The "Proceed With Caution List" - please, contribute!

Recently, I heard of a trombone student who had to cancel his recital due to a last-minute loss of his pianist.  The reason?  Repertoire, mainly Šulek's Sonata "Vox Gabrieli" (notorious among pianists for its devilish accompaniment).

There's a lot of rep out there that takes HOURS to learn, even for experienced pianists.  Pianists on Facebook (People for the Ethical Treatment of Accompanists) kicked the idea around in a 'Repertoire Difficulty Level' discussion, naming repertoire from their own experience.  I pulled together a list, offering two categories: pieces originally written for piano and orchestral reductions.*

If nothing else, pianists should:  

Double check before saying yes to Hindemith or any saxophone repertoire. 

Originally for piano and [fill in the blank]

Casterede Sonatine, trombone and piano

Creston Saxophone Sonata

Desenclos Prelude Cadence and Finale, sax and piano

Jolivet Chant de Linos, flute and piano

Franck Violin Sonata

Heiden Saxophone Sonata

Ravel Tzigane, violin and piano 

Schubert Variations On 'Trockne Blumen', flute and piano

Strauss Violin Sonata

Šulek Vox Gabrieli, trombone and piano

Weber Duo Concertante, clarinet and piano

Orchestral reductions:

Copland Clarinet Concerto

Dvorak Cello Concerto

Ibert Concertino for Sax

Strauss 2nd horn concerto

Walton Viola Concerto

Vocal lit should have it's own space . . . I may have to do that next.

*Orchestral reductions get their own category because playing them calls for the ability to make an orchestral sound, in addition to the ability to read (and to discern what to bring out/leave out/etc).

Standards within Standard Repertoire

Somebody asked a group of pianists who have gathered together from all over the US, "Okay, what songs have you done to death?"  Their responses: all very, very different.  That's what inspired this post . . .

Within every school of music, there is a set of vocal studios, whose teachers tend to assign a certain set of music.  Eventually, - at that school - those songs becomes '"the standard repertoire" within what's considered to be "the standard repertoire"'.  For example: while I was in undergrad, I think I played Der Nussbaum and Loveliest of Trees about a billion times (give or take).  In grad school, Caro Mio Ben won the prize for most performed piece (three students in a row one day, for juries).  When I worked in CA, I played Amarilli Mia Bella constantly.  In PA, I cursed at JRB regularly, as well as Adam Guettal. 

Contemplating this made me curious - what do other schools have as their standard rep within 'standard repertoire'?  Which schools favor Wolf over Brahms, or Bolcom over Barber?  Or on the Musical Theatre side of things, which schools choose the Golden Age of MT over something written within the last 10 years?

I'd love to come up with an interactive map of the US, showing which composers/songs are 'in vogue' at which institution.  I admit I researched the idea, and found it to be more complex than I'd like to create such a thing - and I'm pretty patient.  I'd still love to hear who has been doing what to death, however - in either the classical or musical theatre repertoire areas.  Please feel free to contribute via the comments section below. 

The Mezzo List

WOLF TRAP OPERA

2011 AUDITION TOUR MEZZO ARIA FREQUENCY LIST

MEZZOS

Arias offered by 84 mezzo-sopranos scheduled for auditions for the 2011 season

The Composer is the Winner: 25X

Sein wir wieder gut

Runners-up at 23X

Must the winter come so soon?

Smanie implacabili

15-20X

Va! laisse couler mes larmes

Que fais-tu

Voi che sapete

10-15X

Svegliatevi nel core

Give him this orchid

Parto parto

Cruda sorte

5-9X

Non so più

Pres des remparts (Seguidilla)

Una voce poco fa

What a movie

Faites-lui mes aveux

Wie du warst

Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix

O mio fernando

Non piu mesta

Things change Jo

Vois sous l’archet (Violin aria)

etc etc etc

Want Some Suggestions of Standard Soprano Rep?

WOLF TRAP OPERA

2011 AUDITION TOUR SOPRANO ARIA FREQUENCY LIST

These lists are culled from the 4 arias listed by each singer on the application form. Since they allow singers to change their lists, there’s no guarantee that these are the actual pieces that are sung; however, it’s a good general idea of how popular a given aria is among YAP auditioners.

SOPRANOS
Arias offered by 163 sopranos scheduled for auditions for the 2011 season:

The Runaway Winner at 40X

Ach ich fühl’s

Quite Popular at 15-25X

Caro nome
Deh vieni
Je suis encor
Je veux vivre
No word from Tom / I go to him
Quando m’en vo

Moderately Frequent at 10-14X

Ah je ris (Jewel Song)
Ain’t it a pretty night
Come scoglio
Durch Zärtlichkeit
Embroidery aria
Gold is a fine thing (Silver Aria)
Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante
Je marche / Obéissons (Gavotte)
Mir ist die Ehre (Presentation of the Rose)
Quel guardo / So anch’io

Popping Up Occasionally at 6-9X

Ah! non credea / Ah non giunge
Amour ranime mon courage
Be kind and courteous
Chi il bel sogno di Doretta
Comme autrefois
Da tempeste
Donde lieta uscì
Du gai soleil
Goodbye, World (Emily’s Aria)
Klänge der Heimat (Czàrdàs)
Mi tradì
Non mi dir
Padre germani addio
Per pietà
Porgi amor
Prendi per me
Regnava nel silenzio
Sul fil d’un soffio
Tornami a vagghegiar
Zerbinetta’s aria

etc etc etc

A link to ALL of the repertoire lists, in PDF format