Cheryl Frances-Hoad's One Life Stand for Mezzo-Soprano with Piano accompaninment sets a text by Sophie Hannah. 'The idea for One Life Stand originated from a discussion over lunch in Cambridge with my friend Jennifer Johnston. She was bemoaning the fact that although she loved to sing Schumann’s Frauen-Liebe und Leben (Women’s Lives and Loves) and was always being asked to do so she did find Chamisso’s words rather outdated and suggested I write an updated version. I jumped at the chance and by pudding we were already thinking about whose poetry I might set. A few weekslater during a meeting with Chris Gribble (Chief Executive of Writers’ Centre Norwich) he told us that the crime writer and poet Sophie Hannah had recently moved to Cambridge and had many suitable poems. It wasn’t long before we all met up for lunch and began discussing the contenders for a series of poems that might portray a modern woman’s life and loves. To begin with I had a list of about twenty five poems that I would have liked to set taken from four of Sophie’s poetry collections (The Hero and the Girl Next Door (1995) Hotels like Houses (1996) First of the Last Chances (2003) and Pessimism for Beginners (2007: all published by Carcanet Press) but the final eight in my view come together to form a narrative that is clear yet open to interpretation and contains the whole gamut of complex emotions (both serious and humorous) that made the poems such a dream to set to music. Although the idea for the work originated as a reaction to Chamisso’s poetry in the course of composing the cycle I found much inspiration from Schumann’s song cycle and many of the songs in my work are based very closely on either the harmony and/or the motivic material of what in my view is the “corresponding” song in Frauen-Liebe und Leben.' - Cheryl Frances-Hoad

The Good-morrow which was written in 1971 is a setting for mezzo-soprano and piano of five poems by John Donne. These are not songs in the closed sense: the settings deliberately blur one poem into the next so as to form a little musical drama about a passionate but light-hearted love-affair. The model for this piece was the beautiful song-cycle The voice of love (1966) by Nicholas Maw who was my teacher from 1968 until 1971 and whose influence upon my development was both strong and fruitful. My debt to Maw (who died in 2009) is great and this song-cycle was my grateful acknowledgement of it. The Good-morrow was first performed in 1986 at the Purcell Room London by Linda Hibberd and Giles Swayne.1. I wonder by my troth2. 'Tis true 'tis day3. Come live with me and be my love4. So so breake off this last lamenting kiss5. Now thou hast lov'd me one whole day

Description G. Schirmer Opera Anthology - Arias For Mezzo-Soprano Carefully chosen arias to anticipate the needs of singers, teachers and coaches for years to come. Includes historical notes, plot synopses and translations for study. Edited by Robert L. Larsen. Songlist Acerba Volutta (Adriana Lecouvreur) [Cilea, Francesco] Ah, Michele, Don't You Know (The Saint Of Bleecker Street) [Menotti, Gian Carlo] Amour Viens Aider Ma Faiblesse (Samson Et Dalila) [Saint-Saens, Camille] Augusta How Can You Turn Away? (The Ballad Of Baby Doe) [Moore, Douglas] Chacun A Son Gout (Die Fledermaus) [Strauss Ii, Johann] Che Faro Senza Euridice (Orfeo) [Gluck, Christoph Willibald] Cruda Sorte..Gia So Per Pratica (L'italiana In Algeri) [Rossini, Gioacchino] En Vain Pour Eviter (Carmen) [Bizet, Georges] Faites-lui Mes Aveux (Faust) [Gounod, Charles] Il Segreto Per Esser Felici (Lucrezia Borgia) [Donizetti, Gaetano] L'amour Est Un Oiseau Rebelle (Carmen) [Bizet, Georges] Lullaby (The Consul) [Menotti, Gian Carlo] Mon Coeur S'ouvre A Ta Voix (Samson Et Dalila) [Saint-Saens, Camille] Must The Winter Come So Soon? (Vanessa) [Barber, Samuel] Nobles Seigneurs, Salut (Les Hugenots) [Meyerbeer, Giacomo] Non Piu Mesta (La Cenerentola) [Rossini, Gioacchino] Non So Più Cosa Son (Le Nozze Di Figaro) [Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus] O Mio Fernando (La Favorita) [Donizetti, Gaetano] Pres Des Remparts (Carmen) [Bizet, Georges] Printemps Qui Commence (Samson Et Dalila) [Saint-Saens, Camille] Que Fais-tu, Blanche Tourterelle (Romeo Et Juliette) [Gounod, Charles] Smanie Implacabili (Cosi Fan Tutte) [Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus] Stride La Vampa (Il Trovatore) [Verdi, Giuseppe] Una Voce Poco Fa (Il Barbiere Di Siviglia) [Rossini, Gioacchino[ Va Laisse Couler Mes Larmes (Werther) [Massenet, Jules] Voce Di Donna (La Gioconda) [Ponchielli, Amilcare] Voi Che Sapete (Le Nozze Di Figaro) [Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus] Voi Lo Sapete (Cavelleria Rusticana) [Mascagni, Pietro] We Cannot Retrace Our Steps (The Mother Of Us All) [Thomson, Virgil] When I Am Laid In Earth (Dido And Aeneas) [Purcell, Henry]

Mezzosoprano - Mezzo-soprano-A selection of 40 arias for voice and piano with plot synopses and translations in Italian and English.