Ask Erda: German Arias

Dear Cindy,

I so enjoyed the workshop you gave at Essex, Md. for the NATS chapter, and bought several copies of your book for the few high school students I teach. The rest are all at that limbo between graduation (mainly from Peabody Conservatory, from which I retired five years ago). I have a mezzo who is not ready for the Composer and sick of Orlovsky, who needs a German aria for her “packet’s”of five or more. Do you have any advice? Am waiting for your next book and enjoy your column in Classical Singer immensely.

Best regards,
Ruth Drucker

Hi Ruth,

Thanks for your kind words and I’m so glad you enjoyed the workshop. Thank you also for buying my book! I hope your students find it very useful.

Finding a German aria for young mezzos is a real problem. There just isn’t much that’s truly suitable, because the repertoire of arias or excerptable scenes tends to be for the dramatic voices. But anyone who knows anything about vocal music realizes this, so there are ways around it. Is your mezzo auditioning for YAPs or college?

If she’s auditioning for college or for training programs, I would not hesitate to have her contact an audition panel, explain that she’s having difficulty finding a suitable German piece, and offer one of the following instead:

• A challenging art song with operatic flavor, such as the Brahms “Von Ewige Liebe,” a Mahler piece, or even one of the Wagner Wesendonck Lieder.

• A Bach oratorio aria.

• An opera aria in Russian or Czech (Pauline’s aria from Pique Dame is a lovely piece for a young lyric mezzo; so is Olga’s aria from Eugene Onegin).

• An aria translated to German (“Baba the Turk” from The Rake’s Progress; “Must the Winter Come So Soon,” a Carmen aria in German—my teacher, Mignon Dunn, always said Carmen was most elegant in German!).

Of course, first I would ask the auditioners which, if any of these, would be acceptable. My feeling is that, especially for students, auditioners who are asking for an aria in each language are looking primarily for a demonstration of language skills, so if they absolutely must hear German, they shouldn’t object to Lieder or oratorio. Russian and Czech opera is being done more and more in this country, often in the original language, and there is much more repertoire suited for young mezzos in the Slavic repertoire.

Finally, any singer who works in Germany will have to acquaint herself with performing familiar works in German, so singing an aria in translation is a useful skill. I wouldn’t hesitate to explain your choices on the repertoire list, application, or in a cover letter.

If, however, you come up against a truculent panel that insists on hearing a German aria, here are some other choices that might suit a young lyric:

• Nancy’s aria from Martha by Flotow: “Jaegerin, schlau im Sinn” (it’s a silly little ditty, but no sillier than Orlovsky).

• Irmentraute’s aria from Der Waffenschmied, by Lortzing.

• “Wie du warst” (Octavian) from Der Rosenkavalier (might fit better than Der Komponist).

• “Einsam wachend in der Nacht,” Brangaene’s aria from Tristan und Isolde. This requires a voice with some meat, capable of beautiful legato and high, sustained lines.

• The Second Norn’s excerpt from Götterdämmerung. Again, the orchestration is not particularly heavy, and if your mezzo is heading towards this repertoire, it may be a good “stretch” piece.

If your young mezzo is auditioning for YAPs and other professional engagements, there is no reason for her to offer a German aria unless the YAP application insists on it (in which case, I would try the same steps outlined above).

Finally, my own little trick: I have often had luck offering the Third Lady’s part of the opening trio from The Magic Flute in auditions for companies who were producing the work. It works pretty well as an excerpt, as it has some long, lyric lines and requires some skill to execute well. Twice I’ve been hired on the spot when offering this!

Below are some suggested German arias—not all suitable for lyric or young voices, but enough to give some ideas, I hope:

• The Witch in Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck

• “Jägerin, schlau im Sinn” (Nancy, Martha; Flotow)

• ‘“Irmentraute’s Aria” (Irmentraute, Der Waffenschmied; Lortzing)

• “A lonely Arab maid” (Fatima, Oberon; von Weber)

• “Araby, dear Araby, my native land” (Fatima, Oberon; von Weber)

• “Ballad of Herne the Hunter” (Frau Reich, Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor; Nicolai)

• “Drummer’s Aria” (The Drummer, Der Kaiser von Atlantis, von Ullmann)

• “Chacun à son goût” (Orlovsky, Die Fledermaus; J. Strauss)

• “Sein wir wieder gut” (Der Komponist, Ariadne auf Naxos; R. Strauss)

• “Wie du warst” (Octavian, Der Rosenkavalier; R. Strauss)

• “Ich will nichts hören” or “Ich habe keine gute Nächter” (Klytaemnestra, Elektra; R. Strauss)

• “Daphne, wir warten dein” (Gaea, Daphne; R. Strauss)

Wagner:

• “So gut und schlimm es geh’ …” through “weisst du, wie das wird?” (First Norn, Götterdämmerung)