Soubrette
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Soubrette is a term to describe a leggiero soprano in classical music. Earlier it was used in theater in the 19th century, and has more recently been used in popular music.
Soubrettes in theater
The term "soubrette" originated to name a sort of character in French comedy. It describes a comic female character who is young and girlish, constantly flirtatious, coquettish and gossipy, and usually a chambermaid.
The earliest examples are perhaps to be found in the works of Molière: The role of Dorine in Tartuffe certainly fits the description. A more famous example, though a hundred years later, is the role of Suzanne in Beaumarchais' Le Mariage de Figaro.
Soubrettes in opera
Opera, being a theatrical art form, has a number of typical soubrette roles. In opera, however, "soubrette" can refer not only to a comic role of the sort described above, but also to a particular type of singing voice. Soubrette roles in opera are performed usually by leggiero sopranos such as Kathleen Battle and Lily Pons.
Other well-known sopranos of this type are Graziella Sciutti, Lisa Otto, and more recently, Dawn Upshaw.
The soubrette voice type in opera might reasonably be described as a sort of lyric soprano distinguished by a notably light, youthful, even girlish timbre. It shares the brightness of timbre with the lyric coloratura soprano, but unlike the coloratura, the soubrette voice is also expected to have warmth in her middle voice. The soubrette is not expected to sing as elaborately as the coloratura, nor is she called upon to reach the heights of the soprano range as frequently. Soubrette vocal range, however, is the same as for any lyric soprano.
A typical soubrette role in opera is that of Susanna in Mozart's opera Le Nozze di Figaro to Da Ponte's libretto adaptation of Beaumarchais' play, (see above). The roles of Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Despina in Così fan tutte are also soubrette roles.
Soubrettes in popular music
As is typical for popular music voice types, the soubrette is much less sharply defined outside of classical singing. The term refers to a woman with a light, youthful voice, probably not capable of extensive coloratura, and a youthful personality.
Because of the use of amplification and pitch correction technology and because of the wider range of vocal techniques considered acceptable in popular music, it is very difficult to characterize a popular soubrette's typical vocal range. Because of this, the voice type should probably be characterized by timbre and not by range.
A typical soubrette in popular music is Britney Spears.
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