# Passages that sound VERY hard to execute



## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Which specific passages in opera impress you in that they sound as though they must be especially hard for the singer or the orchestra to sing/play? Every time I listen to the "Deinen Mund" section from SALOME I'm astounded. _How_ does anyone -- even a great Strauss soprano -- sing that?! The orchestration is heavy, the text is wordy, the emotion is intense, there are a couple of climactic high notes, and the piece sounds difficult rhythmically. Listen for yourself:






What other parts of operas impress you in a similar way?


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

- Arturo's high F in Puritani
- the final portion of O Zittre Nicht
- Norma (all those switches from dramatic soprano/dramatic mezzo to coloratura/lyric soprano. x_x)
- Largo al Factotum (all that damn text....)
- the tenor aria from Carmina Burana (my balls feel squeezed just thinking about it)
- Esclarmonde


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

*BalalaikaBoy:* Personally, I think we'd _all_ be better off if that PURITANI high F was transposed down an octave.

I suppose the companion-piece to the SALOME passage I posted above is this one from ELEKTRA:


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Bellinilover said:


> *BalalaikaBoy:* Personally, I think we'd _all_ be better off if that PURITANI high F was transposed down an octave.
> 
> I suppose the companion-piece to the SALOME passage I posted above is this one from ELEKTRA:


I think what's difficult about a lot of Straussian music (particularly the soprano parts) is that it has a pattern of 
medium-low, medium-low, HIGH! medium-low, medium-low, HIGH!

frankly, there just isn't much of a line there, so I can't imagine singing it would feel particularly "comfortable" in any capacity.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> I think what's difficult about a lot of Straussian music (particularly the soprano parts) is that it has a pattern of
> medium-low, medium-low, HIGH! medium-low, medium-low, HIGH!
> 
> frankly, there just isn't much of a line there, so I can't imagine singing it would feel particularly "comfortable" in any capacity.


Yes, it seems to me that much of Strauss' music for soprano is oriented toward "high notes that must soar over the orchestra," and that for the singer the danger of this type of writing is that it can over time weaken the middle or lower-middle register, causing it to become less steady. What do you think?


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Bellinilover said:


> Yes, it seems to me that much of Strauss' music for soprano is oriented toward "high notes that must soar over the orchestra," and that for the singer the danger of this type of writing is that it can over time weaken the middle or lower-middle register, causing it to become less steady. What do you think?


agreed 100% (Strauss in general sounds painful to me lol)


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## Cesare Impalatore (Apr 16, 2015)

Verdi was known as the tenor who _massacred_ tenors. _Celeste Aida_ in its original written form is one of the best, most prominent examples.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> agreed 100% (Strauss in general sounds painful to me lol)


To me as a listener it sounds mostly glorious, but for the singer I'm sure it's far from being the "healthiest" music ever written.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> I think what's difficult about a lot of Straussian music (particularly the soprano parts) is that it has a pattern of
> medium-low, medium-low, HIGH! medium-low, medium-low, HIGH!
> 
> frankly, there just isn't much of a line there, so I can't imagine singing it would feel particularly "comfortable" in any capacity.


At least Strauss wrote a lot of beautiful lines (as well as the nasty declamation) for soprano. What he wrote for tenors is just obnoxious. Hardly anyone sounds tolerable singing, say, Bacchus. The best one can say is that the part is fairly short (and Jonas Kaufmann does look spiffy in that leopard suit. 



).

I gather Strauss didn't care much for tenors. I suspect it's thoroughly mutual.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Admittedly it isn't opera but when I think of fiendish pieces, Sibelius' _Lunnotar_ immediately comes to mind.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

This little ditty I sing in the shower every morning (not!)






Son qual nave from Artaserse by Riccardo Broschi.

N.


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## Guest (Jun 4, 2015)

To answer the OP as simply as I can: most (if not all) performances involving the sopranos in *Beethoven's* 9th/iv. QED.


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## Guest (Jun 4, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> [What he wrote for *tenors* is just obnoxious [...]. I gather Strauss didn't care much for *tenors*. I suspect it's thoroughly mutual.


Hah! I sometimes get harmony homework exercises (Bach chorales) handed in by 1st and 2nd year students that confirm this. I endeavor to show them that Bach thought otherwise, though there are _a few_ examples in the '371' that do display utter contempt for these creatures.


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## Lt.Belle (Jan 19, 2014)

I dont know if this is a passage but its a continues note in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda.
Here sung by Cristina Deutekom. It's 22 seconds long and can be found at 1:50.


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## Queen of the Nerds (Dec 22, 2014)

"Non piu mesta" from La Cenerentola.
Seriously, how does _anyone_ get those two-octave runs in that short amount of time?


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Samuel Beckett is just hard to articulate.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

any of Rossini's bass roles.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Kundry seduction scene in Act II of Parsifal makes me wonder what was Wagner thinking? How is it possible for soprano to intonate these lines 100% perfect?

Agree with the above suggestion of Rossini's bass roles. Assur, for example. One hell of a marathon!

Ombre leggere is a showpiece and well deservedly so.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Azol said:


> Kundry seduction scene in Act II of Parsifal makes me wonder what was Wagner thinking? How is it possible for soprano to intonate these lines 100% perfect?
> 
> Agree with the above suggestion of Rossini's bass roles. Assur, for example. One hell of a marathon!
> 
> Ombre leggere is a showpiece and well deservedly so.


Kundry is a hell of a part: low for a soprano, high for a mezzo, wracked with violent, contradictory emotions that'll throw off any singer's vocal placement if she isn't careful. And then in act three she only gets to sing four notes and has to prove herself as a mime. Bit of a challenge, I'd say.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> Kundry is a hell of a part: low for a soprano, high for a mezzo, wracked with violent, contradictory emotions that'll throw off any singer's vocal placement if she isn't careful. And then in act three she only gets to sing four notes and has to prove herself as a mime. Bit of a challenge, I'd say.


where is La Divina when you need her
edit: while we're at it, let's hear her _Klytemnestra_ as well. that would be even more satisfying.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Otello' s entrance. Esultate indeed!!


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## HumphreyAppleby (Apr 11, 2013)

Pretty much all of this:


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Siegfried...........................


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Itullian said:


> Siegfried...........................


To execute Siegfried properly, you need to find a certain spot on his back...


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Albert7 said:


> Samuel Beckett is just hard to articulate.


I don't know if this is hard to perform but it is certainly hard to listen to!!


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> To execute Siegfried properly, you need to find a certain spot on his back...


Ooh. Saucer of milk for WoodDuck!


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

Woodduck said:


> To execute Siegfried properly, you need to *find a certain spot on his back.*..





Barbebleu said:


> Ooh. Saucer of milk for WoodDuck!


Even better for duck, we reward him with with one of Freia's golden apples.........well done


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

DarkAngel said:


> Even better for duck, we reward him with with one of Freia's golden apples.........well done


Very nice, but do they cure allergies and regrow hair?


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Every time I hear the opening minutes/measures of Wotan's Farewell, I find it incredible that the bass-baritone is able to maintain the rhythm correctly and keep his place in the score.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Albert7 said:


> Samuel Beckett is just hard to articulate.


And just as hard to listen to! :lol:


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

When you have a voice like mine you find most passages difficult to execute. More especially anyone within earshot finds them impossible to listen to! :lol:


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

TalkingHead said:


> To answer the OP as simply as I can: most (if not all) performances involving the sopranos in *Beethoven's* 9th/iv. QED.


Even the indomitable Nilsson said this was hard to sing.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I nominate these two little ditties, the first by Meyerbeer and the second by Auber, found on Joan Sutherland's French Opera Gala, as the two most impossible sounding bits of coloratura I have ever heard. HOW does she sing this!!!!!!!!! She and Bonynge said that this was the work she was most proud of. Other coloratura may go higher, but the intricacies of these passages boggle the mind. Do give a listen if you are not familiar with them. I play them over and over and certain bits in each just stagger one's belief with the rapidity and intricacy of the execution!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy!!!!!


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