# Russian Opera Arias for High Baritone



## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Hi all, well, I have loved Russian music for many years and have sung (first tenor, but that's a long story) in the Yale Russian Chorus Alumni group for decades now. I still keep my voice up as best as I can -- but I'm, in fact, a high baritone, and have sung in that voice part since college. My current voice teacher/coach and I have worked up a couple of wonderful Russian opera arias. The first is я вас люблю, Ya vas lyublyu, the wonderful love song from Tchaikovsky's пиковая дама / Pikovaya Dama / Pique Dame. Dmitri Hvorostovsky of course does a bang-up job with that one.

Here's a link to it:





The second one is not as well-known but is really a heck of an aria, tremendous fun to sing (and to listen to), and the slightly higher tessitura is better-suited to my particular voice. It's called the Song of the Venetian Guest from Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Sadko. I have two versions here for your enjoyment, although there are others worth a listen. The first is the baritone Nikola Mijailovic in concert:






While he gives the aria a good go (despite messing up some of the opening verses; it's unusual to have four couplets musically almost identical, but there you are), my favorite is the simply incomparable Pavel Lisitsian (and you must find his recording of the Pique Dame aria as well; it's phenomenal!). This man has breath control _to burn._ Here it is, the Sadko aria (try to keep up):






So. I hope you liked those. Now your job. Can you tell me of other opera arias for high baritone that are similarly enjoyable? I'm looking for new repertoire. I am not looking for Russian folk songs, Russian lieder, or any such. I'm not looking for arias for low bass, or for tenor. I'm looking for opera arias for baritone, preferably a highish-lying lyric baritone such as myself. Any help would be appreciated (as would links and your comments). Many thanks / большое спасибо!

Best Regards,

George


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

No one? Nada/ Nichts? Was gibt's? Kein Antwort?

Crickets ...


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Mmmmm. Well it sounds like you are a lyric baritone, so these are the Russian arias I would suggest:

Tchaikovsky:
Eugene Onegin - Aria from act one scene three
Iolanta - Robert's aria


Borodin:
Prince Igor - Igor's aria from act two


I can't think of any others at the moment.

N.


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## Autumn Leaves (Jan 3, 2014)

Also from Rimsky-Korsakov:

Mizgir's arioso from The Snow Maiden

Plus some modern opera: the parts of Tsars Alexander and Nickolai from Schchedrin's The Lefthander, if they can be divided into arias. 

You could check Prokofiev's War and Peace as well; I haven't seen it yet, but Andrey Bolkonskiy is a part for lyric baritone.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

not sure about Russian, but I can find you plenty of Ukrainian pieces

Edit: oh! you wanted operatic arias. I apologize. I'll have to do some digging.

I'll start with my favorite 





and a few more (you might have the adjust the keys, but the majority of them are folk songs, so that is permissible. that said, even with the keys adjusted, I included a relatively wide range of tessituras. some of them are a bit tenor-y, but that shouldn't be a problem given your previous self-description)

























or if you wanted something a bit more dramatic


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## Ilarion (May 22, 2015)

Barelytenor said:


> Hi all, well, I have loved Russian music for many years and have sung (first tenor, but that's a long story) in the Yale Russian Chorus Alumni group for decades now. I still keep my voice up as best as I can -- but I'm, in fact, a high baritone, and have sung in that voice part since college. My current voice teacher/coach and I have worked up a couple of wonderful Russian opera arias. The first is я вас люблю, Ya vas lyublyu, the wonderful love song from Tchaikovsky's пиковая дама / Pikovaya Dama / Pique Dame. Dmitri Hvorostovsky of course does a bang-up job with that one.
> 
> Here's a link to it:
> 
> ...


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