The 2008 Aria Frequency List

For several years running, Wolf Trap Opera artistic director Kim Witman has been religiously keeping track of exactly which arias singers audition with while on the audition tour, and then adds them up to determine to determine what the most popular arias were.

This year's Aria Frequency List makes for some fascinating reading, although there don't seem to be many surprises for the most popular choices. Here are the favorites for each voice type:

Soprano

Ach ich fühl's
Deh vieni

Mezzo Soprano

Smanie implacabili
Sein wir wieder gut
Va! laisse couler mes larmes

Tenor

Dies Bildnis
Il mio tesoro
O wie ängstlich
Una furtiva lagrima

Baritone

Hai già vinta la causa
Billy in the Darbies
E fra quest'ansie (Silvio)
Mein Sehnen (Pierrot's Tanzlied)
Papageno's suicide aria

Bass/Bass-Baritone

Se vuol ballare
Hear me O Lord
I'm a lonely man Susannah
Madamina (Catalogue aria)
Vecchia zimarra

Most of all, the list makes for some interesting reading for possible aria suggestions. When choosing arias for auditions, singers should of course realize that the optimal choices have more to do with one's vocal suitability towards certain roles than with trying to go either with or against the grain regarding choice of popular arias. Once Kim releases the cast list for the 2008 season, it would be very interesting to know which arias the winning singers auditioned with.