What type of soprano was Emma Matthews famous for?
Lyric soprano 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.
Spinto soprano A spinto soprano (also lirico-spinto, spinto lyric soprano or "pushed lyric") is a type of operatic soprano voice that has the limpidity and easy high notes of a lyric soprano, yet can be "pushed" on to achieve dramatic climaxes without strain. This type of voice may possess a somewhat darker timbre, too, than the average lyric soprano. It generally uses "squillo" to "slice" through the sound of a full orchestra, rather than singing over the orchestra like a true dramatic soprano.