# Do You Think Monteverdi's Operas Are In a Class With Mozart?



## Xavier (Jun 7, 2012)

From the blog of Lisa Hirsch:



> It is especially crazy to omit Monteverdi [from a top 10 list of greatest composers], who operates right on the edge between the Renaissance and the modern. He didn't invent opera, but he wrote operas that are in a class with Mozart's; he wrote great secular works and great sacred works.
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Does anyone here dispute her ranking of _Poppea_ alongside _The Marriage of Figaro_? Or her saying that his other operas are in a class with Mozart?

I know at least 2 people who strongly disagreed:..... _"Not on this planet"_


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

whilst we're on personal opinions: *I* don't think - at least at this point - that anybody else's operas are in a class with Mozart's. However, I would take Poppea over Don Carlo and Boccanegra without a second thought.


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## Rackon (Apr 9, 2013)

Of course! How not?

Monteverdi's Poppea is one of the sublime works of western art - as a work of genius it ranks with other works of genius, among which I include Mozart's Nozze, Cosi and Don G. Orfeo and the Return of Ulysses are also masterpieces IMO.

Lisa speaketh truly.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Yes, in my opinion Monteverdi's operas are marvellous and I like them just as much (if not more) than Mozart's. I prefer _L'Orfeo_ to _Die Zauberflöte_ anyway.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Monteverdi's operas are equalled only by the yearly trash of Hong Kong.


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Oh, it's apples and pears... But I'll say NO anyway


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

Respighi's Monteverdi's Orfeo is in a class of its own.

It's seems to me the argument of the thread is if Mozart operas are the golden standard and that's not the case as far as I am concerned despite how good they are.


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