The worlds of opera and musical theatre contain some legendarily demanding pieces for the human voice. Some countries' national anthems are quite challenging to sing, too. Here is our rundown of some of the hardest songs to sing from opera, musical theatre and beyond.
Hardest songs to sing
We've divided our list into opera arias, songs from musical theatre, and Lieder. We end, just for fun, with a couple of particularly challenging national anthems.
Hardest and most difficult opera arias to sing
'Queen of the Night' (soprano, from Mozart, The Magic Flute)
This aria from The Magic Flute – one of Mozart's greatest operas – is challenging due to many factors, not least the succession of high Fs (F6, to be precise, two and a half octaves above middle C). It is also a wonderfully exuberant piece of music and, as well as one of the hardest songs to sing, is deservedly one of the most famous opera songs in the repertoire.
We named The Magic Flute one of the 20 greatest operas of all time.
'Now the Great Bear and Pleiades...' (tenor, from Britten, Peter Grimes)
Near the end of the first Act of Britten's tense, gripping opera Peter Grimes, the opera's titular anti-hero enters the village pub with this song. And quite a demanding number it is, too, partly as it sits in a potentially awkward range for many tenors.
The notes are in an area where tenors will have to transition from lower, or 'chest' voice to higher, or 'head' voice. It can be hard to make that switch seamlessly, making this another strong candidate for any list of hardest songs to sing.
'Largo al Factotum' (baritone, from Rossini, The Barber of Seville)
Rossini's comic opera The Barber of Seville is often cited as one of the best operas for beginners, in our words 'a frivolous, fizzy feast of fun, packed full of wit, excitement and vocal fireworks'. As you may guess from that last phrase, the work is somewhat more challenging for performers than for audiences - perhaps particularly the aria 'Largo al Factotum' ('Make way for the servant').
In this case, the difficulty is in the words rather than the music: 'Largo al Factotum' is something of a tongue-twister, with lots of rapid-fire diction required. The singer needs to make sure every syllable is clearly audible - plus, they're generally expected to add some individual flourishes too. So think of the baritone on stage next time you are enjoying the Barber...
'Il Dolce Suono' (coloratura soprano, from Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor)
As we're seeing, opera arias can be difficult in a lot of different ways: the range, the lyrics, the element of individuality expected of the singer, all combine to make many operatic arias some of the hardest songs to sing. The particular technical challenges of this beautiful aria from Donizetti's Scottish-set opera Lucia di Lammermoor lie in the rapid leaps between its high and low notes.
What's more, like 'Largo al Factotum' above, the singer is also expected to add many a flourish and curlicue...
'O Don Fatale' (mezzo, from Verdi, Don Carlos)
Range (and power) are the challenges here. 'O Don Fatale' is sung by the aristocratic princess, Eboli, as she curses her own beauty and pride, and resolves to make amends by trying to save Carlos from the Spanish Inquisition.
This stirring Verdi aria from Don Carlos deploys the entire mezzo-soprano range, and also asks for quite a storehouse of vocal power. There's a challengingly high B flat at the end, too...
'Ah! Mes Amis' (tenor, from Donizetti, La fille du régiment)
Another entry for Donizetti. What makes 'Ah! Mes Amis' such a daunting song to perform is the succession nine high Cs ('pour MON AME! J'ai SA FLAMME!', etcetera) required of the tenor near the end of what is, also, a fairly long aria.
Here is Luciano Pavarotti, one of the best tenors of all time, giving 'Ah! Mes Amis' a thoroughly good run through:
Hardest songs from musicals
'The Phantom of the Opera' from The Phantom of the Opera
This is an interesting case apart. Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera is from the world of musical theatre - indeed, it's arguably one the best stage musicals ever written - but it's set in the world of opera. This means that, to play the role of Christine, you really need an opera-trained actress - and rarely is this more evident than in the musical's title song.
Its top note is an E6: within the reach of operatic sopranos, but not always of musical theatre performers. What's more, the song ends on this E6 with vibrato. Quite the challenge - and one of the hardest songs to sing, from opera or musical theatre.
'(Not) Getting Married Today' from Company
Stephen Sondheim's 1970 musical Company looked at dating, marriage and divorce in New York City, as it followed mid-30s bachelor Bobby and his interactions with his married friends. At one point, Bobby's friend Amy has a moment of pure panic (in song) about her forthcoming marriage.
As befits its nervous energy, this song is fast-paced and demanding on the singer - one section features 68 words sung in an around 11 seconds. Clear diction, pinpoint pitch and breath control are all imperative here. Some good comic timing also helps the song go off well. Not too much to ask, then.
Fun fact: in 2018 we got a gender-swapped production of Company. Among the changes, the original's nervous bride Amy was now an anxious groom, Jamie.
'Pity the Child' from Chess
This one is a high-note challenge for male singers. 'Pity the Child' climbs the tenor range remorselessly, ending on a C5, an octave above middle C. Before you even get there, there are four minutes of very intense, emotive singing, featuring rasps, growls, and more.
'Glitter and Be Gay' from Candide
This song from Leonard Bernstein's operetta Candide has plenty of coloratura passages - sections full of sung embellishments such as trills, runs, wide leaps and more. As such, it needs a singer who can find the right balance between breath control and vocal projection.
Hardest classical songs
Schubert: 'Gretchen am Spinnrade'
This Schubert Lied, or song, calls on plenty of resourcefulness from its soprano performer. They must embody an elderly woman who is remembering a love affair from many years before.
Moreover, they have to sing and reminisce against the piano accompaniment, which repersents the spinning wheel referred to in the song's title. The wheel starts to spin ever more frantically, and 'Gretchen' starts to lose her grip on reality. It's a uniquely powerful and demanding piece of singing. Schubert gave us some of the most beautiful, and also hardest songs to sing, and this is definitely one of them.
Berio: 'Sequenza III'
The third in a series of 14 solo compositions by the avant-garde composer Luciano Berio, The third in the series, 'Sequenza III', is for the human voice. And it's formidably demanding, as it contains a wealth of instructions for the singer: tender, langourous, wistful, whining... often following each other in short order.
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde - various
Mahler's symphony in song contains some of the most challenging Lieder or art songs in the repertoire. Most notably, the opener 'Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde' for tenor, and the closing 'Der Abscheid' - which, at almost 30 minutes in length, is a test of stamina as much as anything.
Schubert: 'Erlkönig'
Another Schubert song, and another one that requires some fine acting skills. In this one, the (male) singer is required to play four very different roles, each with their own range and style.
He is, by turns, the narrator; a father carrying his sick child on horseback through a roiling storm; said child, terrified by his visions of the Erlkönig, a sinister child-killing elf; and the Erlkönig himself, who tries to persuade the little boy to come and live happily with him.
Hardest national anthems to sing
'The Star Spangled Banner' (USA) / Ecuador national anthem
In her book Identity Designs: The Sights and Sound of a Nation, author Karen Cerulo invented a system for measuring the technical difficulties of different national anthems, based on how far singers had to travel from one note to the other and how quickly these changes followed each other in the melody.
Based on this system, the UK's national anthem 'God Save the King' / 'God Save the Queen' came out as one of the easiest, and 'The Star Spangled Banner' one of the hardest songs to sing. But the toughest of all, it turns out, is Ecuador's. Here are the lyrics to Ecuador's national anthem.