On December 1, 2024, American mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard performed a recital at Cincinnati Memorial Hall’s Matinée Musical. Despite incredible travel hurdles, Ms. Leonard thrilled the audience with a collection of Spanish art song, opera arias and Broadway tunes.
Ms. Leonard’s program appears below, including Tu n’es pas beau, which she substituted for the programmed Una voce poco fa due to her challenging travel day.
Clavelitos
Text by José Juan Cadenas (1855-1943)
Set by Joaquín Valverde Sanjuán (1875-1918)
View the text on IPA Source: https://www.ipasource.com/product/clavelitos-2/
Listen to Isabel Leonard on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5ugYJWcNz3Y?feature=shared
Nana de Sevilla (Cradlesong from Sevilla)
Text by Anonymous
Set by Federico García Lorca (1898-1936)
View the text on IPA Source: https://www.ipasource.com/product/nana-de-sevilla-2/
Listen to Isabel Leonard on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jHEU0d-oWwE?feature=shared
Cinco Canciones Negras (Five Negro Songs)
Set by Xavier Montsalvatge
Listen to Isabel Leonard on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=isabel+leonard+cinco+cancione+negras
L’amour est un oiseau rebelle (Habanera), Carmen’s Habanera from the opera Carmen
Text by Henri Meilhac (1831-1897) and Ludovic Halévy (1834-1908) after a novella by the same title by Prosper Mérimée (1803-1870) Set by Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
View the text on IPA Source: https://www.ipasource.com/product/lamour-est-un-oiseau-rebelle-2/
Listen to Elina Garanca on YouTube: https://youtu.be/K2snTkaD64U?feature=shared
Una voce poco fa, Rosina’s aria from the opera Il barbiere di Siviglia Text by Cesare Sterbini (1784–1831), after Le Barbier de Séville by Pierre Beaumarchais (1732–1799)
Set by Gioacchino Rossini (1792–1868)
View the text on IPA Source: https://www.ipasource.com/product/una-voce-poco-fa/
Listen to Isabel Leonard on YouTube: https://youtu.be/CM9H_kB1oFw?feature=shared
Tu n’es pas beau, La Périchole’s Couplets des aveux (Song of Confession) from the operetta La Périchole
Text by Henri Meilhac (1831–1897) and Ludovic Halévy (1834–1908), based on the 1829 one-act play Le carrosse du Saint-Sacrement by Prosper Mérimée (1803–1870)
Set by Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880)
View the text on IPA Source: https://www.ipasource.com/product/tu-nes-pas-beau/
Listen to Isabel Leonard on YouTube: https://youtu.be/HcnaMSgu0iE?feature=shared
El dia que me quieras (The day that you love me)
Set by Carlos Gardel (arr. Paola Hermosin)
Listen to Juan Diego Florez & Elisabeth Kulman on YouTube: https://youtu.be/NKmlASbOxl8?feature=shared
Près des remparts de Séville, Carmen’s Seguidilla from the opera Carmen
Text by Henri Meilhac (1831-1897) and Ludovic Halévy (1834-1908) after a novella by the same title by Prosper Mérimée (1803-1870)
Set by Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
View the text on IPA Source: https://www.ipasource.com/product/pres-des-remparts-de-seville-3/
Listen to Eva Zaïcik on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Lw_8Ms4pX_U?feature=shared
Moments in the Woods
Set by Stephen Sondheim
View the official video of the 2022 Broadway Cast Recording on YouTube: https://youtu.be/obs0mcrxan0?feature=shared
Lonely Town
Set by Leonard Bernstein
Listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/v2rFEMDPNk8?feature=shared
The Girl in 14G
Set by Jeanine Tesori and Dick Scanlon
Watch Liz Hartnett at the Google NYC talent show on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GS6o8galQIo?feature=shared