Auditioning for an Opera? The "Package"

The package for an opera production is a little easier to plan than for a musical.  Basically it boils down two categories: language and time period.

For language, each singer needs to have the following in their package:

1) English,
2) Italian,
3) German,
4) French,
5) Another language their voice type specializes in; for instance, a low basso profundo would want a Russian aria.

For time periods, you need to have a composer from the following eras.

1) Baroque era (1600-1780s): Handel, Gluck, Scarlatti, Purcell, Lully etc...
2) Classical era (1770s - 1820s): Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, and their contemporaries
3) Romantic era (1820s-1910): Verdi, Rossini, Berlioz, Gounod, Wagner, Thomas etc...
4) Modern (1910-present day): Strauss, Korngold, Poulenc, Britten, new English works etc...

Now, you could probably create an audition package with these requirements in just 5-6 arias.  However, you really want to have more contrast that - several different tempos and a variety of acting scenarios for each language.  In reality, just like the musical package, you will end up with 9-10 different selections.*

*Please note that this package is advice for young professionals starting out in the profession.  Once you are established and have a certain type of music that people hire you for, you can specialize your repertoire accordingly.

DWS