Melanie Mitrano

Phobias & Infatuations

Year: 2007

Duration (in minutes): 20 min

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo voice(s) with piano

Publisher: Ivy Cottage Press

Description: The eight songs that comprise Phobias & Infatuations may be sung as a complete, ordered cycle, or divided up in any way the singer chooses. The phobias are Prom Date, Dinnertime, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Bona Petite; while the infatuations include Your Joyful Voice, Time for Tea, Aries and Gemini, and Tether Your Sorrows.
These songs combine elements of classical art song, musical theater and jazz. The singer should move fluidly through these styles as required. An extensive vocal range is used (low Ab- high B), thus these songs are best sung by sopranos with solid chest registers or mezzos with easy upper extensions.
This cycle was born from my fascination with intense love and intense fear, seemingly disparate emotions, both having the power to consume one wholly. Thus, the juxtaposition of the two contradictory mental states is paramount. The infatuations create varied atmospheres of sheer ebullience, sexy languor, pure love and wistful yearning. These contrast sharply with the declamatory anxiety, biting sarcasm, and neurotic self-consciousness of the phobias.