The
Horn in Opera
The Horn in Opera - a new CD by Richard Chenoweth, an outstanding and much-needed recording of the most significant horn excerpts in the opera literature.
Mirror Image at the Opera - Lisa Bontrager and Michelle Stebleton (Mirror Image Horn Duo), ably assisted by Tomoko Kanamaru on piano, have produced a CD of opera duets and songs by such composers as Berlioz, Bizet, Donizetti, Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, and others. You can hear audio sample at this site.
San Diego Union-Tribune feature article on the Metropolitan Opera's principal horn Julie Landsman.
Excerpts
The Siegfried Long Call
Hans Pizka has collected audio of performances of the Long Call by a number of players, including Dennis Brain, Barry Tuckwell, and others, along with detailed advice on how to play it (before, during, and after).
Don't miss Annamia Eriksson's unusual and stunning video performance of the Long Call!
Ditto: Helene Tomböck's performance of the Long Call - 9 months pregnant!
Before globe-trotting conductors started insisting that horn players everywhere sound the same, there used to be much more of a difference of national styles. Listen to famed France's famed Lucien Thevet as he plays the Long Call for a different idea of horn sound.
Downloadable pdf file of the orchestral part here (courtesy of Bruce Hembd) or here (courtesy of Daren Robbins; also includes 3 recorded examples)
Prelude to the 3rd Act of Lohengrin - "Study in transposition" - pdf file of the original orchestral part, courtesy of Bruce Hembd
General Opera Information
Opera companies - list
Naxos Opera Libretti and Synopses
Naxos List of Operas by Composer
Opera Orchestrations
Dissertations
Beakes, Jennifer. "The Horn Parts in Handel's Operas and Oratorios and the Horn Players Who Performed in these Works." DMA dissertation, The City University of New York 2007. UMI #3283169
Bobo, Robert P. “Scoring for the Wagner Tuben by Richard Wagner, Anton Bruckner, and Richard Strauss.” D.M.A. Essay, University of Miami, 1971. UMI# 72-12901.
Chenoweth, Richard. "The Horn in Opera: A Study in Orchestration with a Focus on Selected Operas by Britten and Strauss." D.M.A. diss., University of Cincinnati, 1988. UMI# 88-22787.
Dressler, John Clay. "The Orchestral Horn Quartet in German Romantic Opera." D.M. diss., Indiana University, 1987. UMI# 95-34645.
Edwards, Melissa Michele. “Mozart and the Horn: Aria No. 13 from ‘Mitridate, Re di Ponto’, K. 87.” D.M.A. thesis, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1995. UMI# 9531833.
Keays, James H. “An Investigation into the Origins of the Wagner Tuba.” D.M.A. thesis, University of Illinois, 1977. UMI# 78-4044.
Auditions
Atlanta Opera - repertoire list and music (pdf file)