>Hi everyone -
>
>After about 3 years of singing mostly art songs, I feel like I am
>ready to tackle some arias. Which 5 arias would you recommend a 29-
>year old lyric mezzo learn for auditions and such? I already
>have "Must the Winter...?"
"Va! laisse couler mes larmes" - Charlotte's aria from Massenet's WERTHER
is an aria that one of my coaches calls "the mezzo national anthem". An
ideal audition piece because of its length (only 2 pages), dramatic and
musical challenges.
"Non so piu cosa son" - Cherubino's aria from Mozart's LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.
"Voi lo sapete" is the other Cherubino aria, but this one I think is more
"showy". Good particularly if you are a "pants role" type. Other Mozart
options in Italian are Dorabella's two arias - "Smanie implacabili" and "E
amore un ladroncello"; however, the tessitura for Dorabella is rather high,
even for lyric mezzo, particularly on "E amore". Unfortunately, many of
Mozart's other good mezzo arias are rather too long for an audition (e.g.,
"Parto, parto" from LA CLEMENZA DI TITO, or Idamante's arias from
IDOMENEO). You might look at Marcellina's aria from LE NOZZE, "Il capro e
la capretta", which does have some coloratura and sits rather high, but is
nicely showy.
"Cruda sorte" - Isabella's aria from Rossini's L'ITALIANA IN ALGERI. A
coloratura showpiece for lyric mezzo/contralto. Shorter than "Una voce
poco fa" from IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA, so better for auditions. Another
option would be Angelina's aria "Nacqui all'affanno, al pianto" from
Rossini's LA CENERENTOLA.
These are not arias to do if coloratura is not your strong suit, however.
If you're not a great coloratura, you can still look at "Il vecchiotto
cerca moglie" - Berta's cute character piece from IL BARBIERE.
"Il segreto per esser felici" - Maffio Orsini's ballata from Donizetti's
LUCREZIA BORGIA. As you can imagine, a coloratura dazzler, particularly
good for a "pants role" mezzo. Somewhat lower tessitura than the Cherubino
arias.
"Ah, nos peines (Solo un pianto)" - Neris' aria from Cherubini's MEDEA. A
good, solid slow Bel Canto aria, another "pants role" (or more accurately,
"toga role") showpiece in Italian.
"Che puro ciel" and "Che faro senza Euridice" - both arias for Orfeo in
Gluck's ORFEO ED EURIDICE. I personally find Gluck arias very pretty but a
bore to sing, but I know lots of people disagree, and "Che faro" especially
is considered "meat and potatoes" lyric mezzo fare.
"Cor ingrato" from Handel's RINALDO. Actually, I think of all the arias in
RINALDO,"Cara sposa" is the most exquisite - but it's also nine minutes
long (with the da capo), so not a good audition choice. But this is
shorter, and also a good choice, particularly if you want something Baroque
in your audition package. Of course, the other Handel choice, "Ombra mai
fu" (aka Handel's Largo), from SERSE, is one of the "mezzo national
anthems", and wonderful for showing off long, sustained legato capabilities.
"Voce di donna" - for La Cieca in Ponchielli's LA GIOCONDA. A good
high-Romantic choice, if you're looking for something that isn't full of
coloratura fireworks. The only possible downside is that it is written for
contralto, so probably not a good choice if you're chest register isn't
strong.
"L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" - Carmen's Habanera from CARMEN. Very
popular, but not easy to sing well. "Pres des remparts de Seville" -
Carmen's Seguidille - is another good choice, and vocally somewhat easier.
"Nobles seigneurs, salut!" - Urbain's aria from Meyerbeer's LES HUGUENOTS.
Again, a bit high tessitura, but another good coloratura showpiece,
particularly for a "pants role" mezzo.
"Que fais-tu, blanche tourterelle?" - Stephano's aria from Gounod's ROMEO
ET JULIETTE - this one can be great fun to perform, for a "pants role"
mezzo. Lots of opportunity for teenage boy swaggering.
"Connais-tu le pays" - Mignon's aria from Thomas' MIGNON. I personally
find this a dead bore, but some people love it. Mignon also has a
delightful aria (or Styrienne), "Je connais un pauvre enfant", which is
fast and fun, with nifty coloratura turns in it, and a third aria, "Elle
est la! pres de lui" - both of which I think are more fun to sing than
"Connais-tu". The downside, as audition pieces, is that they are
relatively unknown, so you have to be sure you're dealing with auditors who
can appreciate a lesser-known aria well-sung.
"Thy hand, Belinda...When I am laid in earth" - Dido's aria from DIDO AND
AENEAS. This one is tricky, not so much vocally (does require some really
good sustained legato singing) as "fach"-wise. Dido is sung by anything
from dramatic sopranos and mezzos to Baroque specialist lyric mezzos.
Before using this in an audition, I'd want to have some idea of how the
auditors view the role of Dido. If they're "early music" purists, you'd be
okay doing this one. If, however, they grew up with Kirsten Flagstad's
recording of the aria, they're going to think you're way off base singing
this one.
German-language arias are always a problem for mezzos in general,
particularly lyric mezzos. As someone who detests Orlofsky's aria from DIE
FLEDERMAUS, I began looking for other options. I'm a dramatic mezzo, so of
course the obvious choices come from Wagner (ever try to find a Wagner aria
shorter than 10 minutes long?). But in my searches I did come across two
very charming arias from von Weber's OBERON, for the character Fatima, and
I'd highly recommend them to any lyric mezzos who are looking for good
German audition (or competition) arias.
If you get tired of using "Must the winter" from VANESSA as your
English-language or 20th Century aria, you could do worse than "What a
movie!" - Dinah's aria from Bernstein's TROUBLE IN TAHITI. Unlike "Must
the winter", which is lovely and melancholic (and short), Dinah's aria is
raucous and fun.
Need something in Russian? The nurse's Song of the Gnat (Kak komar drova
pubil) from Mussorgsky's BORIS GODUNOV is one option. There's also an aria
for Olga, in EUGENE ONEGIN, "Ja nye sposobna k grusti tomnoy", that I think
is delightful.
Both are actually contralto arias, however, so not best attempted unless
you've got a good chest register.
More than five, but "lyric mezzo" means different things to different
people, so I wanted to include some coloratura and non-coloratura options.
Karen Mercedes
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