Baton Vocal

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847), wrote an enormous amount of music in all the forms of his day except opera; today, only a few of his works are in the concert repertory, but these are very pop...

Beside his 150 waltzes Johann Strauss composed several operettas of which 'Die Fledermaus' his best contribution to this genre is. The Csardas, sung by Rosalinde demands great virtuosity and gypsy fee...

The duet La ci darem la mano (Give me the hand) from Mozart's opera Don Giovanni is sung in the first act when Don Giovanni asks the peasant daughter Zerlina to marry hem. (Soprano, Baritone and Conce...

The Gypsy Chorus (Coro di Zingari) 'Vedi! Le fosche notturne spoglie' is the opening of the second act of he opera Il Trovatore. It is dawn at a gypsy encampment in Biscay, the gypsies prepare for the...

Cantique de Noël (O Holy Night) is a Christmas carol composed by French composer Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the poem "Minuit, Chrétiens" (Midnight, Christians) by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877), a wine merc...

The Cavatina 'Quel guarda il cavaliere' is sung in the first act of Donizetti's opera Don Pasquale by the young Norina .She comments on a novel she is reading, but also dwells on her skills as a charm...

'El Barbero de Sevilla' is a one-act zarzuela, divided into three scenes, with a libretto by Guillermo Perrín y Vico and Miguel de Palacios and music by Jéronimo Giménez. It premiered at the 'Teatro d...

If we say that zarzuela is Spanish light opera with spoken dialogue we shall be near the mark. Geronimo Gimeniz is a Sevillan composer of many Zarzuela's. The short temperamental aria Zapatuedo is fro...

Il Barbiere di Siviglia (1816) is one of the greatest of all comic operas. Based on an excellent play by Beaumarchais, The Barber of Seville delights audiences with its keenly sketched characters, mel...

Absolutely the most famous 'Canzone Napoletana' is 'O Sole Mio' composed by the Italian singer and songwriter Eduardo di Capua (1865-1917) in 1898. The lyrics were written by Giovanni Capurro. Though...

Ombra mai fù is the opening aria from the 1738 opera Serse by Georg Friederich Handel. The opera itself was a commercial failure, lasting only five performances in London after its premiere. In the 19...

'By Strauss' is a song composed by George Gershwin in 1936. It pays homage to the music of Johann Strauss Sr. and Johann Strauss Jr.. The singer sings how she doesn't like Broadway, Irving Berlin, Jer...

Pietro Mascagni's most successful opera 'Cavalleria Rusticana' is a tempestuous drama of adultery and revenge set in a remote Italian village. Its earthy passions, bold confrontational scenes and rich...

Pietro Mascagni's most successful opera 'Cavalleria Rusticana' is a tempestuous drama of adultery and revenge set in a remote Italian village. Its earthy passions, bold confrontational scenes and rich...

The romantic, picturesque and dramatic appeal of medieval Christianity furnished Richard Wagner, after 'Tannhäuser', with 'Lohengrin'. It's a romantic opera in three acts first performed in 1850 in We...

The romantic, picturesque and dramatic appeal of medieval Christianity furnished Richard Wagner, after 'Tannhäuser', with 'Lohengrin'. It's a romantic opera in three acts first performed in 1850 in We...

The opera Porgy and Bess contains many songs that have become popular in their own right, becoming standards in jazz and blues in addition to their original operatic setting. One of those is the lulla...

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847), wrote an enormous amount of music in all the forms of his day except opera; today, only a few of his works are in the concert repertory, but these are very pop...

In 1840 Felix Mendelssohn composed his 'Lobgesang' ('Hymn of Praise'), Op. 52. It's a 13-movement 'Symphony-Cantata on Words of the Holy Bible for Soloists, Choir and Orchestra'. Decades after Mendels...

In 1840 Felix Mendelssohn composed his 'Lobgesang' ('Hymn of Praise'), Op. 52. It's a 13-movement 'Symphony-Cantata on Words of the Holy Bible for Soloists, Choir and Orchestra'. Decades after Mendels...

French composer Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) composed his 'Requiem in D minor', Op. 48, between 1887 and 1890. It became the best-known compositions of his large works. In seven movements, the work is sc...

French composer Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) composed his 'Requiem in D minor', Op. 48, between 1887 and 1890. It became the best-known compositions of his large works. In seven movements, the work is sc...

Mozart's funeral motet Ave verum corpus was composed in june 1791 for Anton Stroll, choirmaster at the spa of Baden, near Vienna. Within a tiny span the music sounds an extraordinary depth of feeling,...

Soprano, Tenor, Bass, Choir and Concert Band 'Die Schöpfung' (The Creation) is an oratorio written between 1796 and 1798 by Joseph Haydn and considered by many to be his masterpiece. The oratorio depi...

Much of Schubert's songs do have a simple strophic character. These verses stand half-way between 'Art-song' and 'Folk-song'; the melody seems to be drawn from nature. Schubert marvellously achieved t...