# Creepy / Dark Opera



## Aegis (Apr 20, 2020)

Hello all, I’m very new to the world of opera, and I was hoping to get some recommendations for operas or arias that are particularly creepy, macabre, supernatural, melancholy, or generally dark in nature. Anything would be greatly appreciated, thank you.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

_Turn of the Screw_ (1954) by Benjamin Britten, after the story by Henry James. It's not too long, either.

Wiki article here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turn_of_the_Screw_(opera)


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Well, Don Giovanni has the most terrifying supernatural intervention in the history of opera, when a man the Don murders at the beginning of the opera takes up Don Giovanni's mocking invite to dinner, and gives us a finale we can never forget.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

Interesting request. Puccini is my beat so I can start with him. His operas tend to be relatively varied in tone, so there are few that are any one tone all the way through. He tends to like to keep excitement high, so there's aren't really any that are quietly ominous. Still, a few you might find interesting:
_Il tabarro_ is relatively melancholy, although in a nervously excited sort of way. It gets darker as it goes on though, and the last 20 minutes is very dark and broody, with a rather horrific ending.

Depending on what you mean by supernatural, you may find _Suor Angelica_ interesting. It is set in a convent, but the peaceful air evaporates, and the centerpiece is a conversation about talking with the dead between two relatives who loathe each other. Still, the main character has a goodness that keeps the piece from becoming truly dark.

_Turandot_ is famously gruesome. That's probably your best bet. There's a great chorus to the moon in which they compare it to a severed head. So there you go. There is plenty of comic relief, but it is of a dark character.

There's also a very early Puccini opera, _Le villi_ about a man who gets hounded to death by spirits. But musically it doesn't have a very dark texture.

As far as opera up through the 1920s goes, I would say I've found operas like _Pelleas et Melisande_, _Der Fliegende Hollander_, _Parsifal_, _Salome_, _Elektra_, and _Orfeo ed Euridice_ that match the qualities you're looking for. Also, _Die Tote Stadt_ is about a man who can't move on from the death of his wife, and it's quite dark at times. I'm sure others will have suggestions from later 20th century opera, which I'm not very familiar with. The plots seem to get much darker and creepier in that time period.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

I forgot _Bluebeard's Castle_, probably the most obvious one.


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

Aegis said:


> Hello all, I'm very new to the world of opera, and I was hoping to get some recommendations for operas or arias that are particularly creepy, macabre, supernatural, melancholy, or generally dark in nature. Anything would be greatly appreciated, thank you.


Verdi's Macbeth involves the requisite witches, cold-blooded murder, madness

Wagner's Flying Dutchman can be spooky

Lucia di Lammermoor with the Mad Scene is pretty macabre


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Nothing is more heart rending, devastating and stomach churning than Poulenc's "Dialogues des Carmelites".
For enjoyment of the devil and his decadent workings Boito's "Mefistofele" takes the cake (and cookies and ice cream)


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Paul Hindemith - Sancta Susanna






Also 
Schoenberg's Erwartung 
Strauss - Salome


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

and there's also the famous Wolf's glen scene


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## Ekim the Insubordinate (May 24, 2015)

Norman Bates beat me to it. Der Freischutz jumped immediately to mind. After that, Richard Status had a couple with Elektra and Salome. Many are dark and tragic, but I'm guessing that isn't really what you mean.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Richard Status. Auto-correct?


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I've always found this music creepy, perhaps because I associate it with creepy movie scenes.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

From Verdi's *Otello*. Here the scoring for double bass provides all the creepiness of a jealous man intent on murdering his (innocent):wife.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

"The Fiery Angel " by Prokofiev is without a doubt the weirdest, creepiest and most disturbing opera ever written . It takes place in 16th century Germany during the Inquisition , and is a nightmarish story of obsession, madness , black magic , demonology and demonic possession where the crazed heroine, Renata, who is looking for the human personification of a fiery angel who appeared to her in childhood . 
Was it just an imaginary friend, or is the fiery angel a demon which is tormenting her ? It's not clear from the beginning . 
Herf riend is the wandering night Ruprecht . who is desperately in love with her even though she refuses to have a physical relationship with him. 
The opera ends when Renata has entered a convent in the hope of finding peace, is still tormented by demons, and the other nuns are also showing sings of demonic possession !
An inquisitor is calle dint o perform an exorcism on Renata, but the whole thing goes horribly out of control and there is a scene of terrifying confusion and chaos . Finally, Renata is sentenced to be tortured and burned at the stake !
Prokofiev's music is almost unbearably intense and dissonant . This opera is not for the faint of heart ! Get the DVD from the Kirov opera with Gergiev conducting and Galina Gorchakova as the tormented Renata ! But don't see it late at night or you may have nightmares !


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

This scene, from Verdi's *Macbeth* has some pulsing dark music to begin the Apparitions scene in which Macbeth sees some ghosts from his past and future.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

This scene, from Verdi's *Macbeth* has some pulsing dark music to begin the Apparitions scene in which Macbeth sees some ghosts from his past and future.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

This is not an opera, but it's superbly creepy to me.
*Atrium Carceri*


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## Aegis (Apr 20, 2020)

*Nice one!*



vivalagentenuova said:


> I forgot _Bluebeard's Castle_, probably the most obvious one.


Thank you everyone for your suggestions! Please keep them coming. I did have a chance to watch the 1988 film adaptation of Béla Bartók's _Duke Blubeard's Castle_, was not expecting that ending at all, and found the piece's symbolism very deep and integrated. A very dark love story </3


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Wagner has many moments that are definitely, dark, melancholy or creepy:

_Der Fliegende Hollander:_ the Dutchman's aria, "Die Frist ist um"; the ghostly sailors choruses in the last act.

_Tannhauser:_ Tannhauser's "Rome narrative" in act 3.

_Lohengrin:_ the scene between Ortrud and Telramund; Ortrud's aria, "Entweihte Gotter."

_Das Rheingold:_ anything involving Alberich; Erda's warning, "Weiche, Wotan! Weiche!"

_Die Walkure:_ act 2 from Wotan's monologue to the end.

_Siegfried:_ many moments throughout the first two acts; the prelude and Erda-Wanderer scene in act 3.

_Gotterdammerung:_ the Norns in the prologue; Hagen's watch on the Rhine and Siegfried's capture of Brunnhilde in act 1; The prelude and Alberich-Hagen scene, and much of act 2; Siegfried's death and funeral procession in act 3.

_Tristan und isolde:_ the prelude and many moments in act 1; the scene with King Marke in act 2; nearly all of act 3.

_Die Meistersinger:_ the melancholy prelude to act 3.

_Parsifal:_ the second half of the prelude to act 1; most of act 2; most of act 3.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Many operas of the 1820s/30s have supernatural themes:
- Marschner's _Der Vampyr_ and _Hans Heiling_
- Hoffmann and Lortzing's operas about _Undine_ (water nymph)
- Meyerbeer's _Robert le Diable_ (the bass is the devil; has a famous ballet of undead nuns)
(Weber's _Freischütz_ has been mentioned above.)

Mid-century:
- Gounod's _Nonne sanglante_ (tenor unwittingly marries ghost of murdered woman) and _Faust_
- Berlioz's _Damnation de Faust_

Slavic:
Dvorak's _Rusalka_
Rimsky-Korsakov's _Koschei the Deathless_
Rubinstein's _Demon_

There are plenty of psychologically dark, non-supernatural works. Besides the obvious (Verdi, Strauss, Mussorgsky), you could look into Montemezzi's _Amore dei tre re_, Wolf-Ferrari's _Sly_, or Donizetti's _Maria di Rudenz_. There's also Penderecki's _Teufel von Loudun_ - and, of course, Stockhausen.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

_The Lighthouse_ (1980) by Peter Maxwell Davies - another ghost story.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lighthouse_(opera)


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## annaw (May 4, 2019)

Rirchard Strauss wrote some creepy and grotesque stuff. Here is a very inviting description from _Die Frau ohne Schatten_ Wikipedia page.



> The Nurse and Empress disappear, and the Wife is greatly upset by the offstage Voices of Unborn Children lamenting, which emerge from the fish that are cooking on the fire.


I'd also consider Berg's _Wozzeck_ rather dark.


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)




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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Ruddigore, or The Witch's Curse
Gilbert & Sullivan

Dark, spooky, and funny.


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

They've already been mentioned, but I second them:

_Il Tabarro

Elektra

_Wolf's Glen scene from _Der Freischütz

Tristan und Isolde _Act III (I find the prelude to Act III particularly dark if performed well.)


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

This should satisfy your craving!


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

'Lulu' by Alban Berg deserves a place here.

A stone cold story by Frank Wedekind, to the surprise of Schoenberg and others put to music by the soft-hearted Berg, in the same year he composed his famous violin concerto in memory of an angel. 

Lulu is a beautiful and sensuous woman with many men falling for her, in the most literal sense of the word, as they die or get killed one by one, all by or because of Lulu. After her rich protector gets killed too, Lulu comes to a terrible fall herself, ending up as a prostitute in London and getting killed by Jack the Ripper. Also Lulu's lady lover, a countess, gets killed by Jack the Ripper, minutes after Lulu. To top it off, somewhere in the story, the American railway stockmarket collapses, ruining some of the main characters that are still alive. 

The enormous murder rate and the stone cold setting of 'Lulu', deserves a high ranking in the list of 'dark opera'!


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

I believe that Kurt Weill was not yet mentioned here, for both his 'Dreigroschenoper' (actually a musical) and 'Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny' are also set in the gutter of the thirties.

I also think that the German language is able to add some true darkness to works like these, as it also is able to elevate other works with its subtle poetry. Quite an interesting language, now that I think of it. 

In English, a Threepenny opera sounds like a Hollywood story (Mack the Knife), in German it sounds like a cold dark and wet place where you don't want to be (Meckie Messer).


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## erki (Feb 17, 2020)

norman bates said:


> Strauss - Salome


Elektra even more so.(I see it is mentioned already)


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## aussiebushman (Apr 21, 2018)

Elektra is one of my very favorite operas but for something even more creepy, what's to beat the scene from Salome where she kisses the dead lips of Johannan? The creepiest performance on record must surely be Lluba Wellisch- regrettably can't find it on YouTube to share here

No one has mentioned Jenufa - putting a newly born baby under the ice must surely qualify as fairly creepy:


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## Autumn Leaves (Jan 3, 2014)

aussiebushman said:


> No one has mentioned Jenufa - putting a newly born baby under the ice must surely qualify as fairly creepy:


Not to mention that for many viewers, it's very creepy to see Jenůfa end up with a man who slashed her face with a knife in the first act. Just to clarify: I do believe that Laca was remorseful and changed for the better, but I know people who don't believe it (and, indeed, productions that don't seem to show it well, either).


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## aussiebushman (Apr 21, 2018)

Glad someone else appreciates the subtleties of this wonderful opera. Laca is a complex role. Janacek surely understood his characters


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## ThaNotoriousNIC (Jun 29, 2020)

As some people have mentioned before, Bartok's Bluebeard Castle to me sounds like one of the creepiest operas I have ever heard. Each door is unsettling, but this one is the creepiest in my opinion:





Door #6: The Pool of Tears

A couple of people have also mentioned parts of Parsifal and i agree with them (Act II in particular). The dark tone is established from the get-go and is developed even more as Klingsor and Kundry enter into the act.






I am not too familiar with Berg's Wozzeck or Lulu, but from the selections I have heard, they are both very dark. There are some parts in operas I know well that are dark, but maybe not to the level as the four previously mentioned operas:

1. Don Giovanni (Mozart): Commendatore Scene
2. Die Walkure (Wagner): Prelude to Act I (the storm)
3. Tosca (Puccini): much of Act II and the finale of Act III has a dark, macabre tone, especially when Scarpia is around
4. Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti): The Mad Scene
5. Rigoletto (Verdi): the introduction of Sparafucile (the duet) and the ending


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## adrian1982 (Jul 27, 2020)

Dialogues des Carmelites


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## Fredrikalansson (Jan 29, 2019)

Handel's Alcina is about a sorceress who entices men to her island to be her lovers. When she tires of them, she transforms them into statues or wild beasts. A lot of other Baroque operas have supernatural plots, especially those based on Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. 

Mozart's Magic Flute has it's share of the supernatural, mostly for delight, but there are also solemn moments.

Any treatment of the Faust legend: Berlioz, Gounod or Boito.

Dvorak's Rusalka has been mentioned, but The Devil and Kate, while it's a comedy, has lots of supernatural shenanigans. 

Nielsen's Saul and David has a creepy scene where Saul visits the Witch of Endor, and forces her to raise the spirit if the prophet Samuel.

Janáček's Makrapolous Case has a.300 year old opera singer who is desperate to regain the formula that originally allowed her to cheat death.

Martinu's Julietta is not supernatural per se. A young man Michel revisits the village where he saw a young woman with whom he fell in love. But everyone in the village has lost their memory. Their only long term memories are what they make up. The girl appears and seems to know Michel, but does she really?


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## Archtop51 (Apr 10, 2011)

Aribert Reimann’s Lear


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Life with an Idiot-Alfred Schnittke , enough said


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

Minnie la candida by Riccardo Malipiero tells the story of the descent to madness of the young Minnie and her relatives after she candidly believe to a joke (that there exists human-like and animal-like robots that cannot be distinguished from the real ones) and began to obsessively doubt if the people around her is real or artificial.

Il prigioniero by Luigi Dallapiccola which is basically a psychological thriller in which a Great Inquisitor inflict the ultimate torture to a prisoner by let him briefly believe he was lucky (a jailer forgot to lock up the door of his cell) and could escape from the jail and regain his freedom.
The prisoner's hopes which were fuelled by the Great Inquisitor are dashed away once he reach the outsides and the Great Inquisitor reveal himself and lead him to his execution.

And how not to cite who could very well be considered the most creepy italian Opera composer ever: Gian Francesco Malipiero.
Most of his long operatic production (50 years) is creepy and tragic, just to name one Il torneo notturno.


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