Sometimes you don’t feel like listening to the entire opera but you want to “taste” it first, in case you haven’t heard it yet. Or, if you have, you may just need to refresh your memories and remember the brightest part of the opera. The best way to do it is to listen to one of the most spectacular arias of the opera and you will re-/live the whole music experience.
Aria, from Italian ‘air’, is actually an independent music work for solo voice with or without orchestral accompaniment. It can be a part of opera, cantata or oratorio but at the same time it’s a very self-contained music work and you can enjoy it even out of the music context.
I compiled a short ‘play-list’ of my favourite arias. It’s not about selecting the most famous of them but just about my own music preferences in there. Enjoy, if you like them, or add some to the list of your music likes, or grab the score and play along! Let’s go:
1 The aria of Dalila "Mon Coeur" (Fr. ‘My Heart’) from opera “Samson and Dalila” (composer Camille Saint-Saëns)
Love this performance of Elīna Garanča in Vienna Opera Ball:
2 Aria “Che gelida manina”(from Italian ‘What a cold little hand’) from the opera by Giacomo Puccini “La Bohème”
Pavaroti’s version is of course beyond competition but I like Jonas Kaufmann’s performance too:
3 Aria “Au fond du temple saint” (French ‘In the depths of the temple’) from Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers”
Duet of Andrea Bocelli & Bryn Terfel in Ney York Philarmonic:
4 “Vesti la Giubba” (It. ‘Put on the costume’) from “Pagliacci” by Ruggero Leoncavallo
Performance of Luciano Pavarotti:
5 "Vilja Lied" from “The Merry Widow” (Franz Lehár)
Renée Fleming’s performance:
6 "Seguidille" aria from “Carmen” (G. Bizet)
Again the charming Elīna Garanča (Baden-Baden, Germany):
7 “Una furtiva lacrima” (‘A furtive tear’) from “The Elixir of Love” by Gaetano Donizetti
Rolando Villazon performing the aria in Vienna:
8 "Ach so fromm" from Friedrich von Flotow’s opera “Martha”
An old recording of Nicolai Gedda’s performance (1953):
9 "Vissi d'arte" (‘I lived for art’) from “Tosca” by Puccini
The gorgeous Angela Gheorghiu:
10 "Una voce poco fa" from “The Barber of Seville” by Rossini
Performed by Joyce DiDonato:
Hope you liked my short playlist and would enrich yours!
Aria, from Italian ‘air’, is actually an independent music work for solo voice with or without orchestral accompaniment. It can be a part of opera, cantata or oratorio but at the same time it’s a very self-contained music work and you can enjoy it even out of the music context.
I compiled a short ‘play-list’ of my favourite arias. It’s not about selecting the most famous of them but just about my own music preferences in there. Enjoy, if you like them, or add some to the list of your music likes, or grab the score and play along! Let’s go:
1 The aria of Dalila "Mon Coeur" (Fr. ‘My Heart’) from opera “Samson and Dalila” (composer Camille Saint-Saëns)
Love this performance of Elīna Garanča in Vienna Opera Ball:
2 Aria “Che gelida manina”(from Italian ‘What a cold little hand’) from the opera by Giacomo Puccini “La Bohème”
Pavaroti’s version is of course beyond competition but I like Jonas Kaufmann’s performance too:
3 Aria “Au fond du temple saint” (French ‘In the depths of the temple’) from Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers”
Duet of Andrea Bocelli & Bryn Terfel in Ney York Philarmonic:
4 “Vesti la Giubba” (It. ‘Put on the costume’) from “Pagliacci” by Ruggero Leoncavallo
Performance of Luciano Pavarotti:
5 "Vilja Lied" from “The Merry Widow” (Franz Lehár)
Renée Fleming’s performance:
6 "Seguidille" aria from “Carmen” (G. Bizet)
Again the charming Elīna Garanča (Baden-Baden, Germany):
7 “Una furtiva lacrima” (‘A furtive tear’) from “The Elixir of Love” by Gaetano Donizetti
Rolando Villazon performing the aria in Vienna:
8 "Ach so fromm" from Friedrich von Flotow’s opera “Martha”
An old recording of Nicolai Gedda’s performance (1953):
9 "Vissi d'arte" (‘I lived for art’) from “Tosca” by Puccini
The gorgeous Angela Gheorghiu:
10 "Una voce poco fa" from “The Barber of Seville” by Rossini
Performed by Joyce DiDonato:
Hope you liked my short playlist and would enrich yours!