Miserere Mei, Deus - Gregorio Allegri

Miserere Mei, Deus (meaning Have mercy on me, O lord) which is also known as Miserere in short is a renaissance polyphony representation of psalm 51 composed by Gregorio Allegri and the greatest thing about this historical work is that it was only performed in Sistine Chapel (at Vatican City), specifically only on Holy Wednesday and Good Friday. Funny thing was that there were "copyright" issues in the past; writing the score down or performing it anywhere else other than the Sistine Chapel was punishable by excommunication, which is equivalent to being banished from the church. Thank god for the little musical genius Mozart who written the entire score down from memory after hearing it being performed at Sistine Chapel, if not this chant would forever be trapped in the mystery of Sistine Chapel. 

Being a vocally demanding and intensive piece, due to extremely high range required for Sopranos (Soprano C is the highest note) and the fact that is no mere SATB arrangement but a 9-part arrangement (Cantus I, Cantus II, Secundus I, Secundus II, Altus I, Altus II, Tenor, Bassus I, Bassus II) makes it a challenging choral work, which challenges even the best of choirs around. There are no accompaniment to mask anything and the slightest of any musical error would be highly visible. 

I decided to use a professional renaissance-dedicated vocal ensemble, The Tallis Scholars who performed this musical piece since it has one of the best blend around (it's professional anyway) and just hearing the Soprano C makes me go "wow"!

The Prayer - David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager, Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

The Prayer, hailed as one of the most popular contemporary classical pop duet of the 21st century was written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager, Alberto Testa and Tony Renis. Originally written in F major (high Bb for male vocals), a soprano and tenor is recommended due to the high notes involved, especially for the male.

An excellent mix of both the usage of english and italian (foreign language) as well as simple, beautiful accompaniment (only a piano or keyboard is required for it to work) makes it a common song to be sung in weddings, performances and even recitals.

Here, a young talented duo Jonathan and Charlotte performs The Prayer as their final performance in Britain's Got Talent and it's amazing how young they are, putting even people like me to shame. I simply like how Jonathan ends it off with the high B! Fast forward to 1:26 for the start of the song. If this young duo doesn't satisfy your cravings, you can check out Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion as well.

Crucifixus - Johann Sebastian Bach

This is the first time I'm covering choral works and it's getting me all hyped up since I was from a church choir for more than 10 years. Crucifixus from the mass in B minor composed by Johann Sebastian Bach was Bach's last work before he passed away and this piece is one of my favorite choral work by Bach besides Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring. Crucifixus which means "nailed to the cross" in Latin has an extremely mysterious feel due to the fact that it is performed in a minor key and bears an extremely sad lyrics. I reckon it's best performed with strings and a Harpsichord.

This is by far the best recording I encountered in Youtube by a group of soloists, Taverner Consort & Players with Andrew Parrott as the conductor. Just hearing the bass soloist's E at 2:58 is enough to give me goosebumps.

Pour Mon Ame - Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti

This french aria is from Gaetano Donizetti's opera "La Fille du Régiment" (The Daughter of the Regiment) and it is one true aria which distinguishes the tenors from the baritones. With the amazing C5, it truly challenges the ability of the tenor to maintain the quality while conquering the note. Of course, the easiest way out of this would be the usage of Falsetto but that would drastically reduce its worth.
 

Luciano Pavarotti brought ultimate glory to the aria when the Maestro, dubbed King of High Cs sang the aria and delivered the full awe and wonder of it. No doubt it simply blew me off my chair!

O Mio Babbino Caro - Giacomo Puccini

This aria is a top favourite among the Sopranos from both popular-crossover to true-bred operatic! As an aria from the opera "Gianni Schicchi" by Giacomo Puccini, it is commonly deemed to be a very dramatic aria but it actually contains alot of emotions if you observe and try to comprehand the lyrics carefully. O Mio Babbino Caro actually means "Oh My Beloved Father" and it's lyrics describes a woman begging her father to accept that she loves a man whom he disapproves.

The aria here is sung by Hayley Westenra, the classical-crossover/popera Soprano who would totally melt you with her warm voice whilst delivering this song for its intended purpose. Note that she's a classical-crossover singer.

Ave Maria - Giulio Caccini

This aria was originally composed by Vladimir Vavilov but ascribed to Caccini due to some anonymity when he released it and thus caused a great deal of mystery and confusion pertaining the true composer of this aria.

Nonetheless, this aria is one of my favourite rendition of "Ave Maria" besides Schubert's, Otello's and Gounod's. With a very serene-like vibrant sound, it should be sung lightly, which explains why most people who sing this aria fail to bring out the true full-fledge beauty of it. However, Sumi Jo the Lyric Coloratura Soprano from South Korea will beautify your hearts when you hear her marvellous interpretation of this aria.

Nessun Dorma - Giacomo Puccini

The most popular Tenor aria in modern times! Pavarotti brought massive fame to this song when he sang this area during the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy and it is definitely one aria no tenor would ever give a miss!

The aria comes from the opera, Turandot by Giacomo Puccini, which is my favorite opera up till now. It's one of the greatest opera ever written with a great storyline and with one of the best arias of all time.

Vincerò! With a magnificent ending of a sustained B5 and his trademark white handkerchief, it's totally an iconic finisher. The aria is sung by the legendary lyrical tenor maestro Luciano Pavarotti, one of the greatest Tenor in contemporary time.

Vogliatemi Bene - Giacomo Puccini

One of the most famous aria from Puccini's opera - Madame Butterfly. It's one aria no one would and should ever miss! Its has the sad, lovely feeling if you do follow the sequence of the Madame Butterfly which of course isn't surprising since Vogliatemi Bene means "Love Me".

The aria here is sung by the legendary soprano Maria Callas and the famous tenor Nicolai Gedda. With the amazing bel canto, this aria is just magnificent as Callas end off with the Soprano C and Gedda ends off with the C5.

Tu Ch'hai Le Penne Amore - Giulio Caccini

This is a very sweet composition by Caccini among all his wonderful works like Amarilli, Mia Bella etc. It is an aria from Caccini's first opera, Euridice and it means "Oh Love, You Who Have Wings" and somehow after hearing the aria many times, I notice the introduction bears some mysterious-like feeling like those of Harry Potter. Isn't it cool? Just a random thought only, no offence with the resemblance.

The video features an Italian, Coloratura Mezzo-Soprano Cecilia Bartoli who sang this aria beautifully and I must admit that it is indeed beautiful. I totally love the harpsichord!

Lascia Ch'io Pianga - George Frideric Handel

An aria from Handel's opera, Rinaldo whereby the role of Alminera will sing it and it's a world renowned aria which have become recitalist's favorite. Somehow, I just have a feeling that castratos will pull this aria off better than sopranos although some sopranos can sing it real well. This aria definitely require a harpsichord and probably a string quartet as accompaniment to make it sound decently traditional though piano would be just as fine for recitalists.

The video shown here is a scene from the movie "Farinelli" which features the life of a world-renowned, famous castrato whose stage name is Farinelli. Of course, the actor shown in the video is not actually singing, just lip-syncing. The sound comes from a digital combination of a soprano and a countertenor but the sound is amazing cause there is a female sound with some masculinity, though nowhere close to the sound of a castrato.

Der Hölle Rache - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

This aria which comes from the Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute" is sung by the role of the Queen of the Night who in this video is the coloratura soprano, Luciana Serra. This is an aria which probably no normal, ordinary soprano be it lyric or dramatic can attempt and pull it off except the coloraturas due to the extremely high register.

It really shows the true power of a soprano! With the amazing F6 which is a fourth above Soprano C and the fact that it's rare to find coloratura sopranos. Phew!