Vocalist.org archive



From:  Karen Mercedes <dalila@R...>
Date:  Tue Sep 12, 2000  6:15 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist-temporary] Finding English arias for lyric with agility


On Tue, 12 Sep 2000 Connie1195@a... wrote:

> Dear List:
> Can anyone help with either a list of Arias in English for lighter than lyric
> voices ..more lyric coloratura.
> I have come up with about 5. she is not a Baby Doe type.. nor is she old
> enough for Vanessa.
> ARe there lists of operas with lyric with agility arias. in English. Have
> suggested the arias from Ghosts of Versailles - don't know if it is in print;
> Britten - Helena's aria from Midsummer Night's Dream; tried to think of any
> other Carlisle Floyd pieces but i think they are more lyric. There is an
> opera by Argento which I cannot remember - the aria is the Woman with the
> Hat. help/


Instead of Helena's aria from A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, have you
considered Tytania's aria, "Be Kind and Courteous"? Tytania is a lyric
coloratura, whereas Helena is simply a lyric.

There's a delightful aria for lyric coloratura in Kirke Mechem's TARTUFFE.
It's called 'Fair Robin I love'. My friend did it at our joint recital in
June, and it was my favourite of her selections.


Rowena's aria, "O moon, art thou clad in silver mail" from Arthur
Sullivan's opera IVANHOE might also work for you.

Also look at "Where the bee sucks" - Ariel's aria from Thomas Arne's THE
TEMPEST. There are also numerous arias for Artaxerxes from Thomas Arne's
opera
of that name - most notably "The soldier tir'd of war's alarms"
(Artaxerxes was originally a male soprano role, now a pants role), and
also arias for Mandane and Semira from the same opera - all of
these should work for you. Other Arne arias that might work are "Lover's
Recantation"
from his THE WINTER'S AMUSEMENT, "Rise Glory, Rise" from his
ROSEMOND, "Brightest Lady, thrice upon thy finger's tip" and "By the
rushy-fringed bank", "Fame's an echo", and "Not on beds of fading flow'rs"
from COMUS, "O come, o come my dearest" from THE FALL OF PHAETON.

Another composer from that period, John Frederick Lampe, wrote some operas
with arias that might work for you: "Pretty Warblers" from his DIONE, and
"Welcome Mars" from his BRITANNIA, for example.

"Oft she visits this lov'd mountain" from Purcell's DIDO AND AENEAS would
be ideal for you, as would Belinda's aria "Pursue thy conquest, love".
From his THE FAIRY QUEEN, try "Hark! the echoing air". And
Purcell's opera THE INDIAN QUEEN has a great aria for light lyric
coloratura, "I attempt from Love's sickness to fly". And, of course,
"Music for a while" from his OEDIPUS.

Other 18th Century English opera composers to consider are Charles Dibdin,
William Shield, and Michael Arne. You will find appropriate arias/songs in
any of their operas. And don't overlook Pepusch/Gay THE BEGGAR'S OPERA.

Another composer to look into is Henry Bishop - notably, his "Lo, hear the
gentle lark"
from his A COMEDY OF ERRORS or "Home, Sweet Home" (with all
the embellishments) from his CLARI.

"O Sleep, why dost thou leave me?" from Handel's SEMELE is another good
choice.

"Oh what full delight" and "I dreamt I dwelt in Marble Halls" from Balfe's
THE BOHEMIAN GIRL would also be good candidates.

Ariel's various arias from Hoiby's THE TEMPEST could also work for you.

Very challenging musically, but just what you need vocally is Andromache's
aria from Michael Tippett's KING PRIAM, "Yes, Prince Hector will want his
bath...Do I deceive myself?"

It's also not uncommon for sopranos to sing Adele's arias from J.
Strauss's DIE FLEDERMAUS
in English. "Mein Herr Marquis" would be great
fun for your soprano, I'm sure. Similarly, Gretel's aria from HANSEL AND
GRETEL
, another opera that is often performed in English.

Etain's arias from Rutland Boughton's THE IMMORTAL HOUR might also work
for you ("Fair is the moonlight", "I will go back to the country of the
young", "I have heard, I have dream'd...I am a bird").

Victor Herbert's opera NATOMA has a coloratura standard, "I list the trill
of golden throat".

And she must ,of course, play with "Glitter and be gay" from CANDIDE.


> And further is there a way to create a database of arias possible by voice
> type?? does anyone know of a list like this. ?? Thanks so much.


Not really a database, but I've done a collection of repertoire
suggestions, organised by _fach_ and musical genre. If you go to my main
home page, there's a link to VOCAL REPERTOIRE SUGGESTIONS under the
"Operas, Musicals, and Their Sources" heading. My URL is:

http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html


There is also Robbie Glaubitz's Aria Database, which is searchable, but
which doesn't differentiate very often beyond indicating "lyric" or
"dramatic". Still, it's a fantastic resource, and can be found at:

http://www.aria-database.com/

Karen Mercedes
-----
Ich sage euch: man muss noch Chaos in sich haben,
um einen tanzenden Stern gebaeren zu koennen.
- Friedrich Nietzsche, ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA

My NEIL SHICOFF Website:
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/shicoff/shicoff.html

My Website:
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html


emusic.com