On Tue, 27 Nov 2001 lolipastor@a... wrote:
> Melinda! This is my problem exactly!!!! Mezzos have no good German arias! > Sure, sure there's Orlovsky, but find me a mezzo who really likes to sing > that, and I'll find you another mezzo aria in German. hee hee.
Actually, this isn't really true. There are two delightful arias for lyric mezzo in Carl Maria von Weber's OBERON - both for Fatima - and another from the same opera, for Puck. There is also the aria for Frau Reich (Meg Page) in Nikolai's DIE LUSTIGEN WEIBER VON WINDSOR. And there's Nancy's hunting song, "Jaegerin, schlau im Sinn" from von Flotow's MARTHA - though I'm not sure if this can be done effectively without the chorus.
Also, look at Gaea's "Daphne, wir warten dein" from Strauss's DAPHNE, and Reinhild's "Bei den Menschen" from his DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN.
Dramatic mezzos and contraltos have their pick of Wagner - anything from the short but extremely potent Ortrud's curse (with its high B flats) from LOHENGRIN to the 11-minute long Waltraute aria from DIE WALKUERE. One I've fallen in love with is the Venus aria, "Geliebter komm", from the Paris version of TANNHAUESER, for which Wagner transposed the aria down (only slightly) for the mezzo-soprano who sang the role in Paris. It's the compser's transposition, so it's "kosher" (well...as kosher as one can be considering it's Wagner). Also Erda's "Weiche, Wotan" and "Wie alles war" from RHEINGOLD, Fricka's monologue from WALKUERE ("Wo in der Bergen"), Brangaene's "Einsam wachend", Adriano's long aria, "Gerechter Gott!" from RIENZI, etc.
There is also the wonderful witch's aria (Hurr hopp hopp hopp) from Humperdinck's HAENSEL UND GRETEL. There's also the mother's aria, "Wartet, hir ungezogenen Wichte!" from that opera.
There's also Frau Peachum's "Ballade von sexuellen Horigkeit" in Kurt Weill's DER DREIGROSCHENOPER, and Leokadja Begbick's songs in AUFSTIEG UND FALL DER STADT MAHAGONNY.
In addition to the Oktavian aria from ROSENKAVALIER ("Wie du warst!"), there is also, of course, the "Zwischenfach" aria for the Composer in Richard Strauss's ARIADNE AUF NAXOS ("Sein wir weider gut"). Or
More modern? How about Carolina von Kirchstetten's contralto aria from Henze's ELEGY FOR YOUNG LOVERS? Or the Graefin's aria from Berg's LULU?
More obscure? There's the princess' aria, "An allen Zweigen", in Thuille's LOBETANZ.
Karen Mercedes http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
--- Hillaire Belloc's flawed but insightful essay on Islam: http://www.ewtn.com/library/HOMELIBR/HERESY4.TXT
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