voice classification

Perfect Baritone Recital Selections

September 6, 2018 By Nora Miller Rubinoff Leave a Comment

Attendees at a vocal recital fall into several categories: fans of the music; followers, family, or friends of the vocalist; those who wish to see or assess the singer’s performance; those who were brought along with someone else to the recital; and those who are needing persuasion.

Therefore, the preparation for a vocal recital – whether it’s a Junior Recital, Senior Recital, Graduate Recital, Elective Recital or some other type of recital performance – should be undertaken with a great deal of care.

IPA Source offers more than 12,000 International Phonetic Alphabet translations of opera arias, art songs, and Latin texts. Assembled in this post are a collection of texts for possible inclusion in a Baritone Recital. We’ve organized these recommendations by arias, composers, and finally include details and links to those texts from this list that appear in our database.

Arias

Donne mie la fate a tanti (from Così fan tutte)
Hai già vinta la causa…Vedrò mentr’io sospiro (from Le nozze di Figaro)
Mach dich, mein Herze rein (from Matthäuspassion)
¡Mi aldea! (from the zarzuela Los Gavilanes)

Art Songs

Adams

Prayer

Bach

Mach dich, mein Herze rein

Bliss

It Is Well

Copland

Long Time Ago

Debussy

Fleur des blés

Faurè

Les roses d’Ispahan

Victor Maurel-baritone-as Iago — Victor Maurel, French operatic baritone

Guerrero

¡Mi aldea!

Massenet

Les fleurs

Moore

Warm as the Autumn Light (from The Ballad of Baby Doe)

Mozart

Donne mie la fate a tanti
Hai già vinta la causa…Vedrò mentr’io sospiro

Pfitzner

Fünf Lieder, op. 9

Die Einsame
Im Herbst
Der Kühne
Abschied

Rorem

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
O You Whom I Often and Silently Come
Look Down, Fair Moon
The Lordly Hudson
Early in the Morning

Santoloquido

I Canti Della Sera

L’assiolo canta
Alba di luna sul bosco
Tristezze crepuscolare
L’Incontro

Strauss

Traum durch die Dämmerung

Traditional Spiritual

I Want Jesus to Walk with Me
Over My Head

From our collection

Donne mie la fate a tanti
Guglielmo’s aria from the opera Così fan tutte (baritone)
Text by Lorenzo da Ponte (1749-1838)
Set by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
https://www.ipasource.com/donne-mie-la-fate-a-tanti.html

Listen to American baritone, Thomas Hampson:

Fünf Lieder, op. 9

Abendlich schon rauscht der Wald (Abschied)
Text by Josef Karl Benedikt von Eichendorff (1788-1857)
Set by Zdenko Antonín Václav Fibich (1850-1900), Abschied, H. 171, #2; Robert Franz (1815-1892),
Abends, op. 16, #4; Ferdinand von Hiller (1811-1885), Abschied, op. 25, #5; Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel
(1805-1847), from Gartenlieder, op. 3, #5; Hans Erich Pfitzner (1869-1949), Abschied, op. 9, #5 (1894-
5); Max Reger (1873-1916), Abschied, from Zehn Lieder für Männerchor, op. 83, #9; Heinrich Reimann
(1850-1906), Abschied, op. 3. #1; Othmar Schoeck (1886-1957), Abschied, op. 20, #7
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/7075/category/957/

Wohin ich geh’ und schaue (Der Gärtner)
Text by Josef Karl Benedikt von Eichendorff (1788-1857)
Set by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), Der Gärtner, op. 17, #3; Robert Franz (1815-1892), Der
vielschönen Fraue, op. 10, #4; Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847), Gruß, op. 63,
#3; Hans Erich Pfitzner (1869-1949), Der Gärtner, op. 9, #1; Othmar Schoeck (1886-1957), Der Gärtner,
op. 20, #11
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/7062/category/957/

Im Herbst (In Autumn)
Text by Josef Karl Benedikt von Eichendorff (1788-1857)
Set by Eduard Lassen (1830-1904), op. 45, #3; Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel (1805-1847); Hans Erich
Pfitzner (1869-1949), op. 9, #3
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/7069/category/957/

Fleur des blés (Flowers of wheat)
Text by André Girod
Set by Claude Debussy (1862-1918), set in 1891
https://www.ipasource.com/fleur-des-bles-6005.html

Les roses d’Ispahan
Text by Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle (1818-1894)
Set by César Antonovich Cui (1835-1918), Les roses d’Ispahan, op. 54, #4; Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924),
op. 39, #4
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5299/category/31/

O You Whom I Often and Silently Come
Text by Walt Whitman (1819-1892) (Am)
Set by Ned Rorem (1923-) (Am), from 5 Songs to Poems – Texts by Walt Whitman, #2
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/11014/category/4505/

Look Down, Fair Moon
Text by Walt Whitman (1819-1892) [Am]
Set by Ned Rorem (1923-) [Am], from 5 Songs to Poems – Texts by Walt Whitman, #4; from Five Poems
of Walt Whitman, #3
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/11016/category/4505/

As Adam, Early in the Morning
Text by Walt Whitman (1819-1892) (Am)
Set by Ned Rorem (1923-) (Am), from 5 Songs to Poems – Texts by Walt Whitman, #1
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/11008/category/4505/

Listen to American baritone, Nathan Gunn:

Hai già vinta la causa!… Vedrò mentr’io sospiro
Count Almaviva’s aria from the opera Le nozze di Figaro (baritone)
Text by Lorenzo da Ponte (1749-1838)
Set by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/740/category/890/

Listen to Sir Bryn Terfel Jones, a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer:

Traum durch die Dämmerung (Dream at twilight)
Text by Otto Julius Bierbaum (1865-1910)
Set by Max Reger (1873-1916), op. 35, #3; Richard Strauss (1864-1949), op. 29, #1
https://www.ipasource.com/traum-durch-die-dammerung-9706.html

Mache dich, mein Herze, rein
#64-65, recitative and aria for bass from the Matthäuspassion, (St. Matthew Passion), BWV 244
Text by Christian Friedrich Henrici (Picander) (1700-1764), based on Matthäus 26-27
Set by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
https://www.ipasource.com/mache-dich-mein-herze-rein.html

¡Mi aldea!
Juan’s aria from the zarzuela Los Gavilanes (baritone)
Text by José Ramos Martín (1892-1974)
Set by Jacinto Guerrero (1895-1951)
https://www.ipasource.com/mi-aldea.html

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 – 17 Texts from Georg Friedrich Händel’s Messiah

March 3, 2018 By Nora Miller Rubinoff Leave a Comment

Georg Friedrich Händel’s Messiah (HWV 56) is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the version of the Psalms included with the Book of Common Prayer. Originally intended as thought-provoking inspiration for Lent and Easter, this 259-page score was composed in a mere 3-4 weeks.

During the 1700’s, opera and composers were sometimes the subject of moral outrage and some considered this work, as hard as it is to believe, blasphemous. Händel chose to premier his work in Dublin near Easter time, on April 13, 1742, in part due to the lukewarm response to the previous years’ works in London and also because he was trying to test the work away from Anglican bishops.

Mozart reorchestrated Messiah in 1789 but remained in awe of the composer. “Händel understands effect better than any of us — when he chooses, he strikes like a thunderbolt… though he often saunters, in the manner of his time, this is always something there,” said Mozart.

Here, with voice type and listening links, are 18 texts on IPA Source from Händel’s oratorio, Messiah.

SOPRANO

Perfect for Soprano: How Beautiful Are the Feet – Their Sound Is Gone Out
Listen to Lynne Dawson: https://youtu.be/IFBEK5Xks6c

Perfect for Soprano: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth
Listen to Sylvia McNair: https://youtu.be/Kg7aXEvCeXY

Perfect for Soprano: If God Be for Us, Who Can Be Against Us
Listen to Sarah Brailey: https://youtu.be/a8A5BYyTkxQ

Perfect for Soprano: Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion
Listen to Kathleen Battle: https://youtu.be/bByY2_uXblQ

CONTRALTO

Perfect for Contralto: O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion
Listen to Carolyn Watkinson: https://youtu.be/BqzO8omYJWg

Perfect for Contralto: Come unto Him, All Ye That Labour
Listen to Lila Deis: https://youtu.be/y1vQ1vL_65A

Perfect for Contralto: He Was Despised and Rejected of Men
Listen to Anne Sofie von Otter: https://youtu.be/pjLaSMf0jjk

Perfect for Contralto: O Death, Where Is Thy Sting
Listen to Delphine Galou: https://youtu.be/23s5ZOS_MAo

TENOR

Perfect for Tenor: Behold, and See if There Be Any Sorrow
Listen to John Mark Ainsley: https://youtu.be/zCmd73MMOZM

Perfect for Tenor: But Thou Didst Not Leave His Soul in Hell
Listen to Bogdan Mihai: https://youtu.be/Ba-XN_wGwjk

Perfect for Tenor: Ev’ry valley shall be exaulted
Listen to Nicolai Gedda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3ZaoZPOoD0

Perfect for Tenor: Thou Shalt Break Them
Listen to John Mark Ainsley: https://youtu.be/X92SkGNVSMI

Perfect for Tenor: Unto Which of the Angels
Listen to Markus Brutsche: https://youtu.be/wgYs8v0rCDc

BASS

Perfect for Bass: The People That Walked in Darkness
Listen to Matthew Curran: https://youtu.be/3V_ZZ6ENu-E

Perfect for Bass (or alto): But Who May Abide the Day of His Coming
Listen to Bryn Terfel: https://youtu.be/TCOSulk2v5c

Perfect for Bass: The Trumpet Shall Sound
Listen to Philippe Sly: https://youtu.be/13DpmWPV9IU

Perfect for Bass: Thou Art Gone Up on High
Listen to William Sharp: https://youtu.be/HCrpCQE-y1E

Perfect for Bass: Why Do the Nations So Furiously Rage Together
Listen to Donald Gramm: https://youtu.be/JIcRrLn8OcQ

(Sources Wikipedia, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Smithsonian Institution, GFHändel.org)

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.

14 texts as set by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, hand-curated by Fach

October 10, 2017 By Nora Miller Rubinoff Leave a Comment

From our collection of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy texts, here are 14 texts hand-curated by Fach, with listening links included.

Born Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (3 February 1809 – 4 November 1847), he was widely known as Felix Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn was a German composer, pianist, and organist during the early Romantic period.

Mendelssohn is considered the greatest child prodigy after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His sister was Fanny Mendelssohn (later Fanny Hensel), who became a well-known pianist and composer.

Learn more about Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy via Wikipedia here.

14 texts as set by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

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