Concert Aria

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A concert aria is normally a free-standing aria or opera-like scene (scena) composed for singer and orchestra, written specifically for performance in concert rather than as part of an opera. Concert arias have usually been composed for particular singers.

The term is also sometimes additionally used for arias which were specifically composed for insertion into already-existing operas, either as additions to the score or as substitutions for other arias. These are sometimes performed in concerts because they are no longer required for their original purpose, though they were not, strictly speaking, composed for performance in concert.

The concert arias which are most commonly-performed today were written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but there are many examples by other composers, such as:

Ah perfido! by Ludwig van Beethoven
Der Wein for soprano and orchestra by Alban Berg
Phaedra by Benjamin Britten (written for Janet Baker)
Scena di Berenice by Joseph Haydn

[edit] Mozart concert arias

Among the more well-known of Mozart's concert arias are:

Popoli di Tessaglia!, K.316, for soprano, with its famous G6s - Gs above high C
Nehmt meinen Dank, ihr holden Gönner!, K383, for soprano,
Ch'io mi scordi di te, K.505, written for Nancy Storace
Bella mia fiamma, K.528, written for Josepha Duschek
Per Questa Bella Mano, K.612, for bass, double bass obbligato, and orchestra