Texas to California and…. The Aria Frequency List!

Transition from Houston to San Francisco. (View out the my hotel window at left.) It’s a good thing we’re not trying to combine travel with auditions today, because I’ve hit my first wall. An early morning, an uncomfortable flight, and accumulated mental fatigue.

The Short List

Did some work on the plane… Mostly trying to develop the “short list.” We started auditions with about 25 operas under consideration, and it’s gradually becoming clear which ones are probably not going to be viable for ’07. It’s time to separate the long list into its 3 components:

1) The Short List (casting is already looking promising)
2) The “A” List (no real strong casting markers yet, but no obvious liabilities)
3) The “B” List (still kicking, but problematic as regards specific voice types, duplication of idiom/style/voice types with something that’s already on the Short List).

If your audition has yet to occur, that doesn’t mean we’ve already decided anything. It’s a completely fluid process, and one that responds frequently to readjustment. Last year we cast two singers from among the final 10 we heard on the last day (out of 330 total). And one of those casting decisions entirely changed the repertoire we thought we were heading toward.

Anyway, the summer repertoire lists will have to wait a day or two. But in the meanwhile, today’s offering… The Aria Frequency List. It reports the number of times any given aria is listed among the 4 arias that singers submitted on their audition repertoire lists. It comprises only the arias submitted with the applications and doesn’t take into account changes that are submitted on the day of the audition. If I have any energy left when this is all done, I’ll do a similar report on the number of times each aria was offered as a first choice in audition.

Please forgive typos, any inconsistencies. I’m pretty compulsive but also pretty tired :) My intention was to stay on Eastern Standard Time during the whole trip and get to bed by 9pm, but there’s a very impassioned, very loud peace protest/rally going on outside my window. Ah, San Francisco.

Homework :(

And finally, a big “shout out” to the grad students at Manhattan School of Music. My friend and colleague Dona tells me that she has made nightly reading of this blog an assignment. I’ll try to keep you entertained!

SOPRANOS

A total of 162 sopranos: 44% of the total audition pool

The Big Winner
Ach ich fühl”s (30 times)

10-20
Ach ich liebte
Ain’t it a pretty night
Be kind and courteous
Come scoglio
Deh vieni
Durch Zärtlichkeit
Gold is a fine thing (Silver Aria)
Il est doux
Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante
Je veux vivre
No word from Tom / I go to him
Piangerò
Quando m\’en vo
Tornami a vagghegiar

3-5
Adieu notre petite table
Ah fors’è lui / Sempre libera
Ah je ris (Jewel Song)
Ah! fuggi il traditor
Ah! non credea / Ah non giunge
Amour ranime mon courage
Batti batti
Bel raggio
Caro nome
Chacun le sait
Chi il bel sogno di Doretta
Comme autrefois
D’Oreste d’Ajace
Da tempeste
Dearest Mama
Depuis le jour
Der Hölle Rache
Dich teure Halle
Dis-moi que je suis belle
Do not utter a word
Donde lieta uscì
Dove sono
Du gai soleil
Embroidery aria
Fire aria
Glitter and be gay
Gluck das mir verbliebt (Marietta’s Lied)
Have peace Jo
How beautiful it is
I want magic
Je marche / Obéissons (Gavotte)
Je suis encor
Klänge der Heimat (Czàrdàs)
Kommt ein schlanker Bursch’ gegangen
Mein Herr Marquis (Laughing song)
Mi tradì
Mir ist die Ehre (Presentation of the Rose)
Non mi dir
O luce di quest\’anima
O wär’ ich schon
O zittre nicht
Ou va la jeune Hindoue? (Bell song)
Porgi amor
Prendi per me
Quel guardo / So anch’io
Qui la voce
Regnava nel silenzio
Ruhe sanft
Sempre libera
Signore ascolta
Song to the Moon (Rusalka)
Steal me
Sul fil d\’un soffio
Trees on the mountain
Una donna a quindici anni
Una voce poco fa (soprano version)
Vissi d’arte
Willow song
Wo bin ich
Zeffiretti lusinghieri

Once or twice
A vos jeux
Addio del passato
Adele’s Audition aria
Ah! non m’hanno ingannata (Un giorno di regno)
Al dolce guidami
All that Gold
Always through the changing
Bester Jüngling
Bubbles, Beautiful Bubbles
But you do not know this man
Chanson du Rossignol
Che fiero momento
Chi possessore (Orlando)
Come in quest’ora
Come per me sereno
Couplets des regrets (Orphee aux Enfers)
Deh se piacer
Denaro! Nient’altro che denaro! (La rondine)
Denn wie mann sich bettet, so liegt man – Weill
Der kleine Sandmann bin ich
Di cor mio
Die Wiener Herrn
Du bist der Lenz
Einsam in trüben Tagen
Einst träumte / Trübe Augen
Elle a fui
En proie à la tristesse
Ernani involami
Es gibt ein Reich
Fair Robin
Goodbye World (Our Town)
I am the wife of Mao Tse Tung
I Can Smell the Sea Air
I do not judge you John
I’m full of happiness
In uomini
Injurious Hermia
Io son l’umile ancella
Je suis Titania
Je vais le voir / Il me revient fidele
Kate’s aria (Taming of the Shrew)
L’altra notte
Les oiseaux dans la charmille
Les serments (Hamlet)
lo son l’umile ancella
Love me big
Martern aller Arten
Meine Lippen sie kuessen so heiss
Mercé dilette amiche (Bolero)
Merci jeunes amies
Monica\’s Waltz
Morr ma prima in grazia
My Heart Leaps Up
My Man\’s Gone Now
Myself I shall adore
Neghittosi or voi che fate
No monsieur mon mari
Non disperar
Non più di fiori
Now then, the notebook Florence
O toi, qui prolongeas mes jours (Iphigenie en Tauride)
Oh! quante volte
Oh, ne me quittez pas
Once I thought
Pace, pace mio Dio
Padre germani addio
Par le rang / Salut à la France
Partir, oh ciel desio
Per pietà
Pleurez mes yeux
Ritorna vincitor
Robert toi que j’aime
Rose’s Aria (At the Statue of Venus)
Rossignols amoureux
S’altro che lagrime
Saper vorreste
Se il padre perdei
Se pietà
Senza mamma
Sevillana (Don Cesar de Bazan)
Sì mi chiamano Mimì
Soffre il mio cor / Mozart / Mitridate / italian
Sombre forêt
Somehow I never could believe
Son vergin vezzosa
Stella’s aria (A Streetcar Camed Desire)
Stridono lassù
Summertime
Tacea la notte / Di tale amor
Take me back / Roren (Our Town)
Tatiana’s letter scene
Tiny’s Aria
To this we’ve come
Tu che di gel
Tu che le vanità
Un bel dì vedremo
Und ob die Wolke
Viljalied
Welche Wonne welche Lust
What good would the moon be
What will it be for me
You’ve Never Seen the Winter Here

MEZZOS

A total of 64 mezzos: 17% of the total audition pool

3-Way Tie for First Place (19 times each)
Sein wir wieder gut
Smanie implacabili
Va! laisse couler mes larmes

10-15
Must the winter come so soon
Parto parto
Que fais-tu
Things change Jo
Voi che sapete

3-9
All’afflitto è dolce il pianto
Chacun à son goût (Ich lade gern)
Cruda sorte
È amore un ladroncello
Faites-lui mes aveux
Give him this orchid
Iris hence away
Nobles seigneurs salut
Non piu mesta
Non so più
O mio Fernando
Pres des remparts (Seguidilla)
Svegliatevi nel core
Thy hand Belinda / When I am laid in earth
Una voce poco fa (mezzo)
What a movie
Wie du warst

Once or twice
A quality love (Margaret Garner)
Acerba voluttà
Ah mon courage m’abandonne
Ah quel diner (Tipsy Waltz)
Ah! fuggi il traditor
Ah, Belinda (Dido)
Ah, Michele Don’t You Know
Concepcion Aria (L’heure Espagnole)
Connais-tu le pays
Crude furie degl’orridi abissi
Deh per questo istante
Di quel bel che m’innamora
Dopo notte
En vain pour éviter
Enfin je suis ici
I am easily assimilated
I do not judge you John
I was a constant faithful wife
Ich bin Rosine Leckermaul
Il padre adorato
Je vous ecris (Letter scene)
La giustizia
L’amour est un ouiseau rebelle (Habanera)
Lullaby
Madame de la Haltiere’s aria (Cendrillon)
Minsk Woman’s Suitcase Aria (Flight)
Mio bel tesoro
Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix
Nina’s aria (Seagull)
O don fatale
O ma lyre immortelle
O numi eterni…Gia superbo del mio affanno
Olga’s aria (Ya ne sposobna)
Ombra mai fù
Or la tromba
Pauline’s aria (Podrugi milïye)
Per questa fiamma indomita
Perfect as we are
Povero amico
Quand la femme a vingt ans (Don Quichotte)
Re dell’abisso affrettati
Reste au foyer
Se Romeo
Sgombra è la sacra selva / Deh! Proteggimi
Simple Child (Grapes of Wrath)
Sta nell’Ircana
The Fox (Little Prince)
There is a garden
This journey
Tina’s aria (Aspern Papers)
Tomorrow monring (Seagull)
Tu fosti tradito
Une poupée aux yeux d’èmail
Voce di donna
Vois sous l’archet (Violin aria)
Waiting (Great Gatsby)
What would Missus Herring say

COUNTERTENORS / MALE SOPRANOS

A total of 6 countertenors: 2% of the total audition pool

The Winner (5 times)
I know a bank (Oberon)

Once or twice
Al lampo dell’armi
Alto Giove
As I was saying (Baba the Turk)
Cara Speme
Cara sposa
Che farò
Domero la tua fierezza
Dove sei
Già dagli occhi
J’ai perdu mon Euridice
Ombra mai fù
Quella che tutta fe
Scherza infida
Sento la Gioia
Si la voglio
Va, l’error mio palesa
Voi che sapete

TENORS

A total of 53 tenors: 14% of the total audition pool

The Winner (27 times)
Dies Bildnis

6-10
Ah lève-toi soleil
Ah mes amis
Here I stand
Il mio tesoro
Kuda kuda (Lenski)
Lonely House
Un aura amorosa
Una furtiva lagrima

3-5
A te o cara
Ah la paterna mano
Dalla sua pace
De’ miei bollenti spiriti
Dein is mein ganzes Herz
Ecco ridente
Fra poco a me ricoverò
Frisch zum Kampfe
Fuor del mar
Ich baue ganz
It’s about the way people is made (Sam’s aria)
Languir per una bella
O wie ängstlich
Pourquoi me reveiller
Questa o quella
Salut! demeure chaste e pure
Sì ritrovarla
Tarquinius does not wait

Once or twice
Ach so fromm
Ah fuyez
Ah! je vais l’amer
Ah, mes amis
Albert the Good
Avete torto
Che ascolto!… Ah come mai non senti (Rossini’s Otello)
Che gelida manina
Coeur sans amour
De este apacible rincon de Madrid (Luisa Fernanda)
Durch die Wälder
È la solita storia
En fermant les yeux (La Rêve)
Enrico Carouser’s Aria (Too Many Sopranos)
Firenze è come un albero
I know that you all hate me
I must with speed amuse her
Im Gegenteil (Tanzmeister)
Invidia fortunam odit
It must be so (Candide’s lament)
Je crois entendre
Jour et nuit
La fleur (Flower song)
Love too frequently betrayed
New York Lights
No puede ser
O blonde Ceres
O Colombina
Oh I feel cold inside
Oh is there not one maiden breast
On the path to the lake
Peter Grimes’ mad scene
Pour me rapprocher de Marie
Que les destins
Recondita armonia
Se all’impero
Semplicetto, a donna credi?
Slim’s song
Tradito schernito
Unis des la plus tendre enfance
Walther’s Preislied
Wenn der Freude Tränen fliessen
Where e’er you walk

BARITONES

A total of 53 baritones: 14% of the total audition pool

Hands-Down Winner (30 times)
Hai già vinta la causa

10-15
Avant de quitter ces lieux
Lieben Hassen
Look through the port
Mab
Mein Sehnen (Pierrot’s Tanzlied)

3-9
Bella siccome un angelo
Donne mie
Warm as the autumn light
Onegin’s aria
Rivolgete
Ah! per sempre
O du mein holder Abendstern
Questo amor
Within this frail crucible
Yeletsky’s aria (Ya vas lyublu)
E fra quest’ansie (Silvio)
Largo al factotum
Come Paride vezzose
É sogno?
O Nadir
O vin dissipe la tristesse
Papageno’s suicide aria
Vision fugitive
When the air sings of summer

Once or twice
A Woman is a Sometime Thing
Aprite un po’
Come Master
Comme une pâle fleur
Cruda funesta smania
Deh vieni alla finestra
Der Vogelfänger
Di Provenza
Do you know the land?
Ein Mädchen
Excerpt of Mandryka from Arabella
I am John Proctor
I had to strike down that Jemmy Legs
Joseph’s confession
Let things be like they always was
News has a kind of mystery ( Nixon in China)
Non più andrai
Non siate ritrosi
O Carlo, ascolta
O Maria (Mazeppa)
Per me giunto / Io morrò
Presti Omai
Schaunard’s aria
See the Raging Flames
Si può
Sibillar gli angui d’Aletto – Rinaldo, Handel
Sid’s Aria (Tickling a Trout…)
Sorge infausta
Tower Scene (Pelleas)
Vien Leonora
Votre toast (Toreador)
Who am I? (A Month in the Country)

BASSES & BASS-BARITONES

A total of 33 basses and bass-baritones: 9% of the total audition pool

The Winner (8 times)
Madamina (Catalogue aria)
(Note: We’re halfway through and no one has started with this!)

3-5
Aleko’s aria (Ves’ tabor spit)
Aprite un po’
Arise ye subterranean winds
Come Master
Hear me O Lord
Ho capito
I rage / O ruddier than the cherry
Il lacerato spirito
I’m a lonely man Susannah
I’m a lonely man, Susannah
In diesen heil’gen Hallen
La calunnia
O du mein holder Abendstern
O Isis und Osiris
Piff paff
Se vuol ballare
Si la rigeur
Sorge infausta
Vecchia zimarra
Vi ravviso

Once or twice
A un dottor della mia sorte
Alla vita che t’arride
Bringt eilig Hut und Mantel mir (Waffenschmied)
Buvez donc ce breuvage (Romeo et Juliette)
Come dal ciel
Deh ti ferma
Deh vieni alla finestra
Demon’s Aria (The Demon)
É sogno?
Ecco il mondo
Épouse quelque brave fille
Gremin’s aria (Lyubvi vse vozrastï pokornï)
Hark, the land bids me (Antony & Cleopatra)
Honor and Arms
King René’s aria (Gospod’ moy)
L’empio, sleale, indegno
La vendetta
Le Tribunal (Dialogues des Carmelites)
Le veau d’or
Let things be like they always was
Non più andrai
O beauty
O wie will ich triumphieren
Quand la flamme
Schicchi’s aria
Schweig! / Weber / Freischutz / german
Scintille diamant
Se un bell ardire
Si tra i ceppi
Sibilar gli angui d’Aletto
Solche hergelauf’ne Laffen
St Peter’s aria (Too Many Sopranos)
Ves tabar spit (Aleko)
Voli colla sua tromba
Votre toast (Toreador)
Vous qui faites l’endormie (Serenade)
Wie schön ist doch die Musik
Within this frail crucible