Aria

The term aria, broadly conceived, refers to a self-contained lyrical number for solo voice, performed either with or without instrumental accompaniment and appearing in an array of genres, including opera, cantata, and oratorio. The term also applies in the context of instrumental music, specifically in works from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. For practical purposes, the following references are concerned with arias originating in operatic works from the beginning of the seventeenth century up through the present day. Opera arias often represent moments of soloistic glory, running the dramatic gamut from comic to serious, lyrical to virtuosic, slow to lightning fast. While some arias reveal critical facets of a character’s essence or convey key elements of a narrative, delving deep into the emotional core of a dramatic work, others might skate gently along the surface of a frivolous sentiment, laden with ornamental turns and drawing more attention to the singer’s voice than to the surrounding drama. With some important exceptions, arias tend to represent those moments within an operatic work when the audience’s gaze is most carefully attuned to the stage and when a singer’s opportunity to rise to greatness (or tumble in failure) is at its pinnacle. While not the case with every operatic work, arias represent the most memorable features within many, and as such, scholarship on their forms, meanings, and reception is abundant in the literature. The breadth of this scholarship presents practical problems of inclusion and organization, and the bibliography that follows represents just one possible approach to the vast topic of arias.