Contralto Repertoire
February 27, 2010
One of the most asked questions is about rep. Where can I find music written for contralto and what do you recommend?
Here is a list of the most popular pieces composed for contraltos:
Arias – Opera & Oratorio:
- Lullaby from the opera “The Consul” by Gian Carlo Menotti (English)
- Voce di donna from the opera “La Giocando” by Amilcare Ponchielli (Italian)
- Podrugi Milie from the opera “Queen of Spades” by Tchaikovsky (Russian)
- Alone and Yet Alive from the opera “The Mikado” by Gilbert & Sullivan (English)
- Stride la Vampa from the opera “Il Trovatore” by Verdi (Italian)
- Thy Hand Belinda from the opera “Dido and Aeneas” by Purcell (English)
- Va! Laisse couler mes larmes from the opera “Werther” by Massonet (French)
- Scherza Infida from the opera “Ariodante” by Handel (Italian)
- Parto, Parto from the opera “La Clemenza di Tito” by Mozart (Italian)
- Gelido in ogni vena from the opera “Il Farnace” by Vivaldi (Italian)
- Qui Sedes ad dextram Patris from the Vivaldi Gloria (Latin)
- Qui Sedes ad dextram Patris from Bach mass in B minor (Latin)
- Wie alles war (weiche, Wotan, weiche) from the opera “Das Rheingold” by Wagner (German)
- Merknyet Svyet Dnevnoy (Konchakavna’s Cantiva) from the opera “Prince Igor” by Borodin (Russian)
Art Song: Read more
You might enjoy:
Purcell – Dido & Aeneas / Maria Ewing, Karl Daymond, Collegium Musicum 90Dido: MARIA EWINGAeneas: KARL DAYMOND
Belinda: REBECCA EVANS
Sorceress: SALLY BURGESS
Second Woman: PATRICIA ROZARIO
First Enchantress… Read More >
Elgar: Cello Concerto; Sea Pictures; Cockaigne OvertureThis is rightly regarded as the finest recording of Elgar’s attractive and elegiac Cello Concerto. It’s held in almost irrationally high esteem in the… Read More >
Edward Elgar: Cello Concerto In E Minor, Op. 85/Sea Pictures, Op. 37The passionate reading from Jacqueline DuPré and Sir John Barbirolli is one of the classics of the catalog. [Barbirolli had played in the cello secti… Read More >
reBlog from bobwaynesweblog.com: WIT AND HUMOR – A FUNNY SITE BY BOB WAYNE
February 14, 2010
- Image via Wikipedia
My husband and I had a wonderful opportunity last evening thanks to the generosity of one of our friends, who Bob has named “the Divine Deb L.” He wrote so eliquently in his blog about the evening that I thought I would share this with you as well. Enjoy! Read more
You might enjoy:
Shoes for Industry! The Best of the Firesign TheatreTake some remarkably prescient plotting (1974’s Everything You Know Is Wrong works as a parody of today’s paranormal craze) and add absurdist wordplay… Read More >
The Sopranos – Peppers and Eggs: Music From The HBO SeriesThe Sopranos have become considerably more than just the average psychically tortured New Jersey mob family next door. HBO’s innovative, if distinctly… Read More >
Recent Review of Candlelight Concerts
February 10, 2010
A very nice review on our last concert of the season. Thanks to David Hawley of the St. Paul Pioneer Press who also acknowledged the fact that he could not stay for the 2nd half of the performance due to a deadline.
Palestrina, composer
Legend has it that Palestrina, perhaps the most-recognized composer before Bach, dissuaded the 16th century Council of Trent from banning polyphony in church music by composing a six-voice Mass that was reverent and clear and — well, ethereal.
You might enjoy:
The Greatest Choral Music of Palestrina: Prince of MusicVoices of Ascension’s Palestrina disc is something of a “greatest hits” collection: a dozen of the prolific composer’s best-known motets–including se… Read More >
Renaissance Polyphony in Grand Style
February 4, 2010
Voces8
The Rose Ensemble
You might enjoy:
Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Contralto: Opera Arias & Songs, 1900-1935No Description Available.Genre: Classical Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 24-FEB-1998
Boulanger: Faust et Hélène, etc.Lili Boulanger’s setting of the 130th Psalm is a choral masterpiece. Tortelier and his forces deliver a vivid performance, recorded with tremendous pr… Read More >
Rose Ensemble takes engaging turn at American folk hymns, carols
November 30, 2009
Let’s face it: History lessons aren’t always fun. Too often, an artistic event that strives toward historical accuracy leaves you feeling educated but not really entertained. Shoring up some cracks in your knowledge base can be worthwhile but seldom extremely enjoyable.
However, one of those infrequent occurrences happened Sunday afternoon when St. Paul-based early-music group the Rose Ensemble welcomed the Music in the Park Series back to its home neighborhood, the freshly repaved St. Anthony Park. But the chamber choir didn’t perform the music on which its reputation is based — motets and madrigals of the medieval and Renaissance eras — instead focusing upon 19th-century American folk hymns and carols, many of them rooted in the Shaker and shape-note traditions.
It may not have been right up the group’s stylistic alley, but it turned out to be a lot of fun, a combination of uplifting church service and holiday hootenanny. Performing in a venue ideally intimate for this music — the woody St. Anthony Park United Church of Christ — the group let reverence segue into celebration, unleashing their accompanying instrumentalists on tunes that sounded increasingly country, Celtic and Cajun as the concert went on.
You might enjoy:
Bidu Sayao: Opera Arias and Brazilian FolksongsBidú Sayão’s silvery, impeccably tuned voice was small in size, but rich in nuance, shading, and emotion. Her recording of the Villa-Lobos Bachiana… Read More >
Great Day for Giving, and to Support The Rose Ensemble with matching donations
November 16, 2009
Thank you for supporting The Rose Ensemble! Read more
You might enjoy:
Tibetan Singing BowlThe sound of the Tibetan singing bowl is known for its healing properties and its ability to induce states of deep meditative absorption. This c… Read More >
The Ultimate Practice Guide for VocalistsSing with more power and passion under the guidance of Donna McElroy, Berklee professor, Grammy nominee, Dove Award winner, and vocalist on multiple g… Read More >
The Great Minnesota Rose Ensemble Tour
November 10, 2009
The Greater Minnesota Rose Ensemble Tour will soon be upon us and I could use your help to make this tour a success. Since these concerts are self-produced, we do not have the luxury of a presenter to market and publicize these concerts on our behalf.
If you have family members, friends, or other contacts in or around those cities that the concerts will be performed in, please encourage them to come and hear this exquisite concert. Ticket prices are extremely reasonable: only $12 for adults and $9 for students/seniors, with free admission for children under 10 years. Plus, you’ll get the chance to hear my foot-stompin’ Pretty Home live and in person!
You might enjoy:
Early American RootsSpirited new sounds from early Colonial America – from the arrival of the first colonists to the American Revolution and the birth of our republic. Pe… Read More >
The Golden Age of American Popular Music – The Folk Hits From the Hot 1002008 installment in Ace’s popular Golden Age of American Popular Music series, The Folk Hits is a compendium of just about every Folk hit to reach Bi… Read More >
When two choral conductors come together…
October 28, 2009
Last Saturday evening I was priviledged to attend a wonderful choral concert, something that I’m not given much opportunity to do. When you are a professional singer, you are usually booked with concerts of your own and so many times concerts overlap your collegues concerts. So when I happened to have a Saturday night free, I attended the VocalEssence British Invasion concert at The Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis.
The ‘British Invasion’ in this case was none other than Simon Halsey, a celebrated choral conductor from across the pond and friend of VocalEssence’s Philip Brunelle.
You might enjoy:
![English Choral Favourites [United Kingdom]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61NNXYAG0RL._SL160_.jpg "English Choral Favourites [United Kingdom]")
English Choral Favourites [United Kingdom]Simon Halsey and the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus present a programme of favourites from the English choral repertoire that demonstrates the cho… Read More >
Listen to Lisa
