fach

Four art songs, set by Claude Debussy, perfect for soprano recital

September 13, 2018 By Nora Miller Rubinoff Leave a Comment

Are you preparing for a Junior Recital, Senior Recital, or Graduate Recital? These four art songs, as set by Claude Debussy, are perfect for adding to a Soprano vocal recital program.

French composer Achille-Claude Debussy, also known as Claude-Achille Debussy or Claude Debussy was born August 22, 1862, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Seine-et-Oise. Debussy was one of the most prominent figures in Impressionist music and among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Learn more about Claude Debussy in our blog post.

Looking for even more soprano recital recommendations? Check out our collection of 24 soprano vocal recital recommendations.

Quatre chansons de jeunesse

Apparition (Apparition)
Text by Stéphane Mallarmé (1842-1898)
Set by Claude Debussy (1862-1918); Kaikhosru (Leon Dudley) Sorabji (1892-1988)
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5968/category/364/

Clair de lune (Moonlight)
Text by Paul Verlaine (1844-1896)
Set by Gustave Charpentier (1860-1956); Claude Debussy (1862-1918), from Fêtes Galantes I, #2;
Alphons Diepenbrock (1862-1921); Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924), op. 46, # 2; Jósef Szulc (1875-1956),
from Dix mélodies sur des poésies de Verlaine, op. 83
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5992/category/364/

Pantomime
Text by Paul Verlaine (1844-1896)
Set by Claude Debussy (1862-1918); Willem Pijper (1894-1947), from Fêtes galantes, #1; Kaikhosru
Sorabji (Leon Dudley) (1892-1988)
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5966/category/364/

Pierrot
Text by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823-1891)
Set by Claude Debussy (1862-1918); Francis Poulenc (1899-1963), FP. 66
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5967/category/364/

Did you know? IPA Source now contains International Phonetic Alphabet translations for all 93 solo works of Claude Debussy.

Perfect for Bass – 8 concert arias as set by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

May 10, 2018 By Nora Miller Rubinoff Leave a Comment

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791), born in Salzburg, Austria, was an important and respected composer. As an adult, he referred to himself as “Wolfgang Amadè Mozart,” but it is noted that his name had many variants. As a child, his baptismal record listed his name in Latin as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. Mozart was a prolific composer; over the span of his career composing hundreds of works including sonatas, symphonies, masses, chamber music, concertos, and operas.

There is much more about Mozart in our two-part blog series. Get started with part 1 here.

Review all 301 texts as set by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the IPA Source database here:

https://www.ipasource.com/composer/m/mozart-wolfgang-amadeus-1756-1791.html

Here, most with listening links, are eight concert arias perfect for Bass.

Alcandro, lo confesso… Non so donde viene

Listen to Kurt Moll:

Cara, se le mie pene

(Mozart also wrote Cara, se le mie pene for Soprano.)

Cosi dunque tradisci… Aspri rimorsi atroci

Listen to Ildebrando D’Arcangelo:

Io ti lascio

Listen to Robert Lloyd:

Mentre ti lascio

Listen to Klaus Mertens:

Per questa bella mano

Listen to Cesare Siepi:

Un bacio di mano

Listen to Bryn Terfel:

Warnung

Listen to Robert Lloyd:

Review all 301 texts as set by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the IPA Source database here:

https://www.ipasource.com/composer/m/mozart-wolfgang-amadeus-1756-1791.html

Recently added and perfect for Baritone

April 12, 2018 By Nora Miller Rubinoff Leave a Comment

Recently added to our International Phonetic Alphabet database, In braccio alle dovizie, Monforte’s scene and aria from act three of the opera I vespri Siciliani.

Text by Eugène Scribe (1790-1861) and Charles Duveyrier (1803-1866)

Set by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

Download the IPA Text: https://www.ipasource.com/in-braccio-alle-dovizie.html

Complete score: https://imslp.nl/imglnks/usimg/7/76/IMSLP517038-PMLP55448-Verdi_-_I_vespri_Siciliani_-_Act_I_(orch._score)_(etc).pdf

From wikipedia.org:

I vespri siciliani (Italian pronunciation: [i ˈvɛːspri sitʃiˈljaːni]; The Sicilian Vespers) is a five-act Italian opera originally written in French for the Paris Opéra by the Italian romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi and translated into Italian shortly after its premiere in June 1855.

Under its original title, Les vêpres siciliennes, the libretto was prepared by Eugène Scribe and Charles Duveyrier from their work Le duc d’Albe, which was written in 1838 and offered to Halévy and Donizetti before Verdi agreed to set it to music in 1854.

View all texts on IPA Source from I vespri Siciliani: https://www.ipasource.com/composer/v/verdi-giuseppe-1813-1901.html?search=i-vespri-siciliani#i-vespri-siciliani

View the entire collection of Verdi texts on IPA Source: https://www.ipasource.com/composer/v/verdi-giuseppe-1813-1901.html

Perfect for voice – 8 arias as set by Camille Saint-Saëns

November 7, 2017 By Bard Suverkrop Leave a Comment

Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (10/9/1835 – 12/16/1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic era. He was also a poet and playwright. In his younger years, he was enthusiastic for music of the modern day, including Schumann, Wagner, and Liszt. However, he remained a traditionalist committed to musical structures by earlier French composers.

Saint-Saëns wrote in many genres, including opera, symphonies, concertos, songs, sacred & secular choral music, solo piano, & chamber music. He was a prodigy, beginning piano lessons at age two and a half, and performing at a Paris salon when he was five years of age.

Because of his commitment to historical structure, however, he was conflicted with composers of the impressionist and dodecaphonic schools of music. His later music was therefore viewed as less appealing, less colorful and more reactionary. He was still giving recitals three months before his death (he went on a concert tour of Algiers and Greece at the age of 85). When he announced his retirement in August 1921, he had been before the public for 75 years.

View our entire collection of texts as set by Camille Saint-Saëns:
https://www.ipasource.com/composer/s/saint-saens-camille-1835-1921.html

Learn more about Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns here.

Organized by opera and voice type, here are links to the IPA text for 8 arias as set by Camille Saint-Saëns. Most include listening links:

Saint-Saëns: Samson et Dalila

Maudite à jamais soit la race (High Priest: perfect for baritone)
IPA Text: https://www.ipasource.com/maudite-a-jamais-soit-la-race.html

Listen to: Ernest Blanc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WRBr3_X3ek&t=26s

Amour! viens aider ma faiblesse (Dalila: perfect for mezzo)
IPA Text: https://www.ipasource.com/amour-viens-aider-ma-faiblesse.html

Listen to: Tatiana Troyanos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBCCZU7nCG0

Printemps qui commence (Dalila: perfect for mezzo)
IPA Text: https://www.ipasource.com/printemps-qui-commence.html

Listen to: Denyce Grave
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bp8P5dnAWQ

Mon coeur s’ouvre a ta voix (Dalila: perfect for mezzo)
IPA Text: https://www.ipasource.com/mon-coeur-s-ouvre-a-ta-voix.html

Listen to: Marilyn Horne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwynxOAoKjo

Vois, ma misère (Samson: perfect for tenor)
IPA Text: https://www.ipasource.com/vois-ma-misere.html

Listen to: Jon Vickers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvMlou8dcvk

Saint-Saëns: Henry VIII

Qui donc commande, quand il aime? (Henry VIII: perfect for baritone)
IPA Text: https://www.ipasource.com/qui-donc-commande-quand-il-aime.html

Listen to: Philippe Rouillon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocSijzQVHDo

Qui donc élève ici la voix? (Legate: perfect for bass)
IPA Text: https://www.ipasource.com/qui-donc-eleve-ici-la-voix.html

Saint-Säens: Oratorio de Noël

Domine, ego credidi (perfect for tenor)
IPA Text: https://www.ipasource.com/domine-ego-credidi.html

Listen to: Erland Hagegård
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV7650DGJ40

Are you interested in the Fach System? Check out our blog series here.

Halloween-themed art songs and opera texts

October 5, 2017 By Nora Miller Rubinoff Leave a Comment

No tricks here! Here are some Halloween treats hand-selected by our founder & principal author, Bard Suverkrop. Enjoy this selection of Halloween-themed art songs and opera texts, which include fach (voice type), listening links and links to the score.

Art Songs

And’res Maienlied: Hexenlied (perfect for soprano)
as set by Felix Mendelssohn
Listen to Barbara Bonney: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5RLvekBqMs
IPA: https://www.ipasource.com/and-res-maienlied-hexenlied.html
Score: http://imslp.org/wiki/12_Ges%C3%A4nge,_Op.8_(Mendelssohn,_Felix)

Junghexenlied (perfect for soprano)
as set by Richard Strauss
Listen to Edita Gruberová: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj0nXK0_ITA
IPA https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/11717/category/1234/
Score: http://imslp.org/wiki/5_Lieder%2C_Op.39_(Strauss%2C_Richard)

Walpurgisnacht: Die Hexe (perfect for soprano)
as set by Karl Loewe
Listen to Gabriele Rossmanith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=045mcWwiOlE
IPA: https://www.ipasource.com/walpurgisnacht-die-hexe.html
Score: http://imslp.org/wiki/3_Balladen,_Op.2_(Loewe,_Carl)

For more ghostly ballads by Karl Loewe, check out the collection Geisterballaden und Geschichten, Todes- und Kirchhofs-Bilder.
http://ks.petruccimusiclibrary.org/files/imglnks/usimg/2/29/IMSLP63615-PMLP129687-Loewe_8.pdf

Opera

Hurr, hopp, hopp, hopp – The witch’s aria from Hänsel und Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck (perfect for mezzo)
Listen to Jamie Barton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2QEdEHKYiM
IPA: https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/1284/category/1464/
Score: http://imslp.org/wiki/H%C3%A4nsel_und_Gretel_(Humperdinck%2C_Engelbert)

Schweig! Damit dich niemand warnt (perfect for bass)
Kaspar’s aria from Der Freischütz
Listen to Ludwig Weber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ALFdAYlZ6w
IPA: https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/1248/category/27/
Score: http://imslp.org/wiki/Der_Freisch%C3%BCtz%2C_Op.77_(Weber%2C_Carl_Maria_von)

Bonus from Bard

I’d forgotten about this great Finnish bass, Kim Borg. Here he is singing the ‘The Song of the Flea‘ (sung in Russian) by Modest Mussorgsky. Unfortunately, we don’t have the IPA for this text, but it’s a great Halloween-themed piece and a marvelous look back on a great performer.

Perfect for voice – 9 arias from Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles

September 7, 2017 By Nora Miller Rubinoff Leave a Comment

Georges Bizet’s three act opera, Les pêcheurs de perles, was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris in 1863. Les pêcheurs de perles had 18 performances in its initial run.

Here are nine arias from Les pêcheurs de perles, with perfect for voice type indications, links to the full IPA text, as well as recommended listening links.

Learn more about Les pêcheurs de perles on wikipedia here, and more about Georges Bizet here.

View our complete collection of Georges Bizet texts on IPA Source here.

Au fond du temple saint… Oui, c’est elle!, Duet of Zurga and Nadir from the opera Les pêcheurs de perles

IPA text: https://www.ipasource.com/au-fond-du-temple-saint-oui-c-est-elle.html
Listen to Roberto Alagna & Bryn Terfel – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tLrPVkfCIQ

Perfect for Soprano: Comme autrefois dans la nuit sombre, Lëila’s aria

IPA text: https://www.ipasource.com/comme-autrefois-dans-la-nuit-sombre.html
Listen to Pilar Lorengar – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96_u1E9lx5w

Perfect for Tenor: De mon amie, Nadir’s aria

IPA text: https://www.ipasource.com/de-mon-amie.html
Listen to Giuseppe di Stefano – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtTB2W8IlNc

Perfect for Tenor: Des savanes et des forêts, Nadir’s aria

IPA text: https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/1338/category/1559/
Listen to Ugo Benelli – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFKkmH3A4Ig

Perfect for Tenor: Je crois entendre encore, Nadir’s aria

IPA text: https://www.ipasource.com/je-crois-entendre-encore.html
Listen to Alfredo Kraus – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNwhHwFl_JE