Opera & Classical Arias/Songs with Obbligato Instrument

I am an obbligato arias junkie. There is something mesmerizing about this baroque device of pitting the singing voice in a conversation of various degrees of agreeableness with a solo orchestral instrument. It is akin to getting to simultaneously hear a character's conscious thought along with his/her potentially contradictory subconscious wishes. Yes, most of us have seen people talking to either themselves or an imaginary buddy on the city streets, but usually we only get to hear one side of the delusional conversation. With the solo instrument actually intoning that inner voice of the character, though, listening to an obbligato aria done well is like getting the ring-side seat to a psychic blood battle (in most case when the character wants to do something naughty against his/her inner moral) or, in some cases, the spectacle of seeing someone charmed by his/her own virtue/ideology.

The term 'obbligato' is, as you would have guessed, taken from Latin 'obligatus' meaning to oblige or obligate. The solo instrument's part in the obbligato song/aria is as indispensable as the vocal part is, since it has its own unique role to play in the scene. Here are some samples of fabulous obbligato arias showcasing a singing voice and an orchestral instrument of just about every sort. Click on the name of the arias for a Youtube sample clip (if the clip malfunction, just search that site for the aria's name)

Flute:
- Tamino's Act II aria, Wie stark ist nicht dein Zauberton, from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
Idealistic Prince Tamino believes that his abducted beloved Pamina was nearby in the woods, so he starts playing the magic flute that was given to him by her magical mother, the Queen of the Night, in the hope that she would follow its enchanting sound to him. The flute part is actually played by the principal flautist in the orchestra, though, so the 'enchanting' part of the sound is plausible. I tried doing that with my clarinet in my youth, but being rather un-orchestra-worthy an instrumentalist, it usually produced the the exact opposite from the intended one. Girls went scattering off in every direction but toward me!

- Lucia's Spargi d'amaro pianto (Mad Scene) from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor
The obbligato part of this splendidly demented scene was actually originally composed for the haunted spectral sound of the glass-harmonica. Lucia, the emotionally fragile young Scottish lass, was stressed out of her mind when her money-hungry brother forced her to marry a rich guy instead of her beloved Edgardo. What's the girl to do but to dice him up on their wedding night with the butcher's knife before going out to greet their guests in blood soaked robe while singing this looniest of operatic mad tunes. The hollow flighty sound of the flute may not quite match that of the glass-harmonica in its apt depiction of sanity's spirited flight, though it still provides the best sound color for the scene among the other instruments available.

Clarinet: This polished woodsy wind instrument is a favorite for used in obbligato arias, so there are many to choose from. I'm including just one proper clarinet obbligato aria and two with the previously obsolete modified clarinets; the bassett clarinet and bassett horn, both tuned lower than the usual Bb and A clarinets.
- Schubert's Lied 'Der Hirt auf dem Felsen' - The Shepherd on the Rock (D. 965)
- Bassett clarinet obbligato in 'Parto, ma tu ben mio' from Mozart's La clemenza di Tito
- Bassett horn obbligato in 'Non piu di fiori' from Mozart's La clemenza di Tito

When it comes to orchestra instruments, the clarinet is perhaps the most apt at conveying the soothing warmth of love in its tone colors. And so it is often found as the voice of the love-inspired inner motivation in distressed operatic characters. The clarinet in Schubert's song pines for the love of a faraway maiden while the melancholic sound of the Bassett clarinet (tuned 4 notes lower than the usual A clarinet) lays bare Sextus' struggle to choose between the love for a friend and the lust for a woman. His lover, Vitellia, commands him to slay his best friend, and though his conscience laments against it at first, it not only yields but actually cheers him on once they are won over by her erotically rewarding glance. The virtuosic final candenza with Sextus' vision of conquest and his bassett clarinet cheerleading thought doing a jubilantly premature sonic victory dance make this number something both awe-inspiring and repulsive to hear at the same time.

The bottom heavy bassett horn that accompanies Vitellia's tune of regret, on the other hand, lends gravitas to her post-murderous crisis of conscience. The plot to kill Titus has unraveled and Sextus has taken all the blame on himself. The only thing that can save her disgraced lover now is her admission of guilt and renunciation of Titus' throne. There is hardly anything more humiliating than to have your long suppressed sense of decency come back to say 'I told you so' while you're trying to do the right thing, I guess.

Oboe:
- Aria 'Ich habe genug' from JS Bach cantata BWV 82.
With its brighter tone than the woodsy clarinet, the oboe is a favorite obbligato instrument in religious vocal arias of the baroque and classical period. Listen to how it hover above ground, aflight in its pious air as the soprano laments for deliverance from her sufferings. A quivering light at the end of the dark tunnel and a promise that there is better thing in store for the future. Without the oboe this would be one atrociously depressingly beautiful song of lamentation. With it, it is an inspiration to keep one's head up in the storm.

Cor anglais (English horn):
- Marguerite's 'D'Amour, l'ardente flamme' from Berlioz's La damnation de Faust
- Aria 'Ah donate il caro sposo' from Rossini's Il signor Bruschino
Sometimes the obbligato instrument is really just there to enforce the prevailing mood, as the cor anglais does in Marguerite's lamentation. She has fallen for the (literally) devilishly endearing Faust, who has now disappeared. Disgraced and pregnant with a fatherless baby she takes to stationing herself by the window waiting in vain for his return. Her sadness permeates everything, and when she isn't singing her tune echoes endlessly in the air in the sound of the cor anglais.

The same goes for Sofia's plaintive prayer in Il signor Bruschino. The young lady thinks her fiance's husband is too hard on his son and declares her wish to be allowed to marry the man she wants even with his known financial ineptitude. Her feistiness is mirrored in the accompanying cor anglais, which makes her attitude seem even more formidable than it would be on its own.

Bassoon:
- 'Scherza, infida' from Händel's Ariodante
Never mind the bassoon's association with buffoonery or its former name (fagott or fagotto), this odd looking double reed is a versatile instrument. It is a superbly plaintive mood setter in its upper register and an aptly dark ironic comic in its lower reach... as evident in its intonation of Ariodante's suicidal self-loathing psyche.

French horn:
- 'Lungi da te, mio bene' from Mozart's Mitridate
- 'Abscheulicher!/ komm Hoffnung' from Beethoven's Fidelio
Like the clarinet, the horn is a favorite obbligato instrument. Its noble floaty far-off sound exudes a comforting sense of warm detachment becoming of highlighting a character's high calling. From Sifare's resolve to put duty over love in Mozart's Mitridate to Leonore (in a man's disguise as Fidelio)'s profession of her fate in love, even if the character is tempted to fall short of glory you are convinced by the unwavering horn that s/he won't stray far from the noble path.

Trumpet:
- 'Or la tromba' from Händel's Rinaldo
Any wise man will tell you to not mess with someone with two brass ones... (ahem!) There is just something metallically heroic about the sound of the free-reeling trumpet that puts a real shine on the armor of a knight, like the obbligato trumpets do in Rinaldo's rallying call to arm. Clear the way or get stamped right out of existence!

Trombone:
- 'Jener Donnerworte Kraft' from Mozart's Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots
A cross between the nobility of the French horn and the heroic bent of the trumpet, though without the agility that those instruments are capable of, the pensive brass of the trombone yields an aptly solemn aura to the Christian's religious proclamation.

Piano:
- Mozart's concert aria K. 505, 'Ch'io mi scordi di te?/ Non temer amato bene'
Although there isn't any concrete evidence to support it, there is a persistent rumor about the nature of the friendship between Mozart and the English soprano Nancy Storace. It is easy to understand why when listening to this duet between the solo voice and the piano that old Wolfgang had composed for her and himself (he played the piano part during her farewell concert to Vienna). Listen to it... It is a fascinating lover's quarrel. He (the piano) bidding her farewell with the overly gentlemanly instruction for her to move on to someone else (perhaps more worthy of her love) as she chastises such a thought.

Violin:
- Aminta's aria 'L'amero, saro costante' from Mozart's Il re pastore
The brighter day is now for young Aminta, the shepherd boy who has just been told of his rightful kingship. His delight at having suddenly attained the social status befitting of his beloved Elisa is magically highlighted by the
poignant violin that seems to be crowning the young man with its bright coronal passages. In case you wonder, Aminta was composed for a soprano castrato, so now he is usually sung by a soprano.

Viola:
- Raoul's aria, Non lungi dalle torri, from Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots
Similar in tone to its smaller brother, the violin, the viola's melancholic sonic tinge is great at portraying something unobtained. In this case, the unknown maiden that young Raoul rescued from a gang of ruffians. They parted without exchanging names and his very thought of her is shadowed by his regret at not having done more.

Cello:
- Aria 'It is enough!/ I have been very jealous for the Lord' from Felix Mendelssohn's oratorio, Elijah
If there is any orchestral instrument that closely resemble the voice, it is the soulful cello. Listen to its groans and sighs as Elijah decries his lot in life. Even the Deists' god would be hard pressed not to hear this doubly mournful plight.

Double bass:
- Mozart's concert aria, Per questa bella mano (By this beautiful hand), K. 612
The double bass is the biggest string instrument (not counting the humongous harp, of course) in the orchestra that is played upright, of course. It's rotund sound doesn't normally lend this instrument to carrying the melody, though its comedic tendency (in the slap stick clumsy variety) is quite hilariously exploited by Mozart in this concert aria where the well intentioned bass is pining away at a woman with beautiful hand. Can you see just how ungainly the man must look listening to that double bass that accompanies his voice everywhere? The earth shakes with his every step as his belly bounces up and down in waves of acoustical aftershocks...

Harp:
- Aria 'Possente spirto' from Monteverdi's Orfeo
Sometimes the obbligato instrument is actually intoning actual sound rather than impersonating an intangible, of course. In this outer worldly scene the musically enchanting Orpheus is taming the blood thirsty Caronte, guardian of Hades, with the sound of his harp (he is invading the land of the dead in an effort to rescue his wife, Euridice).

If you enjoyed these selections as much as I do, perhaps it is about time you check out what the opera and symphony orchestras in your hometown have to offer! There are great obbligato arias waiting to be heard at the theater and you aren't going to discover them just by sitting at home listening to things you are already well acquainted with. Give those classical music concerts a try. They are deadless for good reason!

Sources:
http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_multi_text_setting.html?SettingId=20463
http://www.kimballtrombone.com/trombone-history-timeline/trombone-history-18th-century/