Casting & Repertoire: A Case Study

But first, the top 10 reasons I haven't been posting:

10. Running around the country left me dumb as a stump. (Or, as TL taught me, dumm wie Brot)

9. I'm enjoying the unexamined life.

8. The white boards in my office are calling to me.

7. The endless variations of repertoire and casting grids have put my right and left brain so completely at war with one another that gridlock is the result.

6. Sleep or blogging. Guess which wins.

5. I have to re-memorize all those Christmas carols and other holiday songs for this weekend. If I had a memory, I'd be really dangerous...

4. My family is so happy to see me again that they seem to want me to cook. (Go figure; I'm not even good at it.)

3. Did I mention napping?

2. Did you know that if you put an out-of-office message on your email and phone for a month and a half, when you do return, all hell breaks loose?

And the main reason I've ignored the blog for over a week?!?

1. It's tough to write about something that has to be confidential until it's over. Everything I'm doing around the clock right now can't be public until it's done.

Hypothetical Season XYZ

Right now we have about 30 Filene Young Artist candidates who are on the final short list for the summer. (How do you know if you're one of them? If you sang a callback and you haven't recently received an release email that apologizes for not being able to include you in this season, then we're still wrestling with you.)

Why don't we just pick the 18-or-so people that we want and be done with it?

Because the repertoire isn't final. We get closer every day, but there's no future in getting cocky about having it figured out.

OK, so I'm going to try to write about this using a hypothetical scenario. Feeling a little guilty/idiotic for doing this when I should be spending the corresponding amount of time trying to solve this season's actual problems, but there seems to be a lot of curiosity about how we do this. (WARNING: Do not try to extrapolate this scenario into what might happen this summer. it's a deliberate and overt red herring.)

Problem Children

The first thing we do is identify those singers on our final list whose voice types are unusual or specific enough that there are relatively few roles that would be appropriate for them. In our Hypothetical Season, we have a Rossini tenor with precocious facility and range, a male soprano, a budding dramatic soprano, a coloratura soprano, and a lyric mezzo with unusual heft and substance to the mid- and low voice. In addition, we have a couple of light lyric sopranos, a soubrette/coloratura, a dramatic coloratura, a couple of high lyric mezzos, a light lyric tenor, a couple of lyric baritones, and two bass-baritone. These folks in the latter grouping are no less fabulous than their colleagues in the first list; it's just that it's easier to find good roles for them in a larger range of repertoire.

(I sure hope you're still with me, and since I have no way of checking, I'm plowing on.)

Opera X

So we identify an opera that will accommodate the Rossini tenor, the coloratura soprano, a couple of the mezzos, a baritone, and one of the bass-baritones with a real flair for comedy. The first thing to do is to vet this choice with the tenor and soprano - the two whose roles are the most specifically challenging. This process takes a few days, for these singers must find the scores, take a look at the roles, and consult with teachers and mentors. If they get back to us in the affirmative, we then proceed with other offers for this opera simultaneously while beginning to cast Opera Y. If for any reason, Opera X is not a good fit for these specific voice types, we don't proceed; we choose another piece and start over.

Opera Y

Let's assume that Opera X is starting to look good, so we can move on. Opera Y has a great role for the male soprano, the big mezzo, the budding dramatic soprano, and the other bass-baritone. It also provides another coloratura soprano role and one more mezzo role. The same scenario plays out with these offers.

Extracurriculars

Simultaneous with these opera offers, we're trying to place two multi-singer recitals (requiring balanced casting and singers with a true flair for and interest in recital work), a possible concert project with the National Symphony (which will emerge from the singers whose offers for Operas X, Y & Z are more of the supporting role rather than the featured role variety), and (in recent years) a double cast for our Instant Opera improv project for children. Not only do we have to figure out who is going to sing in these projects, we have to make the rehearsal and performance schedules line up like a damn sudoku puzzle.

Opera Z

We're getting closer. We look at which singers on our final list haven't been accommodated by Opera X or Y. We zero in on Opera Z, with a lovely light lyric soprano role, a lyric tenor opportunity, and a featured role opportunity for the bass-baritone whose Opera Y role was small. On the plus side, Opera Z has a big cast that allows us to bring some of the featured-role singers from Opera X and Y on for some supporting roles.

Hurry Up and Wait

Every one of these steps involves communicating an offer to a singer, then waiting a couple of days (we don't sit around for long, but it's rude to not give a young singer even 48 hours to try something on), then starting in with someone else. Any given singer might receive a series of phone calls or emails as we define each stage - first with a featured role, then with confirmation of a supporting role or a concert/recital, etc.

Just When You Thought It Was Safe

So, several weeks have passed, and we're closing in on things. Time to breathe a sign of relief. Uh, no...

Remember the Rossini tenor in Opera X? He just got a call from La Scala. Seems that he might not be coming to Wolf Trap for his second season after all. Is that inconvenient? Yes. Is it equally clear that this is what we hope will happen for our artists? Of course. So, with our blessing (and a little bit of good-natured grumbling from me just so he doesn't get too cocky), we start over.

We decide against uprooting Operas Y & Z - can't think of a new trilogy that solves the same puzzle as well for those people. But we no longer have one of the key voice types for Opera X. So Rossini becomes Donizetti. Another tenor fits well into the new role, the soprano, baritone, and bass transfer over pretty cleanly into their new assignments. The mezzos get the short end of the stick, for we can't find anything equally good for them. So we beef up their other assignments as best as possible, and give them the choice of accepting the revised offer or choosing to wait until the next summer.

2002

OK, so it wasn't hypothetical. I'm not that smart these days. It was 2002, when a planned Comte Ory morphed into Don Pasquale, then was followed by Xerxes and Street Scene.

Either I've shed a bit of light on what we do in December, or I've completely confused my gentle readers. I've left out dozens of corollaries, contingencies and details, and I've oversimplified the sequence.

This little dance we do is maddening and fascinating. I do look forward to its peculiar combination of creativity and limitation, but there are moments in the process during which the obstacles seem intractable. I go into it wanting to make everything work out perfectly for everyone, and that's simply not possible. My persistent naiveté can't retain that lesson from year to year, though, and I have to relearn it the hard way.

It's the disappointments that weigh me down.

I want everyone to have the perfect role. I want there to be no crazy crunch times in people's schedules when they're performing one opera and rehearsing another. I want there to be no one on the short list to whom I have to write in mid-December and give bad news. But as neatly as this puzzle will appear to fit together after we've finished, I will see the ragged edges and glue that holds some of the pieces together. And I will regret not getting to know some of the artists to whom we had to say no.

So, here I am, somewhere in the middle stages of Opera X & Y, and playing around with options for Opera Z. The extracurriculars are resisting falling into place. Some responses are coming in, mostly in the affirmative. We're starting to move into the less-specific voice types. It looks as if we might have between 50 and 60 assignments among all of the different projects to apportion across 18-20 singers. No 11th-hour surprises, but then again, it isn't the 11th hour yet...

2008 Tour: Vienna - Over and Out

Good to be back on home turf, but as Rahree says, it carries its own set of liabilities. There's a singular focus on the road, but back here there are many other responsibilities chipping away at our depleted reserves of energy and attention.

It's all about the tenors today, somehow. Funny how that happens, that a specific voice type ends up gravitating to a day on the audition tour. 5 tenors this afternoon. Go figure.

Audition Tour Bookends

Two of my absolute favorite arias started and ended this tour:

10:20AM in Houston on October 28: Prince Yeletsky's aria ("Ja vas lyublyu") from Pique Dame.
2:20PM in Vienna on November 2o: "Cara sposa" from Handel's Rinaldo.


Blog Envy

Lately, as I catch up with blogs of colleagues who do a lovely job of integrating their work with their lives, I'm envious. As much as I've tried to be open and honest with my writing in this space, I feel keenly the responsibility of writing a blog that bears the title of the organization for which I work. The filters are many and dense.

We've all seen the well-meaning performing arts blogs that are nothing but another form of marketing. Clearly that's not what this medium can do best, and blogs must have a point of view. Finding a way to give a distinctive and readable voice to a vehicle that represents an organization is sometimes an act of futility, for each paragraph must be written then reread knowing that it reflects not on just me, but on an institution. Lately I'm having fantasies of writing whatever I want, with the only filter being the common sense one (there are some things that one should simply never put on the internet:)

Sing for This Lady. I Dare You.

My colleagues have had a little too much fun trying to capture my photo with various instruments of digital torture. We've given an off-color caption (that I dare not reproduce here) to this one. Sing for her if you dare. (I don't really look this peeved in the actual audition room.)

Catching Up

I owe responses to various questions and comments that I haven't addressed. I promise to do so next week. In the meantime, I plan to have some turkey and let the tryptophan work its magic. A few long naps later, I'll be as good as new. You should try it, too.

Warm wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Studio Days 4 & 5 - Cincinnati, Vienna

Studio auditions are officially finished. If you sang for us, you should receive some kind of notification within about a week and a half as to whether we would like to keep you on our finalists list. We were extremely happy to see such a great turnout in this, our second year of this new program, and we wish all of you a happy end to your fall semester!

Repertoire

I forgot to mention in my Philadelphia (Filene Young Artist audition) entry that we set another repertoire record. One "Marie's Lullaby" from Wozzeck and two (count 'em, 2...) renditions of "Lied der Lulu." More Berg than I bargained for, but I'm not complaining!

My colleagues and I agree that one of the things we love most about Studio audition days (aside from the monologues, which I adore...) is the opportunity to hear some of the song repertoire. Studio candidates are allowed to offer a song instead of an aria, and in hearing them I realize how much I miss them.

GKC: The Geographic Kindness Clause.

Unlike our Filene Young Artist auditions (which always include two arias unless your first choice is a scene that lasts more than 6-7 minutes), our Studio auditions typically only involve one aria. Occasionally (depending on many things, not necessarily or only how well the audition is going) we ask for a second sung selection or the monologue.

But even if we've gathered all the information we need from the first aria, we'll sometimes ask for something else if the singer has traveled from a distance for the audition. While it's part of the business to have to show up and sing only 5 minutes, it seems heartless to not allow folks who have spent an entire day traveling from another city to sing another few minutes if we can stay on schedule and still do so.

What does this mean? Please don't read too much or too little into the request f(or the lack of request!) for an additional aria.

Playing This Game

Over on Have a Vegetable, the Shiksa has a frank talk about the crazy world of auditioning. Even though we endlessly counsel, coach, and cajole singers about how to deal with this necessary evil, I'm constantly reminded about how hard it is. During the high audition season it's like having a job interview several times a week for months. It's kind of a miracle that anyone can stay sane. I know I certainly wouldn't have been able to sustain it in my 20's or early 30's. I simply didn't have the self-confidence and strength.

The sheer logistics of transportation hassles and logistics are defeating. Never mind the looming threat of illness or an unshakeable funk. (We all get them, some worse than others.) And assuming that you can stay in one piece mentally and physically, and get there on time, there's rarely a place to warm up or any other simple creature comforts. All of this while wondering how you'll pay the bills and whose apartment you'll crash in. More power to you. All of you.

There Has To Be An Easier Way (for us, too...)

A few colleagues and friends who don't know much about our particular company have recently expressed that they're surprised about our audition tour. They muse that there must be an easier way to cast an opera season than going through 1,000 application forms and over 400 audio CDs, then spending a month on the road.

Sure, there are alternatives. I could just call around to my colleagues who run other young artist programs, conservatories, and small opera companies, and ask them to recommend people. We could only hear singers who have the means to make a trip to come to our theatre. All of this could be done from the comfort of my office.

I also get criticism and frustrated emails from singers who believe that we only hire from a few high-profile young artist programs. (Disclaimer: Yes, there are indeed some singers from those programs during most seasons. If they're hiring some of the best people in the country, wouldn't it be odd if some of those folks didn't end up here?) But if it were true that we were just casting by word of mouth, and the application/audition process was largely a sham, why in the world would we bother? Yes, it's fascinating and exciting sometimes, but it's equally frustrating and exhausting. If we weren't committed to giving everyone a chance, we'd be incredibly stupid to continue to do this.

(OK, sorry for the rant, but I'm tired, choosing the right season repertoire is giving me a headache, and Thanksgiving can't come soon enough.)

Baritone Fatigue

Too many of them. Far too many. And so many of them are good. Really good.

Off Topic

This post on High and Low Notes followed closely on a conversation I had recently about the musical content of memorial services. The gist of the blog post is that the level of the music included in Pavarotti's funeral was not consistent with his profile. While I agree with the objective statement, I think that it's a mistake to draw the conclusion that the two should be equivalent. Memorial services are for the living, not the departed. If the immediate family of a brilliant musician takes comfort from "Eagles' Wings", then so be it.

One More

Audition tour post, that is. Probably on Wednesday as I try to find some closure to this phase and courage to move to the next. Then there will be periodic silences as we sort out things that can't be worked through in public. See you in a couple of days.

2008 Tour: Philadelphia

Saturday was an extremely dense, long day in Philadelphia, just at the point that fatigue was closing in... I'm not complaining, really, for we heard a lot of fabulous new talent. It's just that I'm craving a good night's sleep, and the 18-hour Philadelphia odyssey was a bit much for this point in the tour. Add the truly frigid temperature of the audition room (never happened before... don't know what that was about...), another poorly planned set of meal breaks, and the looming deadline for carving out a repertoire plan and making some offers, and you have a recipe for mental meltdown.

We've greatly appreciated the opportunity to hear more of some of our best candidates due to our new callback system; but I seem to have made a serious logistical error in planning our days. Seems that most days we didn't get lunch until about 4, which led to a repeated cycle of starving and stuffing that did no one any good. Note to self to fix before next fall. (Actually, all I need to do is mention this once to SSW and she'll make sure I don't forget! She's good at saving me from myself.)

We now have depth in representation of every voice type save one, and we are simply stuffed to overflowing in brilliant singers in two particular voice types. Casting and repertoire selection will take some serious discipline and creative problem-solving. The reality of the complexity of this year's puzzle is hitting me with a sucker punch, and the mental gears are locking.

Thus, this content-free blog post. Just to let you know that we're still kicking, and that I will weigh in this week and next with audition tour wrap-ups. But for today, I'm doing triage with the few functional brain cells I have left.

The Callback Game

This is the first tour in which we're including a provision for a callback or 'final' audition for singers that we're seriously considering casting in our 2008 operas. On four of our days so far this fall, we've had no callbacks, and that's been cause for some consternation. It really shouldn't be.

In explaining this, I need to speak frankly and bluntly about the parameters of our casting process and our artist pool. But before you gird your loins for that discussion, consider this.

If you didn't get called back, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't have auditioned for us.

A few case studies to illustrate the point.

Today, we're in Cincinnati, at the wonderful University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). I've been coming here for 15 years, and my predecessors haunted CCM long before that.

We heard Anna Christy twice at CCM before making her first Wolf Trap offer.

Nicole Heaston auditioned for us at CCM two years before her successful WT audition at Houston Grand Opera.

In this year's company there were three recent CCM grads: mezzo-soprano Faith Sherman, soprano Bronwen Forbay, and baritone Joshua Jeremiah. Josh auditioned for us during his grad work at Cincinnati but was ultimately hired during his Seattle Opera residency. Bronwen was an anomaly: she was hired after her CCM audition during her DMA degree. Faith sang for us two times during her grad work at CCM before nailing her New York audition in 2005.

The vast majority of the singers we hire have finished their grad work and have participated in multiple young artist / apprenticeship residencies. Does that mean you shouldn't sing for us if you haven't reached that point yet? Obviously not. We screen our applications, and if we granted you an audition, that means that we'd love to get to know you (or have the chance to get to know more about you). There are random Wolf Trappers who pass right through to the finish line on the first audition, but most of them spend a few years trotting in and out of our auditions while we watch them grow.

Moral of the Story: If you didn't get called back, that doesn't mean we didn't like you. (I know that's a triple negative, but I think it's what I mean.)

We decided to use our callback system as an opportunity to answer detailed questions about singers that we feel are truly ready to be part of our company. Other companies use a single aria to discern who's singing well in general, then call back those folks for more information. Since our regular (preliminary) auditions always include two arias (and I believe we're in the minority there), callbacks serve to answer our questions about exactly what kinds of roles our best candidates are suited for.

Back to the tough stuff.

We expect to hire somewhere between 16-20 singers this summer.

Singers are allowed to sing in two Wolf Trap seasons before they have to move on, so in any given year, we're looking at the potential return of singers who've only spent one summer with us. These folks are not grandfathered in - they have to go through the paperwork and the audition process like everyone else. But if they are singing well, and we can find suitable roles for them in our next season's rep, it's likely that they'll return. This year we have 12 singers reauditioning after having already spent one season with us.

If you're feeling brave, you can do the math. Not to scare you off, just to give you perspective. It doesn't mean that it's impossible to get in. After all, these singers came from somewhere. They once did undergraduate and graduate work at a surprisingly large number of different universities and conservatories. They had to start auditioning somewhere, and so do you. Whenever you can get an audition (assuming that you're completely prepared to be heard in a professional setting), take it. The experience is invaluable. Just sing well and don't play the head games that tempt us all.

OK, that's all I have to say about that. Comments welcome.

2008 Tour: Cincinnati.... and the Aria Frequency List!

Drum Roll, please..... The 2008 Audition Tour Aria List!

Click on the link above or go to http://wolftrapopera.blogspot.com/2007/11/2008-audition-tour-aria-frequency-list.html.

The list represents the number of times each aria is listed on this year's applications. Since singers are allowed to change their rep lists, the actual list of arias heard will vary slightly. (The list of opening arias will be compiled after the tour is over.)

No conclusions drawn at this point - there's only enough time tonight to compile and post the lists. Over the next few days I'll compare them with the previous two years' and look for any trends that might be useful.

Everybody Oughta Know a Nerd
(with apologies to A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum)

If you're just checking in for the first time in a while, be sure not to miss Josh's post on casting. (No, Josh isn't the nerd. Keep reading.)

We're clearly not done with auditions yet, and the repertoire can and probably will change right up until the last day. There's often a mistaken notion that auditioning toward the end of the tour is fruitless. Not so. More times than I'd like to remember we have turned on a dime with no time left to spare. It really wrecks Thanksgiving.

Anyway, there are 10 operas on the most-serious-contenders list right now, from which we will choose a specific combination of 3 or 4. (Four if we do a concert staging in addition to our three productions.) Historically I've labored over Excel spreadsheets and index cards to figure out what combinations of contender operas are possible. Enough of that, say I. Why allow a teenage geek to live in my house if I can't take advantage of it? After all, he'll be in college next year, and I'll really be out of luck.

So, I say to Bob Fincheimer (his nerd alias), how many different permutations are there in such a scenario, and how can I list them all? Then followed a long lecture on the difference between permutations and combinations, involving terms like binomial expansion and php scripting. And 5 minutes later I was gifted with a script that churned out all possible scenarios.


And here we sit in Ohio. In a very large corner hotel room that's bigger than my first apartment. Figuring out which repertoire groupings rise to the top of the current list.


Blessed Variety

First day in Cincinnati, in CCM's lovely Patricia Corbett Theatre. 27 singers, for a total of 54 arias. And here's the thing that has never happened in on entire day of auditioning: There were absolutely no repeats! 54 different arias! I thought I had died and gone to heaven:)


Damn Those People for Being Healthy and Responsible!

Just kidding.

We jam-pack our audition schedule with no breaks, banking on the unfortunate (but usually inevitable...) fact that every day there will be a handful of cancellations due to illness, travel snafus or lack of follow-through. Well, today in Cincinnati, every single appointment was kept. On time, and with bells on. Good for you all! (And shame on us, who had to sprint to the bathroom and back in 90 seconds:)

New York Afterthoughts

Neighbor Ahab

I loved being next door to The Acting Company's rehearsals for Moby Dick. I only knew the TAC from their amazing recording of The Cradle Will Rock, and I'm enough of a theater nerd to get a charge out of sharing a rehearsal room wall.

To Panpipe or Not...

Baritones, make a decision about your panpipe miming during Papageno's "suicide" scene. If you're going to mime, them do it without apologizing, and mark the music so the pianist knows to watch you and respond accordingly. If you're not going to mime, then mark the music to indicate your decision. Otherwise, there's that awkward moment when the pianist doesn't know whether or not to play the first panpipe entrance or wait for you.

Speaking of Awkward... "Ride!"

As in "ridere" (laugh, damn you!) - the terrifying stage direction in Norina's aria. Sopranos, I don't know how to tell you to achieve this, but figure out a way with which you're comfortable to handle the sweet yet maniacal laugh that bridges the arietta and the cabaletta. It can be many many things, but the one thing it can't be is embarrassing to you personally. If you're self-conscious about it, you'll spend half the cabaletta recovering.

Mozart Bait & Switch

We require one aria by Mozart or Handel as part of the 4-aria audition repertoire package. Most applicants meet this requirement. We also allow singers to change their repertoire if they bring an updated list to the audition. Unfortunately, too many folks make a change that eliminates the Mozart/Handel requirement. Don't.

More news from Ohio in a day or two.

2008 Audition Tour Aria Frequency List

By voice type, the number of times an aria appears on the lists submitted by singers who are auditioning. Each singer must submit 4 choices. This list does not reflect the actual arias offered as first choices within the auditions.

SOPRANO
41% of the audition pool

The Big Winner (30 times)
Ach ich fühl's

Runner-Up (21 times)
Deh vieni

11-20
Ain't it a pretty night
Caro nome
Come scoglio
Je dis que rien ne m'épouvante
Je veux vivre
No word from Tom / I go to him

6-10
Adieu notre petite table
Ah je ris (Jewel Song)
Be kind and courteous
Chi il bel sogno di Doretta
Dearest Mama
Depuis le jour
Donde lieta uscì
Durch Zärtlichkeit
Fire aria
Grossmaechtige Prinzessin
Je marche / Obéissons (Gavotte)
Je suis encor
Oh! quante volte
Quando m'en vo
Quel guardo / So anch'io
Regnava nel silenzio
Sul fil d'un soffio
Tornami a vagghegiar

3-5
A vos jeux
Ach ich liebte
Adele's Audition aria
Ah fors'è lui / Sempre libera
Ah! fuggi il traditor
Ah! non credea / Ah non giunge
Amour ranime mon courage
Batti batti
But You Do Not Know this Man
Come now a roundel
Come now a roundel
Da tempeste
Das war sehr gut
Dich teure Halle
Dove sono
Du gai soleil
Elle a fui
Embroidery aria
Glitter and be gay
Gluck das mir verbliebt (Marietta's Lied)
Gold is a fine thing (Silver Aria)
I Want Magic
Il est doux
Les oiseaux dans la charmille
Mi tradì
Non mi dir
Nun eilt herbei
O luce di quest'anima
O wär' ich schon
O zittre nicht
Padre germani addio
Piangerò
Porgi amor
Prendi per me
Sempre libera
Sì mi chiamano Mimì
Song to the Moon (Rusalka)
Steal me
Stridono lassù
Una donna a quindici anni
Willow song

Once or Twice
Addio del passato
Ah chi mi dice mai
Ardon gl’incensi / Spargi (Lucia's mad scene)
Bester Jüngling
Chanson du Rossignol
Come in quest'ora
Come per me sereno
Comme autrefois
Credete al mio dolore
Dawn...Still Darkness (Flight)
Der Hölle Rache
Dis-moi que je suis belle
Einst träumte / Trübe Augen
Emily's Aria (Our Town)
Endless pleasure
Entrance of La Fée (Cendrillon)
Ernani involami
Es gibt ein Reich
Father, I beg you (Tartuffe)
Fiakermilli's Aria (Arabella)
Geme la tortorella
Have peace Jo
Hello! Oh Margaret it's you
How beautiful it is
Hymn to the Sun (The Golden Cockerel)
I Can Smell the Sea Air
In quelle trine morbide
Injurious Hermia
Is This All You Can Bring?
Je suis Titania
John my darling
Joy Beyond Measure
Klänge der Heimat (Czàrdàs)
Kommt ein schlanker Bursch' gegangen
La mamma morta
Le jour
Lied der Lulu
Lisa’s Aria (Queen of Spades)
Love Me Big
Madame Pompous' Aria (Too Many Sopranos)
Marfa's aria (Ivan Sergeich...)
Marie’s Lullaby (Wozzeck)
Martern aller Arten
Mein Herr Marquis (Laughing song)
Meine Lippen, sie kussen so heiss
Morro, ma prima in grazia
No monsieur mon mari
O malheureuse Iphigénie
O mio babbino caro
O sleep
Once I thought (Laurie's Song)
Or sai
Ou va la jeune Hindoue? (Bell song)
Pace, pace mio Dio!
Par le rang / Salut à la France
Pleurez mes yeux
Presentation of the Rose
Presto, amiche, a spasso
Qui la voce
Rita's Aria (A Wedding)
Ruhe sanft
Sabrina's Aria (Colonel Jonathan the Saint)
S'altro che lagrime
Saper vorreste
Scoglio d'immota fronte
Se il padre perdei
Se pietà
Se son vendicata
Sie wollen alle gelt! (Zdenka's Aria)
Summertime
Tacea la notte / Di tale amor
Tiny's Song
To this we've come
Trahir Vincent
Tu che di gel
Tu che le vanità
Tu la mia stella sei
Un bel dì vedremo
Una voce poco fa
V'adoro pupille
Verdi piante
Viljalied
Volta la terrea
What good would the moon be
Where am i? Dreaming? (Gretel's aria)
Where is the old warm world?
Wo bin ich
You've never seen the winter here


MEZZO-SOPRANO / COUNTERTENOR
18 % of the audition pool (16% / 2%)

The Big Winner (23 times)
Smanie implacabili

11-15
Sein wir wieder gut
Va! laisse couler mes larmes

6-10
Give him this orchid
I know a bank
Must the winter come so soon
Nobles Seigneurs salut
Parto parto
Pres des remparts (Seguidilla)
Que fais-tu
Things change Jo
Voi che sapete
Wie du warst

3-5
Cruda sorte
Faites-lui mes aveux
Iris hence away
Je vous ecris (Letter scene)
Non piu mesta
Non so più
O ma lyre immortelle
O mio Fernando
Svegliatevi nel core
Una voce poco fa (mezzo)
What a movie

Once or Twice
A l'heure dite, je fuyais
A Quality Love
A Quiet Place
Acerba voluttà
Ah Michele Don't You Know
Ah! mon fils
Al lampo dell'armi
All that gold
Amour! viens aider ma faiblesse
As with Rosey Steps
Cara speme
Che farò
Deh per questo istante
Despair No More Shall Wound Me
Dopo notte
Dove sei
Enfin je suis ici
Estelle’s aria (Miss Havisham’s Fire)
I Am Easily Assimilated
I Do Not Judge You, John
I Was a Constant Faithful Wife
Ich bin Rosine Leckermaul
Il vecchiotto
In uomini
J’ai perdu mon Eurydice
Je vais mourir
L’angue offeso
L'amour vainqueur
Lucidissima face
Madame de la Haltiere's Aria (Cendrillon)
Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix
Oblivion soave (Arnalta's Lullaby)
Oh, those faces
Olga's aria (Ya ne sposobna)
Pauline's aria (Podrugi milïye)
Perfect as we are
Scorre il fiumo
Se Romeo
Spero per voi
Tacero
The empty handed traveler
This journey
Thy hand Belinda / When I am laid in earth
Venti Turbini
Vivi tiranno
Vois sous l'archet (Violin aria)


TENOR
14% of the audition pool

The Winner (16 times)
Dies Bildnis

10 Times Each
Il mio tesoro
O wie ängstlich
Una furtiva lagrima

6-9
Ah lève-toi soleil
Che gelida manina
Here I stand
Kuda kuda (Lenski)
Lonely House
Salut! demeure chaste e pure

3-5
A te o cara
Ah mes amis
De' miei bollenti spiriti
Durch die Wälder
En fermant les yeux (La Rêve)
La fleur (Flower song)
Questa o quella
Recondita armonia
Sì ritrovarla
Un aura amorosa

Once or Twice
Ach so fromm
Ah fuyez
Ah la paterna mano
Ah, en fosse intorno al trono
Albert the Good
Amore o grillo
Aria from Dona Francisquita
Au Mont Ida
Celeste Aida
Ch’ella mi creda
Dal labbro il canto
Dalla sua pace
Dein is mein ganzes Herz
Dentro il mio petto
È la solita storia
E lucevan le stelle
Ecco ridente
Fantaisie aux divins mensonges
Flamand's Sonnet (Capriccio)
Forse la soglia attinse
Fra poco a me ricoverò
Frisch zum Kampfe
Fuor del mar
I must with speed amuse her
I’m Like a Bird (Rita)
Ich baue ganz
Im Gegenteil (Tanzmeister)
I'm gettin' tired of travelin' through
It's about the way people is made
Je crois entendre
Jour et nuit
L’angue offeso
La donna è mobile
L'anima ho stanco
Love sounds th’alarm
Love too frequently betrayed
Maybe a Handel aria - if I've found one by then [this is one of my favorites:)]
New York Lights
O Colombina
O fiamma soave
Outside this house
Parmi veder le lagrime
Peter Grimes’ mad scene
Pourquoi me reveiller
Povero Ernesto
Prologue aria from Billy Budd
Quanto è bella
Que les destins prospéres
So there you were (Guardian Angel)
Spirto gentil
Tarquinius does not wait
Vainement ma bien aimée
Vary the song
Vedrommi intorno
Where e'er you walk
Wie eine Rosenknospe (Camille’s Romanza)


BARITONE
18% of the audition pool

The Runaway Winner (29 times)
Hai già vinta la causa

11-16
Billy in the Darbies
E fra quest'ansie (Silvio)
Mein Sehnen (Pierrot's Tanzlied)
Papageno's suicide aria

6-10
Ah! per sempre
Avant de quitter ces lieux
Largo al factotum
Mab
O du mein holder Abendstern
Rivolgete
Yeletsky's aria (Ya vas lyublu)

3-5
Bella siccome un angelo
Come Paride vezzose
Der Vogelfänger
Donne mie
É sogno?
Io morro ma lieto in core
O Nadir
O vin dissipe la tristesse
Onegin's aria
Per me giunto
Vision fugitive
Votre toast (Toreador)
Warm as the autumn light
When the air sings of summer
Within this frail crucible

Once or Twice
A Red Headed Woman
Aleko's aria (Ves' tabor spit)
Aprite un po'
Choisir! Et pourquoi?
Comme une pâle fleur
Confession from Dead Man Walking
Cortigiani
Credo in un Dio crudel
Dearest Amelia
Deh, vieni alla finestra
Di Provenza
Donner / Das Rheingold
Hal's Memory from Plump Jack
Hear me, O Lord
I was never saner
I'll be there...from The Grapes of Wrath
In youth the panting slave
Ja Wehe!
Lieben Hassen
Maxim’s
News has a kind of mystery
Non siate ritrosi
Pandolfe's aria from Cendrillon.
Prince Igor (Ni sna ni)
Questo amor
Ragged Man’s aria from Grapes of Wrath
Schaunard's aria
Schicchi’s aria
Scintille, diamant
Se vuol ballare
See the Raging Flames
Si può
Smirnoff's Aria from The Bear
So Dies My Paris Dream (The Tsar Has His Photograph Taken)
Sois Immobile
There was a knight
Tower scene from Pelleas et Melisande
Uzel' Ta Samaja Tat'jana
Virtue
You’d think a person


BASS and BASS-BARITONE
9% of the audition pool
(FYI: exactly 50% of these guys characterize themselves as basses, 50% as bass-baritones)

Winner by a Slim Margin! (10 times)
Se vuol ballare

6-8
Hear me O Lord
I'm a lonely man Susannah
Madamina (Catalogue aria)
Vecchia zimarra

3-5
Aprite un po'
Aris ye subterranean winds
Épouse quelque brave fille
Il lacerato spirito
In diesen heil'gen Hallen
La calunnia
La vendetta
Non più andrai
Piff paff
Vous qui faites l'endormie (Serenade)
Wie schoen ist doch die Musik

Once or Twice
A un dottor della mia sorte
Abendlich strahlt der Sonne Auge
Aleko's aria (Ves' tabor spit)
Als Büblein klein
Arie Vodnika
Bottom's Dream
Come dal ciel
Come Master
Comment peut-on penser (Sancho’s aria)
Dalle stanze ove Lucia
Demon's Aria
Di Cupido
Di due figli vivea, padre beato
Gremin's aria (Lyubvi vse vozrastï pokornï)
I got plenty o’ nuttin
I rage / O ruddier than the cherry
Il voulait reigner... Maitre miséricordieux
I'm a lonely man Susannah
I'm Fixin to Tell You (Revival Scene)
Infelice
Je suis le chevalier errant
King Rene's Prayer
Leave me loathsome light
Man that is born of a woman
O beauty
O du mein holder Abendstern
O Isis und Osiris
O tu Palermo
O wie will ich triumphieren
Quand la flamme
Quel torrente
Scintille diamant
Sous les Pieds d'une Femme
Udite o rustici
Umpire’s Song
Vi ravviso
Warm as the autumn light