The list of resources available for horn players interested in an orchestral career is long. If you’re interested in auditioning for an opera orchestra, though, finding repertoire is much more difficult.
Most advanced high school or college players know a few opera excerpts. Wagner’s Long and Short Call (really all Wagner’s major work), solos from overtures of Beethoven’s Fidelio and Rossini’s Barber of Seville, and the quartets in Weber’s Der Freischutz and Rossini’s Semiramide have all made it into the standard orchestral literature.
But there is a lot more to opera literature than those few pieces. And if you’re looking to learn more opera excerpts,the Horn Opera Project: Beyond the Short Call has gotten a redesign to make it easier to explore and learn!
Horn Opera Project
I mentioend HornOperaProject.org in my Best Exerpt Materials for Horn blog a few months ago.
Since then, it’s gotten a major refresh, and is now even easier to navigate and explore. You can search either by composer or simply browse through all the opera exerpts available on the site. Additionally, there are archived excerpt lists, and a blog with practice/performance tips for individiual exerpts.
It’s all very well done – both from the quality of information presented and the actual site being easy to navigate.
Whether you need to learn some opera excerpts for an upcoming audition, or you’re looking another quarantine project, check out HornOperaProject.org!
