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coloratura

/ˌkʌlərəˈtʊərə/
IPA guide

Other forms: coloraturas

Coloratura is a very fancy style of singing that includes lots of flourishes, trills, and high notes. In opera, a coloratura is a soprano who sings in this ornamental style.

In Italian, coloratura means "coloring," and in music, coloratura takes a basic song or tune and adds splashes of musical color to it. Opera sopranos are especially good at this, singing lines and adding sobbing sounds to make them more tragic or happy trills to make them sound flirtatious or funny. In baroque music, instruments are often required to use coloratura, elaborate flourishes that add something extra to the music.

Definitions of coloratura
  1. noun
    singing with florid ornamentation
    see moresee less
    type of:
    singing, vocalizing
    the act of singing vocal music
  2. noun
    a lyric soprano who specializes in coloratura vocal music
    synonyms: coloratura soprano
    see moresee less
    examples:
    Maria Meneghini Callas
    Greek coloratura soprano (born in the United States) known for her dramatic intensity in operatic roles (1923-1977)
    Helen Porter Mitchell
    Australian operatic soprano (1861-1931)
    Alice-Josephine Pons
    United States coloratura soprano (born in France) (1904-1976)
    type of:
    soprano
    a female singer
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