Some possiblities:
FROM OPERA:
Sous le dome epais, from Delibes' LAKME (a perennial favourite)
Belle nuit, o nuit d'amour (Barcarolle), from Offenbach's LES CONTES
D'HOFFMANN (another big hit)
Sull'aria, from Mozart's LE NOZZE DI FIGARO - technically for two
sopranos, but I've sung the Countess' part in this duet and I'm a
contralto. This is the glorious duet featured in the film THE SHAWSHANK
REDEMPTION
Schlem, halt fest!, from von Weber's DER FREISCHUETZ. If your mezzo can
handle a slightly high tessitura, she should have no problem with
Aennchen's line.
Abends will ich schlafen gehn (Evening Prayer), from Humperdinck's HAENSEL
UND GRETEL (another "greatest hit" duet)
Mesta ognor, from von Flotow's MARTA (can be done in Italian or German)
Ah, guarda sorella, from Mozart's COSI FAN TUTTE (not as attractive as
duet as the first few lines lead one to believe, but still popular)
Scuoti quella fronda, from Puccini's MADAMA BUTTERFLY (the glorious flower
duet that is yet another "greatest hit")
Caro, bella, from Handel's GIULIO CESARE
Vieni, appagia il tuo consorto, from Gluck's ORFEO ED EURIDICE (lovely
duet, should be done more often!)
FROM MUSICALS AND OPERETTAS:
A boy like that/I have a love, from Bernstein's WEST SIDE STORY
We'll gather lilacs, from Ivor Novello's PERCHANCE TO DREAM (an absolutely
stunning duet more often heard as a solo; if you can't find the music, let
me know - I have it)
Duet for Helene and Frederica from Oscar Straus's EIN WALZERTRAEUME
Clusters of Crocus/Come to my Garden, from Marsha Norman/Lucy Simon
musical THE SECRET GARDEN
By my side, from Stephen Schwartz's GODSPELL (nothing overtly religious
about this particular duet; rather a lovely sentiment about devoted
friendship when sung out of context)
O, foolish Fay, from Gilbert & Sullivan's IOLANTHE
I know him so well, from CHESS
In his eyes, from Wildhorn's JEKYLL AND HYDE
One Boy/What did I ever see in him?, from Strouse's BYE BYE BIRDIE
FROM OTHER SOURCES:
Handel wrote six concert duets in Italian for soprano and alto. Four
of these are rather long, but two of them do run under 5 minutes:
- Conservate, raddoppiate (HWV185)
- Sono liete, fortunate (HWV194)
There are also soprano/alto duets in Handel's "Eternal Source of Light
Divine" (Birthday Ode for Queen Anne); the first is a duet *without*
chorus.
Sound the Trumpet, from Purcell's Ode "Come Ye Sons of Art"
(Z323) - a wonderful celebratory duet - could be perfect for your event.
O solitude, my sweetest choice (Z406) by Purcell
[ NOTE: There are lots of other great duets for soprano and alto by
Purcell; these two just happen to be my very favourites. ]
Sing-Ueben, D.619, by Schubert - a vocalise duet for two sopranos
Le trebuchet, Op. 13, by Berlioz
Les cygnes, by Saint-Saens (not to be confused with Le Cygne in his
CARNIVAL DES ANIMAUX)
Laendlisches-Lied, by Schumann (for 2 sopranos), from Drei
Gedichte von Emanuel Geibel, Op. 29 #1; you may also find some goodies in
his Liederalbum fuer die Jugend, Op. 79; also his Drei zwistimmige Lieder
Op. 43
Tchaikovsky: the first 5 of this Six duets, Op. 46 - they're in
Russian, but can also be sung in German (and sometimes are) if Russian's
a problem
Mailied, from the Volkslied Op. 64 (#2) by von Weber
Max Reger's Drei Duette fuer Sopran und Alt, Op. 111a
Rossini: Aside from his opera duets, which tend to be very florid and
somewhat long, you might look at the two 2-soprano Italian duets (#9 and
#10) in his SOIREES MUSICALES
Mendelssohn wrote a number of two-part songs for soprano and alto (e.g.,
his Op. 63). I think his "Abschiedslied
der Zurvoegel" (Farewell Song of the Birds of Passage) might be
particularly appropriate for a retirement event.
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel's 3 Duets on texts by Goethe and 3 Duets on texts
by Heine (plus her one duet for Soprano and Alto, on a poem by Lamartine)
Brahms' Drei Duette fuer Sopran und Alt, Op. 20, his Vier Duette fuer
Sopran und Alt, Op. 61, his Gesangs-Duette Sopran und Alt, Op. 66, his
Balladen und Romanzen fuer 2 Singstimme und Klavier, Op. 75, and his
Romanzen und Lieder fuer eine oder zwei Singstimmen, Op. 84
There is a lovely arrangement for two voices of Faure's Pavane op. 50,
published by Edition Peters (arranger Roy Howat)
Dvorak's Moravian Duets, Op. 20, Op. 32, and Op. 38
Gounod's two-voice motet, "D'un coeur qui t'aime"; Also his 2 duets for
soprano, Op. 10
Liszt's "O Meer im Abendstrahl"
Loewe's Drei Gedichte von Goethe, Op. 104 (duets for 2 sopranos)
Britten wrote a few duets that might work:
- Two ballads for two voices and piano
- A cradle song: "Sleep Beauty Bright", for soprano & contralto and piano
Chausson's Two Duets, Op. 11
Las curratacas modestas, from Granados' TONADILLAS
INTENTIONAL EXCLUSIONS:
I feel the need to explain these as I can anticipate all sorts of people
jumping on me with "Why did you leave out 'Mira o Norma'?" or "Why no
Rossini 'Cat Duet'?" Well, here is my rationale for what I left out on
purpose:
I've left out things that are so obscure, unusual, or hard to find that
you're unlikely to be able to find the music. A few of the suggestions
may require tracking things down at a good music library, but none of the
above should be "impossible to find" or take a lot of searching.
With the exception of the Dvorak duets, I've excuded anything in languages
that may prove difficult for some singers (e.g., Russian, Czech, Danish,
Portuguese, Hebrew, etc.); as for the Dvorak, if they do want to sing
some of these delightful duets, I'd imagine it would be okay to do them
in English.
As I indicated with some of the Handel Italian duets, I've pretty much
left out any duets that run longer than 5-6 minutes. Thus no "Bermudas"
Op. 37 by Lee Hoiby or "Presentation of the Rose" from ROSENKAVALIER or
Hero/Ursula duet from Berlioz's BEATRICE ET BENEDICT.
I am presuming that sacred duets would be inappropriate for the
event, so I haven't included any.
I'm also not suggesting any comic duets because of the nature of your
audience. Comic duets really require the audience to pay attention - thus
no Rossini Cat Duet or Jealousy Duet from Weill's THREEPENNY OPERA, no
"We are Women" from CANDIDE, "Ohio" from WONDERFUL TOWN, "If momma was
married" from GYPSY, "Take him" from PAL JOEY, etc.
I'm not suggesting "Every day a little death" from Sondheim's A LITTLE
NIGHT MUSIC for obvious reasons.
Mira, o Norma, from Bellini's NORMA: I'll put it this way: if your singers
want to put the effort into preparing this fiendishly difficult duet, it
is quite lovely. But it is one of the most difficult to do in the
entire opera repertoire and they would be perfectly justified in NOT
wanting to put that much work into a piece for this particular event,
given the "transience" of the audience. (This is also the reason I've left
out "Ah, piu calde immagini" from SEMIRAMIDE and other bel canto duets
that require excellent coloratura technique, etc. - they're simply more
work than I suspect your singers wil want to undertake for this particular
program.)
I've also excluded things that can't be done reasonably well by "legit"
(classical) voices.
I recently sang at an event where the audience was "milling around" and
not really paying attention, and it is a *hellish* experience, because you
feel like you're singing into a void. For that reason, I'd suggest your
singers just go ahead and sing lots of nice, familiar and easy-to-learn
duets, and save the musical and vocal challenges for an event where the
audience will be more "captive".
By the way, for those seeking another excellent (but EXPENSIVE) repertoire
book for their collections, I recommend THE COMPREHENSIVE CATALOGUE OF
DUET LITERATURE FOR FEMALE VOICES by Marilyn STephanie Mercedes Newman and
Richard Lalli (published by Scarecrow Press) - it lists virtually every
chamber duet for female voices and keyboard composed from 1820-1995, and
is a must for the library of anyone who likes this kind of thing and
doesn't mind paying $75 for it ($71.25 at Walmart).
Karen Mercedes
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
______________________________________
I will sing with the spirit, and I
will sing with the understanding also.
1 Corinthians 14:15
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