Audition Program

The audition program must include arias from the list below only. These pieces will be sung from memory in the original language and tone. The text pronounced in French must be known by heart. This text, submitted to the contest, may be different from the one you sent in video when you registered. Applicants are asked to submit the scores for voice and piano. The competition organizers will not provide any scores. Sopranos, mezzos, altos and tenors can register for Dido and Æneas or Der Messias or both. A candidate who decides to apply for the Piano-Vocal Duo cannot apply for either Dido and Æneas or Der Messias.

Once the deadline for applications has passed (December 1st, 2024 at 12:00 am GMT), no change can be made to the program, unless requested by the Competition’s organiser.

If you have any difficulty finding the scores of the required arias, please contact the Competition secretariat by email, who can advise you at concours@clermont-auvergne-opera.com

Dido and Æneas

Bärenreiter score n° BA08744-90
Pitch A-415

Soprano and mezzo-soprano

3 arias to choose from the list below :

  • « Shake the cloud » (Belinda, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « Ah ! Belinda » (Dido, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « Pursue thy conquest, Love » (Belinda, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « Oft she visits this lone mountain » (Second Woman, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « When I am laid » (Dido, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « I burn, I burn, my brain consumes to ashes » (Don Quixote, John Eccles)

Chorus « To the hills and the vales » (Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
1 aria from french opera chosen by the candidate (score to attach to your registration form)
Spoken text in French chosen by the candidate – Total time 2 minutes maximum

Baritone

3 arias to choose from the list below :

  • « Wayward sisters » + « The Queen of Carthage » (Sorceress, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « Jove’s commands shall be obey’d » (Æneas, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « Our next motion must be to storm » (Sorceress, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « Arise, ye subterranean winds » (The Tempest, Purcell)
  • « This poet sings the Trojan wars » (Anacreons defeat, Purcell)

Chorus « To the hills and the vales » (Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
1 aria from french opera chosen by the candidate (score to attach to your registration form)
Spoken text in French chosen by the candidate – Total time 2 minutes maximum

Tenor

3 arias to choose from the list below :

  • « Come away, fellow sailors » (First Sailor, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « Genius of England » (Don Quixote, John Eccles)
  • « There’s nothing so fatal as woman » (A foll’s preferment, Purcell)
  • « Victumnus Flora » (Don Quixote, John Eccles)
  • « There’s not a swain » (Rule a wife and have a wife, Purcell)

Chorus « To the hills and the vales » (Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
1 aria from french opera chosen by the candidate (score to attach to your registration form)
Spoken text in French chosen by the candidate – Total time 2 minutes maximum

Countertenor

3 arias to choose from the list below :

  • « Stay, Prince, and hear » (Spirit, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « Poor Celadon, he sighs in vain » (Amphion Anglicus – John Blow)
  • « Ah ! Phillis, why are you less tendre » (Samuel Akeyrode)
  • « Music fo a while » (Œdipus, Purcell)

Chorus « To the hills and the vales » (Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
1 aria from french opera chosen by the candidate (score to attach to your registration form)
Spoken text in French chosen by the candidate – Total time 2 minutes maximum

Der Messias

Bärenreiter vocal score Der Messias K.572 – BA04529-90 (éditor Holschneider Andréas)
Pitch A-440

Soprano

  • « Er weidet seune Herde » N° 14 (Der Messias, Handel)
  • « Wie lieblich ist der Boten » N°27 (Der Messias, Handel)
  • 1 aria from a Mozart opera chosen by the candidate (score to attach to your registration form)
  • 1 aria chosen by the candidate (score to attach to your registration form)
  • Spoken text in French chosen by the candidate – Total time 2 minutes max.

Alto

  • « Ô du, die Wonne verkündet » (with the recitative « Denn Sieh ! » ) N°5 and 6 (Der Messias, Handel)
  • « Er ward verschähet » N°17 (Der Messias, Handel)
  • 1 aria from a Mozart opera chosen by the candidate (score to attach to your registration form)
  • 1 aria chosen by the candidate (score to attach to your registration form)
  • Spoken text in French chosen by the candidate – Total time 2 minutes max.

Tenor

  • « Alle Thale macht hoch » (with the recitative « Tröstet Zion ») N°2 (Der Messias, Handel)
  • « Du zerschlägst sie » N°31 (Der Messias, Handel)
  • 1 aria from a Mozart opera chosen by the candidate (score to attach to your registration form)
  • 1 aria chosen by the candidate (score to attach to your registration form)
  • Spoken text in French chosen by the candidate – Total time 2 minutes max.

Bass

  • « doch wer mag ertragen den tag seiner Ankunft » (with the recitative  « So spricht der Herr ») N°4 (Der Messias, Handel)
  • « Warum entbrennen die Heiden » N°29 (Der Messias, Handel)
  • 1 aria from a Mozart opera chosen by the candidate (score to attach to your registration form)
  • 1 aria chosen by the candidate (score to attach to your registration form)
  • Spoken text in French chosen by the candidate – Total time 2 minutes max.

Dido and Æneas and Der Messias

Dido & Æneas – Bärenreiter score n° BA08744-90
Pitch A-415

Der Messias – Bärenreiter score K.572 – BA04529-90 (editor Holschneider Andréas)
Pitch A-440

Soprano

2 arias to choose from the list below:

  • « Shake the cloud » (Belinda, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « Ah ! Belinda » (Dido, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « Pursue thy conquest, Love » (Belinda, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « Oft she visits this lone mountain » (Second Woman, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « When I am laid » (Dido, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « I burn, I burn, my brain consumes to ashes » (Don Quixote, John Eccles)

Chorus « To the hills and the vales » (Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
– « Er weidet seune Herde » N° 14 (Der Messias, Handel)
– « Wie lieblich ist der Boten » N°27 (Der Messias, Handel)
Spoken text in French chosen by the candidate – Total time 2 minutes maximum

Mezzo / Alto

2 arias to choose from the list below:

  • « Shake the cloud » (Belinda, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « Ah ! Belinda » (Dido, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « Pursue thy conquest, Love » (Belinda, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « Oft she visits this lone mountain » (Second Woman, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « When I am laid » (Dido, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « I burn, I burn, my brain consumes to ashes » (Don Quixote, John Eccles)

Chorus « To the hills and the vales » (Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
– « Ô du, die Wonne verkündet » (with the recitative « Denn Sieh ! » ) N°5 and 6 (Der Messias, Handel)
– « Er ward verschähet » N°17 (Der Messias, Handel)
Spoken text in French chosen by the candidate – Total time 2 minutes maximum

Tenor

2 arias to choose from the list below:

  • « Come away, fellow sailors » (First Sailor, Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
  • « Genius of England » (Don Quixote, John Eccles)
  • « There’s nothing so fatal as woman » (A foll’s preferment, Purcell)
  • « Victumnus Flora » (Don Quixote, John Eccles)
  • « There’s not a swain » (Rule a wife and have a wife, Purcell)

Chorus « To the hills and the vales » (Dido & Æneas, Purcell)
– « Alle Thale macht hoch » (with the recitative « Tröstet Zion ») N°2 (Der Messias, Handel)
– « Du zerschlägst sie » N°31 (Der Messias, Handel)
Spoken text in French chosen by the candidate – Total time 2 minutes maximum

Piano Voice Duo

2 french melodies (songs – not operas’arias) chosen by the candidates (Duration of each melody: 10 minutes maximum)
1 lied chosen by the candidates (total duration: 10 minutes maximum)
1 aria chosen by the candidates (total duration: 10 minutes maximum)
1 French or English duo presentation text – Total time 2 minutes max. to present during the trials.