: "Pepi is the more gifted of us two; I am merely the more popular..."^[1]

Family life[link]

Josef Strauss married Caroline Pruckmayer at the church of St. Johann Nepomuk in Vienna on 8 June 1857, and had one daughter, Karoline Anna, who was born in March 1858.

Music[link]

Josef Strauss wrote 283 opus numbers. He wrote many waltzes, including: Sphären-Klänge (Music of the Spheres), Delirien (Deliriums), Transaktionen (Transactions), Mein Lebenslauf ist Lieb' und Lust (My Character is Love and Joy), and Dorfschwalben aus Österreich (Village Swallows from Austria), polkas, most famously the Pizzicato Polka with his brother Johann, quadrilles, and other dance music. The waltz The Mysterious Powers of Magnetism (Dynamiden) with the use of minor keys showed a quality that distinguished his waltzes from those of his more popular elder brother.^[4] The polka-mazurka shows influence by Strauss, where he wrote many examples like Die Emancipierte and Die Libelle.

Death[link]

Josef Strauss was sickly most of his life. He suffered fainting spells and intense headaches.^[5] During a tour to Poland in 1870, he fell unconscious from the conductor's podium while conducting his 'Musical Potpourri'.^[1] It is not sure if he fainted and hit his head or simply became unconscious. His wife brought him back home to Vienna, to the Hirschenhaus, where on 22 July 1870 the engineer, designer, musician, and composer died. A final diagnosis only reported a decomposition of blood. There were rumors that he was beaten by drunken Russian soldiers after he allegedly refused to perform music for them one night. His cause of death was not determined as his widow forbade an autopsy. Originally buried in the St. Marx cemetery, Strauss was later exhumed and reburied in the Vienna Central Cemetery, alongside his mother Anna. His dance pieces might have surpassed that of his older brother, had he survived, as Johann was by then concentrating on writing music for operettas and other stage works.

Works of Josef Strauss[link]

• The works of Josef Strauss include:^[6]

• Die Ersten und Letzten ('The First and the Last') waltz op. 1 (1853)
• Die Ersten nach den Letzten ('The First after the Last') waltz op. 12 (1854)
• Die Guten, Alten Zeiten ('The Good Old Times') waltz op. 26 (1856)
• Perlen der Liebe ('Pearls of Love') concert-waltz op. 39 (1857)
• Moulinet ('Little Mill Pond') polka-mazurka op. 57 (1858)
• Sympathie ('Sympathy') polka-mazurka op. 73 (1859)
• Lustschwärmer ('Joy Seeker') waltz op. 91 (1860)
• Wiener Bonmots ('Viennese Bon-mots') waltz op. 108 (1861)
• Winterlust ('Winter Joy') polka op. 121 (1862)
• Auf Ferienreisen! ('On a Holiday!') polka op. 133 (1863)
• Die Schwätzerin ('The Gossip') polka-mazurka op. 144 (1863)
• Wiener Couplets ('Viennese Couplets') waltz op. 150 (1863)
• Dorfschwalben aus Österreich ('Village Swallows from Austria') waltz op. 164 (1864)
• Frauenherz ('A Woman's Heart') polka-mazurka op. 166 (1864)
• Sport-Polka op. 170 (1864)
• Geheimne Anziehungskräfte (Dynamiden) ('Mysterious Powers of Magnetism') waltz op. 173 (1865)
• Stiefmütterchen ('Pansies') polka-mazurka op. 183 (1865)
• Transaktionen ('Transactions') waltz op. 184 (1865)
• Die Marketenderin ('The Camp Follower') polka op. 202 (1866)
• Die Libelle ('The Dragonfly') polka-mazurka op. 204 (1866)
• Delirien ('Deliriums') waltz op. 212 (1867)
• Sphären-Klänge ('Music of the Spheres') op. 235 (1868)
• Eingesendet ('Letters to the Editor') polka op. 240 (1868)
• Plappermäulchen ('Chatterboxes') polka op. 245 (1868)
• Aquarellen ('Watercolours') waltz op. 258 (1869)
• Eislauf ('Ice-Skating') polka op. 261 (1869)
• Mein Lebenslauf Ist Lieb` Und Lust! ('My Character is Love and Joy') waltz op. 263 (1869)
• Die Tanzende Muse ('The Dancing Muse') polka-mazurka op. 266 (1869)
• Feuerfest! ('Fire-Proof!') polka op. 269 (1869).
• Ohne Sorgen! ('Without a Care!') polka op. 271 (1869)
• Nilfluthen ('Nile's Waters') waltz op. 275 (1870)
• Jokey ('Jockey') polka op. 278 (1870)
• Die Emancipierte ('The Emancipated Woman') polka-mazurka op. 282 (1870)

See also[link]

• The Strauss Family – TV Drama

References[link]

External links[link]

• Josef Strauss on the Johann Strauss Society of Great Britain
• Complete list of Josef Strauss's compositions
• Free scores by Josef Strauss at the International Music Score Library Project
• Josef Strauss; Find-a-Grave

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Josef Strauss