Expert: Pamela Thomas - 11/3/2009

Question
Hello,
Some friends and I are going to be doing an opera scene for a 'senior concert' at school, but we cannot find any that are appropriate for us.

There is:
A lyric soprano (18, she is not very good at coloratura). A mezzo-soprano (17, I think she sounds like a young Barbieri, but she says "no, my voice is more flexible," and she is indeed very good at singing coloratura!). A Tenor (19, he is wonderful, but refuses to sing an open high C), and me, a baritone (I think more lyrical than dramatic, and I can do a little coloratura, but nothing like Rossini!)

With our voices in mind all we could come up with was "Scene Two, Act Four" of Il Trovatore (Which the mezzo suggested because she loves Azucena)... but our dear soprano is not quite good enough to sing Leonora. And now we are stuck for ideas...

So do you know of any scenes?

Answer
Hi Liam,

Trovatore is definitely much too dramatic for you all.  Here are some ideas:

1. Faust -  "Seigneur Dieu, que vois-je!; Prenez mon bras; Eh! quoi! toujours seule?"
Composer is: Charles Gounod.  This is a fun quartet where Faust and Marguerite have just met and he's trying to win her over.  At the same time the Devil (Mefistophele) tries to distract Marthe to allow Faust time to finish seducing Marguerite.

Here's a very interesting staging/performance from Bastille Opera on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBzi8pwoa1o

2.  You might look at Benjamin Britten's "A Midsummer Night's Dream - Act 3 Quartet.  It might work but not sure.

3.  If your mezzo can do Donna Elvira look at "Non ti fidar" from Don Giovanni.  This is where Don Ottavio and Donna Anna run into Don Giovanni and ask his help for vengeance for the death of her father (caused by DonG but they don't know it) and then Elivira interrupts them to warn then about DonG.  He then tells Ottavio and Anna that Elivira is crazy.
Check it out on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfNrNjWqy5c

Those are three that come to mind - if I think of others I'll let you know.

Hope it helps!

Best,

Pamela