Remember That Aria?

Seattle Opera audiences got to hear some great singing this season. Now that the season is over, and we’re gearing up for our exciting 2012/13 season of glorious voices and magnificent operas, we’re about to introduce “Aria Ready”—a series of posts and conversations highlighting some of the important arias we’ll hear this coming year. Stay tuned to our blog and our Facebook page over the coming weeks, where we’ll be meeting some of next year’s singers and hearing about such pieces as Rodolfo’s famous “Che gelida manina,” Dandini’s brilliant entrance aria in La Cenerentola, and the opera-long aria which is La voix humaine.

Arias are the basic building block of opera—opportunities for the singers to show the audience everything they can do, moments in which the characters must reach deeply into themselves and express the essence of their human story. Arias, in all their complexity and variety, are what keep us coming back to opera year after year. And a well-sung aria is what makes us applaud. Here’s a reminder of the arias we heard in our 2011/12 season, with production photos by Elise Bakketun, listed in order of range, from high soprano to low bass. Which aria, and which performance, meant the most to YOU?

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From Orpheus and Eurydice:
SONG OF THE BLESSED SPIRIT (“Cette asile aimable et tranquille”)
Sung by Davinia Rodríguez

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From Attila:
ODABELLA’S ENTRANCE ARIA (“Allor che i forti corrono”/“Da te questo”)
Sung by Ana Lucrecia García & Susan Neves

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From Attila:
ODABELLA’S CAVATINA (“Oh! Nel fuggente nuvolo”)
Sung by Ana Lucrecia García & Susan Neves

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From Carmen:
MICAËLA’S PRAYER (“Je dis”)
Sung by Norah Amsellem & Caitlin Lynch

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From Porgy and Bess:
“Summertime”
Sung by Angel Blue

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From Madama Butterfly:
“Un bel dì”
Sung by Patricia Racette & Ausrine Stundyte

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From Madama Butterfly:
“Che tua madre”
Sung by Patricia Racette & Ausrine Stundyte

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From Madama Butterfly:
“Tu? Tu? Tu? Piccolo Iddio”
Sung by Patricia Racette & Ausrine Stundyte

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From Porgy and Bess:
“My man’s gone now”
Sung by Mary Elizabeth Williams

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From Carmen:
HABANERA (“L’amour est un oiseau rebelle”)
Sung by Anita Rachvelishvili & Malgorzata Walewska

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From Carmen:
SEGUIDILLA (“Près des ramparts de Seville”)
Sung by Anita Rachvelishvili & Malgorzata Walewska

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From Carmen:
GYPSY SONG (“Les tringle de sistres”)
Sung by Anita Rachvelishvili & Malgorzata Walewska

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From Carmen:
CARD SCENE (“En vain pour éviter”)
Sung by Anita Rachvelishvili & Malgorzata Walewska

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From Orpheus and Eurydice:
“Amour, viens rendre à mon âme”
Sung by William Burden & Andrew Stenson

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From Orpheus and Eurydice:
“J’ai perdu mon Eurydice”
Sung by William Burden & Andrew Stenson

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From Porgy and Bess:
“It ain’t necessarily so”
Sung by Jermaine Smith

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From Madama Butterfly:
“Dovunque al mondo”
Sung by Stefano Secco & Nathaniel Peake

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From Madama Butterfly:
“Addio, fiorito asil”
Sung by Stefano Secco & Nathaniel Peake

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From Carmen:
FLOWER SONG (“La fleur que tu m’avais jétée”)
Sung by Luis Chapa & Fernando de la Mora

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From Attila:
FORESTO’S ARIA (“Ella in poter del barbaro”/“Cara patria”)
Sung by Antonello Palombi & Russell Thomas

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From Attila:
FORESTO’S LAMENT (“Che non avrebbe il misero”)
Sung by Antonello Palombi & Russell Thomas

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From Attila:
EZIO’S ARIA (“Dagli immortali vertici”/“È gettata la mia sorte”)
Sung by Marco Vratogna

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From Porgy and Bess:
“I got plenty o’ nuttin’”
Sung by Gordon Hawkins

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From Carmen:
TOREADOR SONG (“Votre toast”)
Sung by Michael Todd Simpson

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From Attila:
ATTILA’S DREAM (“Mentre gonfiarsi l’anima”/“Oltre a quel limite”)
Sung by John Relyea and Mika Kares

All photos by Elise Bakketun