Music of a wonderful world

The magnificent world of vocal artistry: a special feature on popular vocal works from opera to art songs.

Piano-playing singer-songwriter / Executive Committee Member, Special Music Festival in Rinku OsakaHousui Sachiyo
I learned to hit the keys on a toy piano, started Electone lessons at six, and began piano at ten. I loved the piano so much that I declared, “I want to go to a music college!” and from junior high I studied vocal music, ear training, and music theory (though I never even took the entrance exam in the end). In my childhood, my saxophone-playing father introduced me to jazz, and my mother to rockabilly. I was utterly obsessed with classical music in junior high. In high school, my grandmother took me to hear live tango performances, and before I knew it I’d become an eclectic listener. Lately, influenced by my high-school-aged daughter, I’ve been listening to koto music and nagauta. I hold the rather rare qualification of ‘Music Proficiency Test Level 3, Western Music track.’

In vocal music, the singer’s body itself becomes the instrument.

Perhaps many of you haven’t really had the chance to listen to it properly?

Vocal music includes a variety of forms such as opera and art songs, and we’ve gathered some famous pieces we highly recommend even for beginners.

You’ll surely be moved, thinking, “Can such rich expression really come from the human body?”

We also recommend listening while paying attention not only to the melody but also to the lyrics and the story.

The magnificent world of vocal music: from opera to art songs—popular vocal pieces (61–70)

Amarilli, my fair oneGiulio Caccini

Amarilli mia bella

Amarilli, my fair oneGiulio Caccini

Amarilli, my beautiful one, composed by Caccini to a poem by Giovanni Battista Guarini, is sung by Philippe Jaroussky, a leading contemporary French countertenor, whose beautiful voice allows one to appreciate the piece’s charm all the more deeply.

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From the opera La Traviata: ‘Is that the man? ~ From flower to flower’Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi

Verdi: La Traviata – “Is that the one? / Sempre libera” Maria Callas

From the opera La Traviata: 'Is that the man? ~ From flower to flower'Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi

Watch on YouTube: “From the opera La Traviata: ‘Is that the man? ~ From flower to flower’ Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi”

Maria Callas, often hailed as the greatest soprano of the 20th century, captivated audiences not only with her vocal technique but also with her acting and psychological insight.

Even decades after her death, she remains unforgettable.

In La Traviata, Maria Callas exquisitely conveys the heroine Violetta’s emotional turmoil as she wavers between accepting her life as a courtesan and embracing love.

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Waltz “Voices of Spring” with solo voiceJohann Strauss II

Strauss – Kathleen Battle – Frühlingsstimmen – Voices of Spring

Waltz “Voices of Spring” with solo voiceJohann Strauss II

The brilliantly festive and joy-filled piece Frühlingsstimmen (Voices of Spring) is a world-famous vocal waltz composed by Johann Strauss II, inspired when his close friend, the great pianist Franz Liszt, was playing an improvised piano duet with the hostess at a party in Budapest, Hungary.

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Casta Diva from the opera NormaVincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini

Norma – Casta diva (Sonya Yoncheva, The Royal Opera)

Casta Diva from the opera NormaVincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini

Watch “Casta Diva from the opera Norma — Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini” on YouTube

Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva, who drew the opera world’s attention by winning the Operalia competition in 2010 and soared to the top globally in both popularity and skill after her great success in La sonnambula at the Paris Opera in 2013, delivers a magnificent performance of Casta Diva, the famous aria from Bellini’s opera Norma, a piece considered one of the most challenging for sopranos.

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Letter Aria from the opera Eugene OneginPeter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Kristine Opolais, Tatyana’s Letter Scene, Part 2

Letter Aria from the opera Eugene OneginPeter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Among the ten operas composed by the great Russian composer Tchaikovsky, the lyrical Eugene Onegin (premiered March 1879) is both a masterpiece and the most popular.

One of its most famous arias is the “Letter Scene.” The opera’s libretto is based on the novel of the same name by Alexander Pushkin.

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