A
lyric soprano is a type of
operatic soprano voice that has a warm quality with a bright, full
timbre that can be heard over an orchestra. The lyric soprano voice generally has a higher
tessitura than a
soubrette and usually plays
ingenues and other sympathetic characters in opera. Lyric sopranos have a
range from approximately
middle C (
C4) to "high D" (D6). This is the most common female singing voice. There is a tendency to divide lyric sopranos into two groups, light and full.