# Coloratura Soprano Arias



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

What is the most difficult coloratura soprano aria ever written? Or the highest? I know the famous top F in sung by The Queen of the Night isn't the highest note written for soprano in an opera. Here is the passage where it appears in her Act I aria:










So if that isn't the highest note or most difficult passage for coloratura soprano, then what is?


----------



## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)




----------



## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Well most difficult is tough to say, different arias make different demands. Simply the most & fastest notes? High tessitura? Complex structure?
I think focusing solely on high notes is a mistake. To paraphrase Natalie Dessay (said in reference to JDF's "Ah Mes Amis" but surely meant to be applied to herself as well), high notes in and of themselves aren't that interesting. If you've got 'em, you've got 'em. Its the phrasing, the musicality, and the interpretation that are interesting.

In any event, a couple coloratura soprano arias that imo are fiendishly difficult:










I used to prefer Kathleen Battle's version -- I think her clear, transparent tone is a better fit for this aria -- but Ms. Dessay crushes her from a technique standpoint. So many gorgeously floated trills, although she's a bit pitchy for the first minute or two. And related to my statement above, the highlight for me isn't the Ab6, it's 8:14 where Ms. Dessay has a gorgeous trill that she crescendos and diminuendos with such skill that it thrills me every time.
I think this aria is perhaps underrated for it's difficulty. The phrasing is tricky, just try to hum along to the main phrase of the song, making sure to hit every note. It's tough!






Anyone noticing a theme here?


----------



## rjoy (Jan 9, 2012)

B-flat over high C by French SOP Mado Robin, at 2: 42

Does anyone know what she is singing?


----------



## notreally (Oct 25, 2011)

rjoy said:


> Does anyone know what she is singing?


It's 'Spargi d'amaro pianto' from _Lucia di Lammermoor_ by Gaetano Donizetti.


----------



## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


>


Watching this video, its amazing how many operas use the same climatic high note convention of the high-pitched dominant then run down to the tonic!


----------



## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

notreally said:


> It's 'Spargi d'amaro pianto' from _Lucia di Lammermoor_ by Gaetano Donizetti.


And she is singing it very badly !


----------



## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

One of the highest is "Ah,vous dirai-je maman" from Adolphe Adam's opera "Le Toreador" as sung by Miliza Korjus.
The specialist coloratura soprano is a breed that is now extinct. They appeared in opera, operetta and film especially.They had very high top notes but not much lower down, but they are a wonder to listen to.

Some of the most famous were as follows: 
Luisa Tetrazzini, b. Florence 1871. Range F above High C./
Amelita Galli-Gurci, b. Milan 1882. Range E Flat in Alt.
Erna Sack, B.Berlin 1898. Range High C above G. (6C).
Lily Pons, b.Nr. Cannes 1902. Range F in Alt. "The Pocket Coloratura". Became an American citizen.
Miliza Korjus, b. Warsaw 1909 Estonian father. The Berlin Nightingale. Range a sustained A Flat.
Mady Mesple, b.Toulouse 1931. Range extended to High A Flat.

I don't have the facilty to upload music on to the post, but I know that you can find some of these ladies on You Tube.


----------



## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

Try also the famous Air des clochettes from Lakme :






But personally I love Dame Sutherland's live performance in this :


----------



## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

In the land of baroque opera (and oratorios) there are several fiendishly difficult coloratura passages. Like this aria from Vivaldi's oratorio Juditha Triumphans:






Also, speaking of things going really fast, a lot of the time, it's difficult to beat Rossini, although he never reaches for the stratosphere (at least not with the Colbran roles), interpolations of high E flats, Es and Fs abound.










The highest written note I know of in any aria, is the G6 in one of the cadenzas in Salieri's L'Europa riconosciuta


----------



## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

Aksel said:


> The highest written note I know of in any aria, is the G6 in one of the cadenzas in Salieri's L'Europa riconosciuta


There are actually two high G's in Mozart's most famous concert aria "Popoli di Tessaglia...Io non chiedo"






and this other Mozart concert aria, which is sung so beautifully by Natalie Dessay has a huge leap from a low b flat to a high D at the end






This one's my favorite. It's very difficult, but more importantly, it's a very expressive and emotional piece.


----------



## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

I forgot one. Although without any coloratura to speak of, it's got plenty of high notes. And it's a crackingly good aria:


----------



## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Aksel said:


> I forgot one. Although without any coloratura to speak of, it's got plenty of high notes. And it's a crackingly good aria:


I LOVE this aria. And Kim is ferociously wonderful in it.


----------



## AliceKettle (Jun 15, 2014)

My gosh there's a lot of difficult ones for coloraturas out there. A big part of being a coloratura soprano is being able to do all those acrobatic melismas and jumps:
The most difficult arias for coloratura sopranos:
-Popoli Di Tessaglia (G#6) Mozart concert aria for soprano 
-O zittre nicht Mein Lieber Sohn-The Queen of the Night's first aria from Mozart's opera Die Zauberflote (one F6) The high F isn't even the most difficult part if your a natural coloratura. The hardest part is the Bb5 section overall where it has the extensive coloratura section, which yes just so happens to end on the F6 at the end. You have to have great breath control to make it even less than halfway through the coloratura melismas. Unlike the more staccato coloratura passages in the Queen of the Night's second renowned aria, Der Holle Rache, O zittre nicht has more lyrical beginning, and legato coloratura passages. Besides, the tessitura of this aria goes up to a Bb5.
-Der Holle Rache (4 F6s that I've counted) I've never learned either of the Queen's arias, but I have them in a songbook. I counted four F6's in Der Holle Rache). Once again, it's not the F6's that are the super hard part (I can hit those), it's the sheer power, drama, and high tessitura that comes with great coloratura control at that high pitch. This is the Queen's big "Drama Queen" song literally.
-Martern Aller Arten Konstanze's second aria from Mozart's opera Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail- Another dramatic coloratura aria. It only goes up to a D6, which is often a high note for many lyric sopranos. However, there aren't many lyric sopranos could ever sing this coloratura aria. It's a lovely aria that goes up and down quickly with coloratura melismas. As Salieri puts it in the Amadeus movie this aria is "10 minutes of ghastly scales whizzing up and down like fireworks." Of course, I disagree with the "ghastly" part, I think this aria is fantastic and beautiful, but those quick scales whiz zing up and down certainly wouldn't be an easy feat at a tessitura that reaches a C6.
-The dramatic coloratura version of Sempre Libera from La Traviata- it has Eb6 flats and 13 descending high C6s
-I don't know much about this opera or the arias from it, but Lucia's arias from Lucia di Lamermoor (Il suono dolce, I think goes to an Eb6-E6

-Caro Nome (B3-C#6/Db6) from Verdi's Rigoletto I haven't learned to sing this one yet, but when I have more technique I hope to learn it. It has a mixed tessitura going up to an A5 this aria is light, almost ethereal, and very difficult. A great amount of air required to sing this. It has an almost an "airy" sound, but not quite because the words must be articulate and the air flow properly controlled. This is an aria that most coloratura soprano 
singers, even the most famous professionally trained opera singers, don't usually learn to sing until they are in their mid 20s to early 30s. I think that it has to do with having the ability to sound light and youthful, but also dark and mature at the same time. There aren't many young coloratura sopranos under the age of 25 who have fully matured voices. Either way, when I search on Youtube this aria is rarely chosen for college students voice recitals.
Ah! Jeux Veux Vivre from Gounod's Romeo et Juliette (D6)- Not one that I've learned yet, but it's still one that I want to learn at some point in college when I'm ready. This aria uses chromatic scales in coloratura melismas that go up and down. It doesn't necessarily require as much air as Caro Nome, but this aria is still difficult due to the long coloratura melismas.


----------



## BaronScarpia (Apr 2, 2014)

Martern aller Artern and Come scoglio are two horribly difficult Mozart arias for dramatic coloratura soprano. I hear that the title role of Massenet's Esclarmonde is very high and very tricky, too.


----------



## JohnGerald (Jul 6, 2014)

If you play the recent DVD of Matilde di Shabran, the final 17 minutes or so contain Olga Peretyatko doing virtually nonstop coloratura singing. It's amazing! She may not set the record for the highest note, but her technique is flawless ... and this after singing all evening. "Ebben -- son tua, son tua per sempre" is at the end of the opera!!!


----------



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Bel Raggio from Semiramide performed by Joan Sutherland in The Art of the Prima Donna with two high E's, one completely exposed, sustained and FF, perhas the most spectucular E ever recorded.. I don't believe anyone else has recorded it with the two High E's. I say two fortissimo high E's trumps a briefly hit F in the Queen of the Night. The aria also has lots of runs from the top to the bottom and back up again. In addition, the aria on the whole lies low so the soprano must have a wide range at her disposal.


----------

