# Standard repertory



## tenoredigrazia (Feb 3, 2013)

Hey everyone,

I'm new, so I apologize if there's an existing thread on this topic.

I'm studying voice, and I know a lot of individual arias, but I would really like to start getting to know the "standard repertory," that is, the most well-known or most often-performed works. Can anybody help me throw together some kind of list? Please tell me what you think belongs in the standard rep. Thanks in advance, everybody! Excuse my ignorance...


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## Webernite (Sep 4, 2010)

You probably need to be more specific. You mentioned arias; do you want a list of standard works for voice and piano, or for voice and orchestra? Are you interested in works involving more than one voice? Help us narrow down the genres.


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## tenoredigrazia (Feb 3, 2013)

Oh man, sorry. Since this is the opera thread, it didn't occur to me to specify...I'm interested specifically in operas. Thank you for reminding me to clarify!


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Alright, here is a list of some of the best-known and most popular operas :

Verdi : La Traviata. Rigoletto. Il Trovatore . Aida. Un Ballo in Maschera. Otello . Falstaff.
Don Carlo. La Forza Del Destino . Macbeth . 

Puccini: La Boheme. Tosca. Madama Butterfly. Manon Lescaut. Turandot .

Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia. La Cenerentola . Dpnizetti: Lucia Di Lammermoor. Don Pasquale.
L'Elisir D'Amore. Bellini : Norma . Ponchielli: La Gioconda. Umberto Giordano: Andrea Chenier.
Boito: Mefistofele 

Bizet: Carmen . Gounod. Faust. Romeo&Juliette . Offenbach : Les Contes D'Hoffmann .

Wagner. Tristan& Isolde. Tannhauser. Lohengrin. The Ring des Nibelungen , consisting of Das Rheingold,
Die Walkure, Siegfried, Gotterdammerung . 
Der Fliegende Hollander .Parsifal .

Richard Strauss : Salome. Elektra. Der Rosenkavalier . Ariadne auf Naxos . Berg. Wozzeck .Lulu.

Weber: Der Freischutz (the free shooter). Beethoven: Fidelio .

Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana. Leoncavallo: Pagliacci . Mozart : Don Giovanni. Le Nozze di Figaro .
Die Zauberflote.(the magic flute) Cosi Fan Tutte. Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (the abduction from the seraglio).

Gluck Orfeo& Euridice . Handel : Giulio Cesare . Alcina . Rodelinda . Debussy elleas&Melisande .


Humperdinck :Hansel & Gretel . Tchaikovsky : Yevgeny Onegin. Pique Dame .

Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov . Janacek : Jenufa . Katya Kabanova. The Cunning Little Vixen .

Smetana: The Bartred Bride . Gershwin : Porgy & Bess . Britten: Peter Grimes. Billy Budd .

Massenet : Manon. Werther. Thais . Johann Strauss : Die Fledermaus . Lehar: The Merry Widow. 
(These two are actually operettas ). 

Of course, there are so many other wonderful operas you should get to know. But this is a basic list of the most popular .

There are plenty of superb complete recordings on CD and lots of DVDs .


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

You are could also look at our list of most recommended operas: http://www.talkclassical.com/11676-talk-classical-top-272-a.html, complied by members thorugh a voting system.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

That should get him started.


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## Webernite (Sep 4, 2010)

tenoredigrazia said:


> Oh man, sorry. Since this is the opera thread, it didn't occur to me to specify...I'm interested specifically in operas. Thank you for reminding me to clarify!


:lol:

You were probably right in the first place, actually. I always use the "Unread Posts" button, instead of clicking on a particular board (e.g. Opera); I replied without taking any notice of where you had put this thread...


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

Welcome to the board, TDG. It's definitely good to get a broad understanding of what the standard repertory is and superhorn's list is a pretty good one (though I might find it a little too inclusive).

As far as your own voice studies, you need to find the intersection between the standard repertory and your voice type. Assuming your screenname is accurate, Wikipedia gives a pretty good list of _tenore di grazia_ roles:

_Leggiero Tenor, also called tenor leggiero or tenore di grazia, is a lightweight, flexible tenor type of voice. The tenor roles written in the early 19th century Italian operas are invariably leggiero tenor roles, especially those by Rossini such as Lindoro in L'italiana in Algeri, Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola, and Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Bellini; Gualtiero in Il pirata, Elvino in La sonnambula and Arturo in I Puritani are classic examples of the voice. Many Donizetti roles, such as Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore and Ernesto in Don Pasquale, Tonio in La fille du régiment, are also tenore di grazia roles._

Not to say you should limit your listening/watching efforts, of course, since voices may change and develop over time.


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## tenoredigrazia (Feb 3, 2013)

Wow, thanks so much everybody! Superhorn, I think you've pretty much covered all the operas I hear people talk about the most in one fell swoop! Mamascarlatti, I'll be sure to take a more in-depth look at that list, thank you for the recommendation. Cavaradossi, I really appreciate the advice! I certainly hope the screen name is accurate; Tito Schipa is my favorite tenor of all time!


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## Hesoos (Jun 9, 2012)

superhorn said:


> Alright, here is a list of some of the best-known and most popular operas :
> 
> Verdi : La Traviata. Rigoletto. Il Trovatore . Aida. Un Ballo in Maschera. Otello . Falstaff.
> Don Carlo. La Forza Del Destino . Macbeth .
> ...


I really agree with that list. I'd like to add some more operas by Rossini or Verdi, but perhaps it wouldn't be exactley standard repertory. 
This is a good list.


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## drpraetorus (Aug 9, 2012)

Check the Met schedule. There is very little there tha isn't firmly in the standard erp.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I'm just going to add Purcell - Dido and Aeneas to superhorn's list.


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## tenoredigrazia (Feb 3, 2013)

Out of curiosity, does anybody have any insight into what works might be considered part of the standard rep in other countries with strong operatic traditions? I get the impression, for instance, that audiences in France and Germany see a lot of works that Americans almost never stage, and with some frequency. I defer to you, ladies and gentleman!


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I get the impression there might be more a tradition of staging baroque works in Europe. Certainly of the DVDs I have, most of the Baroque works (and I collectt these avidly and exhaustively) come from Europe and Britain. Conductors who champion this work - people like William Christie, Fabio Biondi, Diego Fasolis, Paul McCreesh, Alan Curtis - are based more in Europ, even though a couple of them are American.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

The first opera I bought complete was Rigoletto in the recording by Solti. It was new then - horrors! It's a good opera to start with. The Solti version is hard driven by the conductor but has three outstanding principles in Merrill as the jester, Krauss as the duke and Moffo as the daughter. I really enjoyed learning it.


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

You're right, there are some local differences. The one country specific one that comes to mind is Der Freischütz. Operabase shows 25 productions since 2011, 19 of which were in Germany, and 3 more were in bordering countries. I'm sure there are several similar examples for Russia too.

Speaking of operabase, a great reference btw, here are the 100 top most performed operas throughout the world in the last 5 years:

1 it (#1) Verdi (#1) La traviata (629) 
2 it (#2) Puccini (#1) La bohème (580) 
3 fr (#1) Bizet (#1) Carmen (573) 
4 at (#1) Mozart (#1) Die Zauberflöte (571) 
5 it (#3) Puccini (#2) Tosca (504) 
6 at (#2) Mozart (#2) Le nozze di Figaro (494) 
7 it (#4) Puccini (#3) Madama Butterfly (469) 
8 it (#5) Rossini (#1) Il barbiere di Siviglia (465) 
9 it (#6) Verdi (#2) Rigoletto (434) 
10 at (#3) Mozart (#3) Don Giovanni (433) 
11 at (#4) Mozart (#4) Così fan tutte (336) 
12 de (#1) Humperdinck (#1) Hänsel und Gretel (300) 
13 it (#7) Donizetti (#1) L'elisir d'amore (291) 
14 it (#8) Verdi (#3) Aida (290) 
15 at (#5) Strauss,J (#1) Die Fledermaus (285) 
16 it (#9) Puccini (#4) Turandot (266) 
17 ru (#1) Tchaikovsky (#1) Eugene Onegin (247) 
18 it (#10) Donizetti (#2) Lucia di Lammermoor (237) 
19 it (#11) Verdi (#4) Nabucco (226) 
20 it (#12) Leoncavallo (#1) Pagliacci (216) 
21 it (#13) Verdi (#5) Il trovatore (208) 
22 hu (#1) Lehár (#1) Die lustige Witwe (184) 
23 at (#6) Mozart (#5) Die Entführung (177) 
24 it (#14) Verdi (#6) Macbeth (173) 
25 de (#2) Wagner,R (#1) Der fliegende Holländer (173) 
26 it (#15) Verdi (#7) Un ballo in maschera (172) 
27 it (#16) Verdi (#8) Otello (172) 
28 it (#17) Mascagni (#1) Cavalleria rusticana (169) 
29 it (#18) Rossini (#2) La cenerentola (168) 
30 it (#19) Verdi (#9) Falstaff (167) 
31 de (#3) Strauss,R (#1) Salome (157) 
32 fr (#2) Offenbach (#1) Les contes d'Hoffmann (155) 
33 fr (#3) Gounod (#1) Faust (153) 
34 de (#4) Wagner,R (#2) Die Walküre (153) 
35 de (#5) Wagner,R (#3) Das Rheingold (145) 
36 de (#6) Wagner,R (#4) Tristan und Isolde (144) 
37 de (#7) Beethoven (#1) Fidelio (142) 
38 it (#20) Donizetti (#3) Don Pasquale (136) 
39 it (#21) Puccini (#5) Gianni Schicchi (130) 
40 cz (#1) Dvořák,A (#1) Rusalka (129) 
41 de (#8) Strauss,R (#2) Der Rosenkavalier (128) 
42 de (#9) Wagner,R (#5) Parsifal (125) 
43 de (#10) Strauss,R (#3) Ariadne auf Naxos (124) 
44 it (#22) Bellini (#1) Norma (119) 
45 de (#11) Weber (#1) Der Freischütz (119) 
46 de (#12) Wagner,R (#6) Siegfried (118) 
47 de (#13) Gluck (#1) Orfeo ed Euridice (118) 
48 it (#23) Verdi (#10) Don Carlos (117) 
49 de (#14) Wagner,R (#7) Tannhäuser (116) 
50 at (#7) Mozart (#6) Idomeneo re di Creta (109) 
51 de (#15) Wagner,R (#8) Götterdämmerung (108) 
52 it (#24) Puccini (#6) Manon Lescaut (107) 
53 de (#16) Strauss,R (#4) Elektra (106) 
54 ru (#2) Tchaikovsky (#2) Pikovaya Dama (105) 
55 hu (#2) Kálmán (#1) Die Csárdásfürstin (101) 
56 de (#17) Wagner,R (#9) Lohengrin (101) 
57 fr (#4) Gounod (#2) Roméo et Juliette (100) 
58 it (#25) Rossini (#3) L'italiana in Algeri (98) 
59 fr (#5) Massenet (#1) Werther (96) 
60 ru (#3) Musorgsky (#1) Boris Godunov (95) 
61 uk (#1) Purcell (#1) Dido and Aeneas (90) 
62 at (#8) Mozart (#7) La clemenza di Tito (83) 
63 uk (#2) Handel (#1) Giulio Cesare in Egitto (82) 
64 cz (#2) Smetana (#1) Prodaná nevěsta (80) 
65 cz (#3) Janáček (#1) Jenůfa (79) 
66 fr (#6) Offenbach (#2) Orphée aux enfers (76) 
67 it (#26) Puccini (#7) Suor Angelica (74) 
68 it (#27) Verdi (#11) Requiem (74) 
69 fr (#7) Bizet (#2) Les pêcheurs de perles (72) 
70 it (#28) Verdi (#12) La forza del destino (72) 
71 it (#29) Verdi (#13) Simon Boccanegra (71) 
72 fr (#8) Poulenc (#1) Dialogues des Carmélites (69) 
73 uk (#3) Britten (#1) The Turn of the Screw (68) 
74 at (#9) Berg (#1) Wozzeck (68) 
75 fr (#9) Debussy (#1) Pelléas et Mélisande (66) 
76 de (#18) Wagner,R (#10) Die Meistersinger (64) 
77 ru (#4) Stravinsky (#1) The Rake's Progress (62) 
78 hu (#3) Lehár (#2) Das Land des Lächelns (61) 
79 hu (#4) Kálmán (#2) Gräfin Mariza (60) 
80 it (#30) Bellini (#2) La sonnambula (58) 
81 ru (#5) Prokofiev (#1) The Love for Three Oranges (57) 
82 ru (#6) Shostakovich (#1) Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (56) 
83 it (#31) Puccini (#8) Il Tabarro (54) 
84 uk (#4) Britten (#2) A Midsummer Night's Dream (53) 
85 it (#32) Rossini (#4) Il viaggio a Reims (51) 
86 it (#33) Monteverdi (#1) L'orfeo (51) 
87 uk (#5) Britten (#3) Peter Grimes (50) 
88 cz (#4) Janáček (#2) Kát'a Kabanová (50) 
89 it (#34) Giordano (#1) Andrea Chénier (49) 
90 de (#19) Strauss,R (#5) Die Frau ohne Schatten (46) 
91 at (#10) Strauss,J (#2) Der Zigeunerbaron (46) 
92 it (#35) Donizetti (#4) Maria Stuarda (46) 
93 it (#36) Puccini (#9) La fanciulla del West (45) 
94 ru (#7) Tchaikovsky (#3) Iolanta (44) 
95 fr (#10) Berlioz (#1) La Damnation de Faust (43) 
96 uk (#6) Handel (#2) Orlando (43) 
97 uk (#7) Handel (#3) Alcina (43) 
98 uk (#8) Britten (#4) The Rape of Lucretia (42) 
99 it (#37) Verdi (#14) Luisa Miller (40) 
100 it (#38) Verdi (#15) Attila (39)

http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en&


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## Hesoos (Jun 9, 2012)

Cavaradossi said:


> Speaking of operabase, a great reference btw, here are the 100 top most performed operas throughout the world in the last 5 years:
> 
> http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en&


Thanks for sharing Cavaradossi! 
Very interesting this site!


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