My singers loved the "Brüderlein, Schwesterlein" Chorus from Die Fledermaus, The "Cigarette Girls'" Chorus from Carmen, All the Choruses from Die Zauberflöte,

"Poor Wand'ring One" and I am the Pirate King from Pirates of Penzance; "Va Pensiero" from Nabucco." The Promise of Living" from TheTenderland  to start

S

How about Easter Hymn part of the Cavalleria Rusticana?

Of course, "intermezzo" of this opera alone can be a great introduction to the world of opera (although it is insrumental, haha).

Hi, Amy.  I suspect that your "advanced" students are about like our Freshman vocal majors, and my immediate reaction to your question is that they are not nearly advanced enough in vocal technique to be doing operatic literature.  But if they have been taking voice lessons for at least a year, and it's OK with their teachers, I could easily be wrong.

 

Not quite clear, either, whether you mean opera chorus literature, opera small ensemble literature, or opera solo literature.  But by no means should they be forced to try to sound more mature than their voices actually are.  It could easily exacerbate vocal problems that will need to be repaired later on.

 

All the best,

 

John

 

 

 Hi, Amy!

 

We recently did an opera-focus concert with our orchestra.  Here are some of the repertoire highlights:

 

The Shepherds’ Chorus (Amahl and the Night Visitors) - Gian Carlo Menotti - SATB

O Isis und Osiris, welche Wonne! (Die Zauberflöte) - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - TTB

Scenda Amor (Idomeneo) - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - SATB

Va pensiero (Nabucco) - Giuseppe Verdi - SATB

Dome Epais (Lakme) - Léo Delibes - SSA

 

On the lighter side, you might consider almost anything by Gilbert & Sullivan.  Also, many of the lesser known choruses by Handel, Monteverdi, and Purcell are worth consideration (and are public domain in most cases).

I hope this helps!

Matthew

Thanks for all the replies.  I have plans for big research this afternoon.

Neighbor's Chorus - Offenbach

 

HS kids LOVE this one.  Also, Va Pensiero is perfect for HS because the only time you're allowed to have that much angst is if you're a Hebrew Slave or 15 and hormonal. 

Amy- I have had students do several opera pieces over the years.  Va Pensiero is a favorite, Les Voici from Carmen (nice because can incorporate children choir), the ending of the Marriage of Figaro, Signora, Perdono (something like that).  As for the concern about vocal preparedness, if you are trying to make them sound like forty year old Met Opera Choir members, you might want to reconsider doing this.  However,  I think that if you are having the students sing in a healthy way with proper technique you (and they) will be fine!