# Your favorite opera ending?



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I'm a happy ending lover so for me it's Flute, Fidelio, Meistersinger. Yeah, I admit it. I like my heart warmed. 
maybe i'll think of more.

you?


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

_I Puritani_ has a happy ending which makes a nice change.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Of course, _Fidelio_ is at the top of my list. _La Clemenza di Tito _is another, simply because the music is so gorgeous. If I want a good tear-jerker, then I'd pick _Rigoletto_ and _Madama Butterfly_. The ending of _Eugene Onegin _is no tear-jerker, but it certainly is powerful.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

I appreciate all endings that are neither tragedy for sake of tragedy itself nor happy banal which you could expect from the very beginning of opera.


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## CountessAdele (Aug 25, 2011)

I love the ending of Riggoletto, "*Ah, la maledizione!*". Oh doesn't that just get you!


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

I love the end of Falstaff. Anything that ends with a fugue warms my heart.


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## MAnna (Sep 19, 2011)

I like the ending of Das Rheingold; really gets me in the mood to see the next portion of the Ring.

I also like the sweet, hilarious ending of Betrothal in a Monastery.

In both cases, I feel the ending is just as it should be, without being too heavy-handed.


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## Sieglinde (Oct 25, 2009)

Tosca - it's like the Red Wedding. Perfect.
Götterdämmerung - EPIC.
Billy Budd - the way the orchestra stops earlier than the tenor and he has to finish it a cappella. It's very brave and a perfect musical depiction of solitude. Plus the shocked silence before the audience realizes they're in theatre after all...
Trovatore - Azucena: *trollface* Luna: *WHY?*


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## GoneBaroque (Jun 16, 2011)

Dialogues of the Carmelites. What an ending! Need I say more?


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## NightHawk (Nov 3, 2011)

R. Strauss, Der Rosenkavalier


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## Festat (Oct 25, 2011)

I always mentally subvert Die Zauberflöte's ending so that the Queen wins it all.


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## waldvogel (Jul 10, 2011)

There is that little aria that ends _Tristan und Isolde_... and the final resolution of the Tristan chord.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

One of the endings that got me thinking for days in a row was the death scene in _Pélleas et Mélisande.
_Quite impressive and lasting.
_Boris Godunov _is another one with an impressive ending (original version, not R-K's ending).
A couple more that have impressed me:
_The Rake's Progress
Peter Grimes
_


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## tannhaeuser (Nov 7, 2011)

*Rigoletto!*

Who could forget that phrase "Ah! La maledizione!"


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

Lulu! Needless to say that is a very original and unpredictable finale!

Martin, a murderer in his head.


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

tannhaeuser said:


> *Rigoletto!*
> 
> Who could forget that phrase "Ah! La maledizione!"


I can! This is a cliché in many operas of that time...Using those words or others...(e.g. I pagliacci).


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

CountessAdele said:


> I love the ending of Riggoletto, "*Ah, la maledizione!*". Oh doesn't that just get you!


Niet!

Martin


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## slowjazz (Aug 29, 2011)

CountessAdele said:


> I love the ending of Riggoletto, "*Ah, la maledizione!*". Oh doesn't that just get you!


I feel the chills always when i hear the final roll of drums.
p.s.: what has rigoletto to do with i Pagliacci??


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

slowjazz said:


> I feel the chills always when i hear the final roll of drums.
> p.s.: what has rigoletto to do with i Pagliacci??


The finale is in both a tragic death...."Alla Italiana"...like a spagheti or worse...good ravioli you threw on the floor! LOL


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## Yashin (Jul 22, 2011)

I would go with Das Rheingold, Gotterdammerung, Jenufa, Kata Kabanova, Don Giovanni and Die tote stadt


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## slowjazz (Aug 29, 2011)

myaskovsky2002 said:


> The finale is in both a tragic death...."Alla Italiana"...like a spagheti or worse...good ravioli you threw on the floor! LOL


Well...have you ever seen a tragedia with happy ending?


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## msegers (Oct 17, 2008)

Mussorgsky's _Khovanshchina_ ends with a mass suicide by fire (I always think, an immolation scene in which real people die, not demigods)... I don't "enjoy" it, but like the ending of _Carmelites_, it is so powerful.


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

CountessAdele said:


> I love the ending of Riggoletto, "*Ah, la maledizione!*". Oh doesn't that just get you!


Definitely my favorite "bad" ending!

For happy, I'd say Magic Flute or Nozze. Myself, standing on stage in Nozze, singing that wonderful praise to love and harmony, I was always thrilled.


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

_Dialogues des carmelites_. Orchestra + guillotine = What more could you want?


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

By coincidence I was pondering almost this topic earlier today, except I was thinking of which operas saved their best music/arias for the last section. The more I thought, the more I realised that many end with rather perfunctory tunes or perhaps rehashes or earlier material (Puccini certainly), even my beloved Verdi seldom kept the best stuff for the finale (Otello's 4th act is easily the weakest musically), although I love the final Aida duet. Falstaff has a lovely ending, but it's hardly that opera's highlight.

Wagner, inevitably, knew the importance of a big ending, so we can safely leave him out of this.

Which other operas leave their best music to last?


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

My favorite is probably that of _Rigoletto_. Not necessarily the words "Ah, la maledezione," but just the fact that Rigoletto's own beloved daughter falls into the trap he himself set for his worst enemy. It's the perfect tragic ending.

And I agree that this is nothing like the _Pagliacci_ ending. In _Pagliacci_, Canio doesn't blame fate or a curse for the fact that he killed his wife.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

La Fanciulla del West. Heroine sweeps in on a horse all guns blazing, guilt-trips the hard-boiled miners into letting her no-good bandit lover off from being hanged, and rides off with him into the sunset.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

_Tosca_ and _La Traviata_ stand out to me.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Fidelio. Probably the most lifting ending when done properly.

As most operas end in death and tragedy, should we like the ending?


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Bellinilover said:


> And I agree that this is nothing like the _Pagliacci_ ending. In _Pagliacci_, Canio doesn't blame fate or a curse for the fact that he killed his wife.


In the original score it is Tonio not Canio who sings: 'The comedy is over!'
Apparently the line was hijacked for tenors by Caruso he decided that he must sing it as it was such a good line.
There are, however, recordings where the original ending is sung by Tonio. It makes better dramatic sense as it ties in with Tonio's prologue.


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

Alexander said:


> By coincidence I was pondering almost this topic earlier today, except I was thinking of which operas saved their best music/arias for the last section. The more I thought, the more I realised that many end with rather perfunctory tunes or perhaps rehashes or earlier material (Puccini certainly), even my beloved Verdi seldom kept the best stuff for the finale (Otello's 4th act is easily the weakest musically), although I love the final Aida duet. Falstaff has a lovely ending, but it's hardly that opera's highlight.
> 
> Wagner, inevitably, knew the importance of a big ending, so we can safely leave him out of this.
> 
> Which other operas leave their best music to last?


One of my favorite endings is the heavenly chorus in _Mefistofele_. Of course Boito rehashes the same chorus from the prologue, but rather than ending with his opening music, I like to think that he opens with his ending music.


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## HumphreyAppleby (Apr 11, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


> La Fanciulla del West. Heroine sweeps in on a horse all guns blazing, guilt-trips the hard-boiled miners into letting her no-good bandit lover off from being hanged, and rides off with him into the sunset.


Damn straight! That's the best ending in opera musically, dramatically, and thematically. I also love how every major motive of the opera comes back and is resolved in the space of about five minutes.

Number two I'd put the Liebestod, and for three I'd put the finale of _Suor Angelica_, which very few people seem to like, and I can never understand why.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

I forgot I had answered this thread. But I didn't even explain my answer. _La traviata_ stands out to me because the ending is jarring and abrupt and almost a little bizarre. It's definitely one of the most tragic, but it almost has an element of absurdity in it. It is probably my #1 favorite opera conclusion.

Another one I like, apart from Tosca, is the finale of _Lucia di Lammermoor_. Here we have a man committing suicide and the music is in a happy D major. Another ending that has a slight absurd element to it.


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## Notung (Jun 12, 2013)

The ending of Parsifal. The healing of Amfortas always gets me! 

"Blessed be your suffering, that gave pity's mighty power and purest wisdom's might to the timorous fool!"


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## Radames (Feb 27, 2013)

"O Scarpia, avanti a Dio!" Hard to beat that one. "Ah, la maledezione," is pretty awasome too. I like the tragic endings.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Radames said:


> "O Scarpia, avanti a Dio!" Hard to beat that one.


As long as she doesn't bounce back into view 



Radames said:


> "Ah, la maledezione," is pretty awesome too...


Very much so


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

The ironic ending of Das Rheingold.


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## Pantheon (Jun 9, 2013)

Love the ending of Le Grand Macabre !
I saw Elektra recently and I absolutely adored the ending.
Cavalli's Elena also has a very burlesque ending to it


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## JCarmel (Feb 3, 2013)

My favourite operatic ending....from my favourite opera...from two of my favourite operatic performers....begins 3 hours & 16 minutes into the youtube video clip! (Sorry...I don't know how to post the correctly-positioned clip!...)


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

the only one I find truly satisfying is the ending of L'incoronazione di Poppea.


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## JCarmel (Feb 3, 2013)

My second favourite....


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Pantheon said:


> Cavalli's Elena also has a very burlesque ending to it


Haha yes. When Menelaus takes his top off.....:lol:


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## Oreb (Aug 8, 2013)

Leaving Wagner aside for a moment, my favourites would be:

the wonderful _*Falstaff*_ fugue,

*Fidelio*

*Otello* - (can anyone really resist the chills at 'un bacio...'?)

*A Midsummer Night's Dream* - ('Now until the break of day' is glorious)

Oh - and a special mention for the beautiful ending of *A Village Romeo and Juliet,* as well


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## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

*Tosca!* The music was so epic that it made up 100 times for the silliness of the actual ending.


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

sospiro said:


> As long as she doesn't bounce back into view
> 
> Very much so


I just hope that infamous Tosca anecdote is true. If so, an overefficient tarpaulin would have made possible the best ending ever in opera performance.

But failing that, for me it would be the stately promenade over the Rainbow Bridge and into Valhalla in Rheingold and the ending of Aida: Amneris's futile, remorseful prayer for peace as the voice of the lovers fades out and the chorus surges in praise of pitiless, immense Ptah.


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## JCarmel (Feb 3, 2013)

I'd also go with I Puritani...because the hero & heroine love each other_ such _a lot & I like that. And Le Nozze...because everybody forgives each other a lot...& I like that too.


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

_Dialogues des Carmelites_. The part where Blanche comes onto the stage and sings her line before the guillotine comes down....wow. That whole sequence is (for me) one of the most compelling scenes in all of opera.


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

Itullian said:


> The ironic ending of Das Rheingold.


Like bookends to a library Rheingold ends with "ribbon cutting" ceremony for Valhalla and Gotterdammerung ends with its complete destruction, the symbolic "ring" is completed!


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

On a lighter note I really like the conclusion of La Sonnambula with one of the greatest bel canto arias ever for soprano that can bring the house down with a furious orchestra run off......


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## Beethoven10 (Jun 2, 2013)

popular choice but definitely a worthy one: _Dialogue des Carmelites
Salve regina... Here's the clip (don't think it's been posted yet in this thread?) but it's just SO much more powerful with the rest of the opera behind it :




_


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## kelseythepterodactyl (Sep 5, 2013)

The ending of Der Rosenkavalier is simply magical. So stunning.


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## drth15 (Dec 12, 2007)

Great comments & ideas. I would cheat and list both tragic and uplifting endings. Yes, Peter Grimes, especially live, is really unforgettable, will always cherish Jon Vickers in the 1984 Covent Garden Production when it toured Los Angeles. The there's the Marriage Of Figaro-just sweeps all before it in its brilliance and energy.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Favourite ending? When the fat lady sings 

And now for my proper answer...
_Wozzeck_ has the greatest ending of them all.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Many come to mind...

For instance, the finale of "Norma" with the heartbreaking request from Norma to her father, to take care of her sons, and then she goes with Pollione to their death.

Let's hear the Greek soprano Dimitra Theodossiou in a recent production:


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## JCarmel (Feb 3, 2013)

"The ending of Der Rosenkavalier is simply magical. So stunning..."
Definetly with those two singers, kelsey! Two of my favourites....


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

My favorite opera ending was when I changed channels after watching a few minutes of a fairly recent Met telecast of Donizetti's Don Pasquale.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Revenant said:


> My favorite opera ending was when I changed channels after watching a few minutes of a fairly recent Met telecast of Donizetti's Don Pasquale.


Oh dear. I liked that production (except for John Del Carlo). More than the recent Glyndebourne one with a rather shrill Danielle de Niese. (although Alessandro Corbelli was stonking).


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

The closing scenes of all of Wagner's mature works (_Rheingold_ onwards) take some beating, and I'd be hard-pressed to single one out. I might opt for _Siegfried_, if forced. Elsewhere, I'd nominate Les Troyens, Wozzeck, The Turn of the Screw, Rosenkavalier and Fidelio.


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

Werther, Wozzeck, Tristan and Isolde and Saint Francis come to mind right now. Oh and I really like Carmen's ending.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

If you have a soprano who can nail the High C at the end of the duet I will go with Siegfried. I must also mention the thrilling ending to Fidelio that is so uplifting.


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

William Christie and cast hamming it up after the conclusion of


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Siegfried if the soprano has a powerful high C. Fidelio is probably second.


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## AegnorWildcat (Sep 4, 2013)

I'd definitely go with Tosca. It always gets to me. Also Rigoletto. The sacrifice of Gilda. The shock of Rigoletto when he hears the Duke cheerfully singing in the distance, and the horror when he finds his daughter in the sack which he thought contained his enemy. For a happy ending I think I'd go with Mozart's Magic Flute.


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## JCarmel (Feb 3, 2013)

I'd have to go with the end of Rigoletto as one of my least favourite endings, AegnorWildcat....yes, because of the pathos of it...but mainly because of my level of anxiety whether or not the Rigoletto & Gilda will be 'up' to the demands of it.... vocally & otherwise.
For that reason, I never enjoy the scene until its over & know it was 'OK!'


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## AegnorWildcat (Sep 4, 2013)

JCarmel said:


> I'd have to go with the end of Rigoletto as one of my least favourite endings, AegnorWildcat....yes, because of the pathos of it...but mainly because of my level of anxiety whether or not the Rigoletto & Gilda will be 'up' to the demands of it.... vocally & otherwise.
> For that reason, I never enjoy the scene until its over & know it was 'OK!'


I guess I can see that point of view. I typically don't have that issue until it's actually started to go badly.


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## JCarmel (Feb 3, 2013)

That's the difference between us...I'm a pessimist & thee, an optimist?! And long may you remain so because it's a preferable option in life to look on the bright side...until at least you know to be fearful.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Vesteralen said:


> William Christie and cast hamming it up after the conclusion of
> View attachment 25331


Yes, William Christie doing the chicken dance is a lovely sight!:lol:


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Sister Angelica and Dialogue of the Carmelites - good nun-based weepies. And Wozzeck, of course. The last couple of numbers in Magic Flute are divine


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

dgee said:


> Sister Angelica and Dialogue of the Carmelites - good nun-based weepies. And Wozzeck, of course. The last couple of numbers in Magic Flute are divine


nun-based weepies - a great genre in opera!:lol:


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> nun-based weepies - a great genre in opera!:lol:


Also an apt description of the first several years of my parochial school education.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Merikanto's "Juha"
Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov" & "Khovanshchina"
Wagner's "Die Gotterdammerung"
Strauss' "Salome"
Massenet's "Therese" & "La Navarraise"
Prokofiev's "The Fiery Angel"
Shostakovich's "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District"
Puccini's "Tosca"
Shebalin's "The Taming of the Shrew"
Anton Rubinstein's "The Demon" (Angelic and wonderful)


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

Happy ending: Cenerentola, Die Zauberflote, Le nozze di Figaro
Tragedy: Traviata (the only opera where I cry in the end. Only A.Netrebko made me happy it was over:lol and of course Rigoletto. I am not a fan of Tosca but the ending is gripping.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

I've decided that my favorite tragic opera ending is a toss-up between _Rigoletto_ and _Norma_. For comedies it's probably _Le Nozze di Figaro_ or _La Cenerentola_. For operas that fall in between the two genres*, it's surely _Fidelio_.

*I think _Fidelio_ might be technically a comedy, in the sense that it starts out sad and ends happily.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

The end of Britten's Peter Grimes after Peter sinks his ship, the townspeople are so blasé about it and just continue on as if nothing happened, even though they destroyed him with their gossip. Memorable and devastating!


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## Rackon (Apr 9, 2013)

Cavaradossi said:


> Also an apt description of the first several years of my parochial school education.


I can so relate (12 years Catholic school).

If staged at all well, the ending of Die Walkure can be spectacular. For sheer heartbreak, Dialogues des Carmelites, Traviata and Werther are hard to beat. And I adore Tosca, especially with a go for broke leaper.

But my absolute favorite ending is Don Carlo, one of opera's great wtf moments. It's insane. (Like, what just happened???? ) I LOVE IT!!


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

The very end of Gotterdammerung. That pause followed by the "redemption" theme makes me shiver every time.


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## Rackon (Apr 9, 2013)

GioCar said:


> The very end of Gotterdammerung. That pause followed by the "redemption" theme makes me shiver every time.


Agreed. That ending can be absolutely thrilling.

Walkure is just a personal fave, Wotan and Brunehilde can tear me up. (I'm already wrecked from the ending to Act 2.)


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Musically, I think it would be *Norma*. From the first private duet for Norma and Pollione _In mia man alfin tu sei_, through the chorus's re-entry and Norma's confession (_son io_). through to the final duet, now in public, (_Qual cor tradisti_) and Norma's _Deh non vollerli vittime_, this is great music drama. It was greatly admired by both Verdi and Wagner and rightly so.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

The 1978 Bernstein-conducted Fidelio on DVD.


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## Rachmanijohn (Jan 2, 2014)

Tristan und Isolde. Powerfull.


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## The nose (Jan 14, 2014)

The final hymn to freedom of Rossini's _Guillame Tell_.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Tristan has a very powerful ending, and I'd probably pick it as a favorite, but the ending of Act II of Moses und Aron is up there; the Israelites and Aron follow the cloud of fire off stage, and Moses sinks down in dejection, saying "O word, thou word that I lack". The orchestra thins down to violins alone, and finally to a single note, as the opera fades into silence.

I've never felt that there needed to be an Act III after that.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

The nose said:


> The final hymn to freedom of Rossini's _Guillame Tell_.


That is a goose bumper


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

I'm no opera expert, so I don't have a lot of examples to draw open. A few weeks ago I watched Electra on DVD, rented from my local library. I saw Electra live a few years ago performed by the Vancouver Opera. A fantastic ending, the final chords are absolutely mesmerizing.


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## Autumn Leaves (Jan 3, 2014)

Despite my eternal love for _Die Zauberflöte_, _Le nozze di Figaro_, _Aida_ and _Das Rheingold_, I hardly distinguish their _endings_. I mean, the music is very good, but in my opinion, nothing particularly outstanding separately from the rest of the opera.

The exception is _Rheingold_ (Wagner is always outstanding!) - especially Donner's monologue, the Rhinemaidens' lament and Loge's sarcastic "Ihr da in Wasser!". But when I get to it, I'm usually still pouting about Fasolt's death, so the majestic Entrance to Valhalla is darkened for me.

So, coming to the point... My favorite opera endings aren't the endings of my favorite operas and in fact are:

1) from _Il trovatore_ (Azucena's last mad cry is absolutely chilling, and with the matching music...)
2) from _Boris Godunov_ (Jurodiviy's recitative about the upcoming doom is very touching)


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Fidelio, when Leonore looses her husband's chains. 

The end of Figaro where the whole thing is resolved with a few chords.

And the fugue that finishes Falstaff - life enhancing!


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Autumn Leaves said:


> The exception is _Rheingold_ (Wagner is always outstanding!)


I agree, Wagner endings always make me feel overwhleming relief when they finally come and it's experience that no other opera composer can conjure with such mastery.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)




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## perempe (Feb 27, 2014)

Cavaradossi said:


> One of my favorite endings is the heavenly chorus in _Mefistofele_. Of course Boito rehashes the same chorus from the prologue, but rather than ending with his opening music, I like to think that he opens with his ending music.


i've just seen Mefistofele on 14 and 21 in Budapest, and the finale was really awesome. you must hear it live, recordings don't give 10% of it's feeling.

it was my fav opera and performance of the season by far.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

perempe said:


> i've just seen Mefistofele on 14 and 21 in Budapest, and the finale was really awesome. you must hear it live, recordings don't give 10% of it's feeling.
> 
> it was my fav opera and performance of the season by far.


I love it too..............


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## Romantiker (Feb 23, 2014)

I can't really say that it is my favorite, but I love the final scene from Donizetti's _Lucrezia Borgia._ It's just so campy and crazy. Lucrezia arriving at the banquet she has poisoned with her chorus of monks singing a dirge to the dying victims. Then she discovers that her son is one of her victims. So we end with a Manrico/Gilda type moment. And the music is really good. Both Caballe and Gencer did a great job with it.


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

Of the operas I know, I'd say Strauss' Daphne. The metamorphosis is poetically beautiful, and the music is heavenly


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Cosmos said:


> Of the operas I know, I'd say Strauss' Daphne. The metamorphosis is poetically beautiful, and the music is heavenly


Oh yeah. . . and with this cast:


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## markjo (Feb 28, 2014)

End of "La prise de Troie", the first two acts of Les Troyens.


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## markjo (Feb 28, 2014)

With this cast (Antonacci as Cassandre) and orchestra:


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## perempe (Feb 27, 2014)

i'll see Tannhauser in november. I saw the trailer of Hungarian State Opera production on youtube which is the last minute of the opera. Love it!


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Not so much a favourite opera ending but the ending of a particular production of Carmen.
It's on dvd. I think it's Garanca/Alagna at the Met (I could be wrong. It's been ages since I've seen it).

Carmen's dead. The final chords are played and the stage revolves to reveal Escamillo and a dead bull . I liked the symbolism in that. A small idea but memorable.


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## Bogdan (Sep 12, 2014)

There are a lot of operas I am not familiar with, but how can anything compete with the ending of Don Giovanni in its original form (without the final ensemble)? How?... How?


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## DonAlfonso (Oct 4, 2014)

Wow had to read through 7 pages before anyone mentioned Don Giovanni - thank you Bogdan!
Mozart wrote great endings Nozze and Cosi both have deliciously ambiguous "happy" endings. You know there's no 'happy ever after' for these folks. Also great staging as the whole ensemble's on stage for the finale.
So many good sad endings - Rigoletto Carmen Traviata Boheme
Unambiguous happy ending - Midsummer Night's Dream


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

Probably Puccini's Gianni Scicchi - where the impersonator bequeaths the juiciest portions of the unrelated dead man's estate to himself, much to the outrage of the conniving, grasping relatives.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Without the shadow of any doubt, "Dialogues of the Carmelites" followed closely by "Mefistofeles".


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## ArgumentativeOldGit (May 4, 2014)

Two endings that come immediately to mind are those of Mozart's _Le Nozze Di Figaro_ and of Janáček's _The Cunning Little Vixen_.

The ending to _Figaro_ isn't really, I think, a happy-ever-after ending: we know that the Count is likely to go Vick to his ways, that the Countess will continue to be unhappy, that Figaro's and Susannah's marriage will come under pressure, and so on: life is hard, and will continue to be do. Nonetheless, Mozart gives us in ths ending a glimpse of heaven, a moment of utter bliss that is, as it were, frozen in time.

And there is that beautiful bitter-sweet ending to _The Cunning Little Vixen_ - first, the forester's monologue as he contemplates sadly the passing of the years, and then, the final passage depicting nature renewing itself. Apparently, Janáček wanted this played at his funeral.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

the ending of act 3 of Walkure. So beautiful.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Romantiker said:


> I can't really say that it is my favorite, but I love the final scene from Donizetti's _Lucrezia Borgia._ It's just so campy and crazy. Lucrezia arriving at the banquet she has poisoned with her chorus of monks singing a dirge to the dying victims. Then she discovers that her son is one of her victims. So we end with a Manrico/Gilda type moment. And the music is really good. Both Caballe and Gencer did a great job with it.


The sadest ending of any opera.

My favourite ending is Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

La Gioconda. Everything after _Suicidio!_ to the very last note of this opera is pure genius.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

dgee said:


> Sister Angelica and Dialogue of the Carmelites - good nun-based weepies. And Wozzeck, of course. The last couple of numbers in Magic Flute are divine


I know I'm coming late to this, but the nun-based weepies are going to have me laughing into my pillow for at least an hour tonight. I really did need to catch up on sleep, but I can't be too mad.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

A few endings I really like. Turdandot, The Magic Flute, Parsifal, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Moses und Aron.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

*La Fanciulla del West* - both happy and very sad ending at the same time. It's perfect!
And of course, *Tristan und Isolde*.


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> I know I'm coming late to this, but the nun-based weepies are going to have me laughing into my pillow for at least an hour tonight. I really did need to catch up on sleep, but I can't be too mad.


Are there any others? Prokofiev's Fiery Angel has a nun, but not very weepy...


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

The most gripping for me is the the end of Don Carlo.
_The whole last act is sheer genius_.
After a very long opera the soprano has to do a very demanding aria and if that's not enough a very heavy duet.
_Stunning _


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

dgee said:


> Are there any others? Prokofiev's Fiery Angel has a nun, but not very weepy...


I'm sorry, but I don't know. This concept is still too new to me. Give me time.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Mefistofele :devil:


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The ending of _Parsifal_. I want to stay there forever, but eventually I have to come back to the world. It isn't fair.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Wagner wrote great endings.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

_Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria_

Penelope marries Ulysses. Ulysses goes off to war. For years and years and years. Penelope waits, and waits and waits. Penelope stays faithful, Ulysses returns. They live happy ever after. Er that's it.

Baroque rocks


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

Pugg said:


> The most gripping for me is the the end of Don Carlo.
> _The whole last act is sheer genius_.
> After a very long opera the soprano has to do a very demanding aria and if that's not enough a very heavy duet.
> _Stunning _


Yes, until the ghost of Charles V appears.... other than that the last act is amazing.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Mozart's _The Marriage of Figaro_. It's so nice and happy 
That said, I like sad endings just as much when they're good.


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

sospiro said:


> _Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria_
> 
> Penelope marries Ulysses. Ulysses goes off to war. For years and years and years. Penelope waits, and waits and waits. Penelope stays faithful, Ulysses returns. They live happy ever after. Er that's it.
> 
> Baroque rocks


Unlike _Poppea_ which leaves you _thinking_ about happily-ever-after unless you're paying attention.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Then there is Puccini's _La Rondine_ where you can have a choice of endings.


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## Questi (Feb 28, 2015)

Westside Story


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

Questi said:


> Westside Story


I didn't know that was an opera.


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## Queen of the Nerds (Dec 22, 2014)

Favorite ending? Iolanta. I mean seriously, (major spoilers), the main character gets her sight _and_ her true love.
Least favorite ending? La Boheme. (Major spoiler) Mimi dies. That's sad enough. Add to that Musetta's futile prayer and Rodolfo's heartbreaking screams of agony... Major heartbreak.


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

Favorite ending? Gotta be Mefistofele! (particularly if grandly staged)

Least favorite ending? Rigoletto, the most thoroughly depressing ever...with Il Tabarro a close second...

And for all hell breaking loose, Sicilian Vespers is hard to beat.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Rossini's Cenerentola - Now that is how to end a piece on a high note!


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

This thread is putting me in a Catch 22...lol. 

There are tons of operas I've listened to but have absolutely no idea what they are about as I never read the libretto or even a plot synopsis. 

I mostly "listen" to operas and part of me kind of likes not knowing, but some of the ones I really liked musically I've been watching over the past 10 years as DVD became more prevalent. But as a case in point, I think it was last year I finally sat down and read along with the libretto to Madama Butterfly and was beyond depressed when I found out what the story was and how it ended. I don't think I've listened to it since.

I know I'm supposed to watch opera and after this many years of listening I probably should know what Tosca or Rigoletto are about, but at this point I still don't know.

As for opera's I actually know the story of...probably Mozart's The Marriage Of Figaro followed by Don Giovanni or any from Wagner's Ring Cycle.


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

GoneBaroque said:


> Dialogues of the Carmelites. What an ending! Need I say more?


Sssssshhhhhhh-WOCK!

Best Regards, 

George


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

My favorite opera ending will always be Peter Grimes, with the reports of "a ship sinking out at sea, Coast Guard reports" as the townspeople disinterestedly go on with their mundane lives, after their innuendo and gossip were directly responsible for destroying Peter Grimes. Nothing dramatic or loud. Devastating.


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## AndyS (Dec 2, 2011)

Salome. I love how grotesque it is. And when it's well sung it's one of the most exciting things I've ever heard


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Any Wagner ending.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I'm still waiting for Salome to arrive (I am still hoping to have it by the weekend), but Elektra is one I am familiar with and I think it has an incredible ending.


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## undifelice (Mar 11, 2015)

Don Carlo for sure. Still asking myself whether I liked Charles V appearing...it's chilling, but is it campy???


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

undifelice said:


> Don Carlo for sure. Still asking myself whether I liked Charles V appearing...it's chilling, but is it campy???


I agree one of the best endings chilling and dramatic.
I think it is original.
And it is nice to hear a soprano shouting.


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## Amara (Jan 12, 2012)

Rodelinda - I find this a very unusual and moving ending where the villain repents and the heroes forgive. It's very touching and sincere in its themes of forgiveness and redemption. This makes it a standout to me, not just in opera, but in fictional works in general.

La Cenerentola - Probably a pattern here of what makes a great ending to me; not only does Angelina get a happy ending, but she forgives her stepfamily, and she sings one of the most beautiful arias I've ever heard.

Siegfried - Siegfried saves Brunnhilde and they fall in love! It's a perfect ending, and so satisfying after the wait to see Brunnhilde rescued. Now all you have to do is pretend The Ring Cycle ends here and you're good to go.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Gotterdaemerung - It's the end of the world!

N.


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## Loge (Oct 30, 2014)

AndyS said:


> Salome. I love how grotesque it is. And when it's well sung it's one of the most exciting things I've ever heard


The most shocking ending of any opera I have seen. And the most thrilling 20 mins of singing I have heard live.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Sloe said:


> I agree one of the best endings chilling and dramatic.
> I think it is original.
> And it is nice to hear a soprano shouting.


You are right, absolutely stunning ending.
From; T_u, che le vaniatà _ onwards


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Pugg said:


> You are right, absolutely stunning ending.
> From; T_u, che le vaniatà _ onwards


I can say I watch Don Carlo from _Tu, che le vanitá_ every day.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

The ending that leaves me cheered above everything (when produced properly) is the last chorus in Falstaff "Everything in the world is a jest. Man is born to be made a fool of. In his mind, reason is always wavering, everything is a joke! We make each other crazy, all of us. But he who laughs well, he who laughs well has the last laugh.!"

This Met one under Levine is pretty good:


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Amara said:


> La Cenerentola - Probably a pattern here of what makes a great ending to me; not only does Angelina get a happy ending, but she forgives her stepfamily, and she sings one of the most beautiful arias I've ever heard.


Yes, this is a wonderful ending. I especially like the part where (in my DVD's English subtitles) she says, "My vengeance will be to forgive them."


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Best ending?
It's not even a contest.
_Dialogues des Carmelites_ in by a mountain mile.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

nina foresti said:


> Best ending?
> It's not even a contest.
> _Dialogues des Carmelites_ in by a mountain mile.


I have to agree.

No big chords or loud ending, just silence. And yet so powerful.

N.


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

I'm a fan of Don Carlo's ending. But it only works for me because of everything that comes before it in the opera. Just the whole juxtaposition of very realistic politics, family drama, and the *reality* of the influence of spiritual matters in that nation at that time, a reality made "flesh"... I'd be curious to know what 19th century critics thought of the ending. Was it strange or contrived to them, or dated? 

However, my personal favorite opera ending is Simon Boccanegra, which is sad and peaceful at the same time. (I know I said Mefistofele before, but I'm thinking better of it)


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

graziesignore said:


> However, my personal favorite opera ending is Simon Boccanegra, which is sad and peaceful at the same time. (I know I said Mefistofele before, but I'm thinking better of it)


A happy ending and the main character dies.


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

Yes! And it's a main character we LIKE...


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

PS. About Don Carlo ending, I would just add: Bah to any productions that try to downplay the final appearance of Carlo V. Or "normalize" Carlo's disappearance in any way. In fact, if I staged a production of Don Carlo, not only would I keep it fully literal, but I would have the Grand Inquisitor and/or the King literally **** his pants on stage so the audience could see it.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

graziesignore said:


> Yes! And it's a main character we LIKE...


And continuing with operas with happy ending were the main carachters die. The end of the Flying Dutchman gives me a huge thrill.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Gianni Schicchi - all the relations get their comeuppance, Schicchi gets the real goods and Lauretta and Rinuccio (presumably) get married


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Can't beat the Magic Fire and the end of Meister to me.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Itullian said:


> Can't beat the Magic Fire and the end of Meister to me.


The endings of all four parts of the _Ring_ are stupendous, and so different from one another, that I'd be hard pressed to choose between them. In fact, I'd say that the endings of some individual acts in Wagner's mature operas are more impressive than the endings of entire _works_ by other composers. Think about the last few pages of _Walküre_ Acts I & II, _Siegfried_ Act I, and the 2nd Acts of _Götterdämmerung_, _Tristan_ and _Meistersinger_. Incredible.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

graziesignore said:


> I'm a fan of Don Carlo's ending. But it only works for me because of everything that comes before it in the opera. Just the whole juxtaposition of very realistic politics, family drama, and the *reality* of the influence of spiritual matters in that nation at that time, a reality made "flesh"... I'd be curious to know what 19th century critics thought of the ending. Was it strange or contrived to them, or dated?
> 
> However, my personal favorite opera ending is Simon Boccanegra, which is sad and peaceful at the same time. (I know I said Mefistofele before, but I'm thinking better of it)


Strange. _Don Carlo_ is probably my favorite all around opera depending on which day I get up -- _Otello_ being the other and _Mefistofele_ being 3rd (only because there is just 1 aria). But for the life of me, I cannot understand you choosing DC as your favorite opera ending with that silly scene that even Verdi himself had a time with and was never really satisfied.

As to your _Boccanegra _and _Mefistofele,_ go back to your original thinking, you hit the nail square on the head the first time around!


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Musically, I love the quiet ending to *Simon Boccanegra*, as I do that of *Otello*.

Then there's *Falstaff*, with its life-affirming fugue, which is absolutely joyful.

*Fidelio[/B for the powerful evocation of the triumph of good over evil.

The finale of Norma has a marvelous cumulative effect, with its two duets (one in private, one in public, and its final trio with chorus.

And I also love the end of Les Troyens, with its magnificent final scene for Didon.*


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

I'm not going to worry too much about whatever problems Verdi or the librettist had with the end scene of Don Carlo, although I am still curious what 19th century critics thought of it.

For me it has to do with dramatic truth more than anything else. The literal truth of the scene is ridiculous. The dramatic truth is spot-on.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> The endings of all four parts of the _Ring_ are stupendous, and so different from one another, that I'd be hard pressed to choose between them. In fact, I'd say that the endings of some individual acts in Wagner's mature operas are more impressive than the endings of entire _works_ by other composers. Think about the last few pages of _Walküre_ Acts I & II, _Siegfried_ Act I, and the 2nd Acts of _Götterdämmerung_, _Tristan_ and _Meistersinger_. Incredible.


I think Wagner's feel for the needed climax of a single act or of a whole opera - the kind of climax, musical and dramatic, that resolves and releases the tensions of the drama and carries us to another level, or in the case of the earlier acts sets up further tensions to be resolved in the final act - was on the whole unequaled by that of any other opera composer. And I think he just got better and better at it. His musical and dramatic gestures were large, at their fullest development encompassing whole acts which constitute dramas in themselves with clear expositions, developments and resolutions. For me, _Tristan_ and _Parsifal_ - cunningly wrought musico-dramatic structures inevitable in their organic flow and moving inexorably toward their appointed destinies of release and transformation - show this aspect of his art at its highest level.


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## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

I like many different type of endings. But in some way perhaps La Forza Del Destino and Il Trovatore are few of my favorites. In Forza pretty much everybody dies and in Il Trovatore Leonora dies and the Count kills his own brother. Of course happy endings are nice too, but sometimes I just want something else 

So many operas have great endings. I like both the quiet endings and going out with a bang.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I have a lot of favorite endings, but one that is particularly beautiful is this one (and this specific performance). The ending of Bellini's La Sonnambula featuring Eva Mei as Amina:


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

The ending of Peter Grimes. After the townspeople have finished their dirty work, the townspeople go about their business as the coastguard reports a ship is sinking out to sea-Grimes has killed himself.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

No one tops Wagners endings. They are super human.

Or his preludes and/or overtures and Act beginnings either for that matter.


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Musically: Norma, Medea, Anna Bolena, Aida
Dramatically: Macbeth, Lucia Di Lammermoor


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

As long as I live I will go for : La Traviata and Don Carlo , stunning.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Musically, the ending to Tippett's The Midsummer Marriage is about the most life affirming music I know. (although it's accompanied by one of the most impossibly subjunctive stage directions in the literature)


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

I love the ending of The Magic Flute. The triumph of enlightenment over the dark forces, combined with a love story that is simultaneously sweet and bizarre.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Bettina said:


> I love the ending of The Magic Flute. The triumph of enlightenment over the dark forces, combined with a love story that is simultaneously sweet and bizarre.


No Beethoven then, the ending of Fidelo is quit moving.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Pugg said:


> No Beethoven then, the ending of Fidelo is quit moving.


I do love the ending of Fidelio as well, but there's something about the fairy-tale character of The Magic Flute that moves me even more.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Pugg said:


> No Beethoven then, the ending of Fidelo is quit moving.


That is another of my very favorite endings.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

GregMitchell said:


> Musically, I love the quiet ending to *Simon Boccanegra*, as I do that of *Otello*.
> 
> Then there's *Falstaff*, with its life-affirming fugue, which is absolutely joyful.
> 
> ...


*

Regarding Berlioz' magnificent Les Troyens, for me the "great ending" comes at the end of the First Part when while being invaded, the women commit suicide rather than submit to rape and slavery of the invaders. One of the greatest climaxes of all time!!!*


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## GOLTZIUS (Jul 13, 2017)

Parsifal. The ne plus ultra of opera endings


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

GOLTZIUS said:


> Parsifal. The ne plus ultra of opera endings


I guess you are a Wagner fan then?
Welcome to Talk Classical by the way.


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## Makisval (Jul 14, 2017)

My favorite finale is from Roberto Devreux of Donizetti!!!


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Makisval said:


> My favorite finale is from Roberto Devreux of Donizetti!!!


I'll add that to my list too. Splendid music and a very dramatic/tragic ending. Definitely one of my favorites too.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Makisval said:


> My favorite finale is from Roberto Devreux of Donizetti!!!


Look at this, first post and we having bingo.
Welcome to Talk Classical


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## Winslow (Jun 11, 2018)

The ending of Verdi’s La forza del destino is, for me, the most heart moving concussion, musically. Particularly the last four peices.


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## sharkeysnight (Oct 19, 2017)

Einstein on the Beach, for sure. All of that storming and thundering and terror and beauty and aching, apocalyptic alienation coming back down to two lovers on a park bench, their bodies moving together. It's one of the most blissful finales of anything, I think.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Falstaff - we are all fools!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

DavidA said:


> Falstaff - we are all fools!


I was thinking of saying "speak for yourself," but I had second thoughts.

And then I had third thoughts.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Tristan und Isolde - Liebestod ... and I haven't even heard any opera's! 
Really, what an impossibly great piece of music. I've been a little obsessed with it. Everytime I hear it, I enter a special state of mind somewhere between ecstasy and deep melancholy and I can't get the music out of my head. The eternal longing, it just gets to me so much. It's overwhelming, intoxicating.
Murderer Kip Kinkel repeatedly played this piece all morning after killing his parents, so I hope it's not dangerous. 
Someday I'll listen to an entire opera, I promise.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

All 10 Wagner operas.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

DeepR said:


> Tristan und Isolde - Liebestod ... and I haven't even heard any opera's!
> Really, what an impossibly great piece of music. I've been a little obsessed with it. Everytime I hear it, I enter a special state of mind somewhere between ecstasy and deep melancholy and I can't get the music out of my head. The eternal longing, it just gets to me so much. It's overwhelming, intoxicating.
> Murderer Kip Kinkel repeatedly played this piece all morning after killing his parents, so I hope it's not dangerous.
> Someday I'll listen to an entire opera, I promise.


If the Liebestod overwhelms you, the whole opera may vaporize you.

So go for it.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Carmen, tragic but that what happens with being pushy.


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

the Magic Flute...happy ending and the queen melts!


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)




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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Dialogues des Carmelites
(2nd place) Otello
(3rd place) Madama Butterfly
(4th place) Tosca
(5th place) La Boheme


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## mparta (Sep 29, 2020)

Falstaff

the last about 8 bars of La Boheme as played by the Berlin Philharmonic


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Armida with Callas' E6 over cascading horns and timpani
Aida
Gotterdammerung
Fidelio
Siegfried
Anna Bolena
Tristan
The Elixir of Love


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

I hesitate to say it's a favourite, but it's the only opera to ever have left me sobbing uncontrollably at the end …

John Adams: Doctor Atomic

子供達が水を欲しがってるんです


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## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

Wozzeck.
Hop hop!


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Great question, but does one go with the music or the plot? Or both?

Simon Boccanegra has a genuinely moving end and Gotterdamerung has to be in there somewhere.

Has anyone mentioned Norma? That has a superb ending from "Son Io!" onwards.

N.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Tosca leaping off the parapet. I just wish they'd show her from the front so we could see her go splat.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

The Conte said:


> Has anyone mentioned Norma? That has a superb ending from "Son Io!" onwards.
> 
> N.


I'm pretty sure I did somewhere near the beginning of this thread. Verdi spoke very highly of its great finale, also including the duet between Norma and Pollione before Norma's confession (_In mia man alfin tu sei)_. With the right singers its cumulative effect can be quite overwhelming.

Here's the whole final scene beginning at Norma's entrance from the famous 1955 La Scala performance with Callas, Del Monaco and Zaccaria.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> Dialogues des Carmelites
> (2nd place) Otello
> (3rd place) Madama Butterfly
> (4th place) Tosca
> (5th place) La Boheme


The Kleenex corporation must love you.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

SanAntone said:


> Tosca leaping off the parapet. I just wish they'd show her from the front so we could see her go splat.


She jumps into the Tiber, so it's a splash rather than a splat, unless the river is very shallow, in which case a splat follows a splash and you really get your money's worth.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

So many GREAT endings in Wagner.
Rheingold, Walkure, siegfried, Gotterdammerung all have monumental, beautiful endings.
Then there's Tristan, Meistersinger and Parisifal. OH MY!!!!!!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Itullian said:


> So many GREAT endings in Wagner.
> Rheingold, Walkure, siegfried, Gotterdammerung all have monumental, beautiful endings.
> Then there's Tristan, Meistersinger and Parisifal. OH MY!!!!!!


_Parsifal_ has the ending of all endings. I never want to come back down, and someday, I'm sure, I'll decide not to.


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

Woodduck said:


> She jumps into the Tiber, so it's a splash rather than a splat, unless the river is very shallow, in which case a splat follows a splash and you really get your money's worth.


These days she'd have to leap an awful long way to reach the Tiber from the Castel Sant'Angelo. About 40 metres by my reckoning. I'd pay to see that.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

This might be controversial, but I love the out-of-nowhere, "deus ex machina"-type ending of _Don Carlo_. Like some Greek plays, the appearance of a completely illogical, almost laughable plot device at the end seems like a self-consciously satirical addition that only magnifies the raw humanity of what has come before. The quiet, somewhat ironic, gently erotic concluding duet of _L'incoronazione di Poppea_ is great (though much of what comes before puts me to sleep). I don't like _Pagliacci_, but its ending is an entertaining shock. The ominous fade-outs of _Bluebeard's Castle_ and _Boris Godunov_ (in the Kromy Forest version at least) serve as devastating devices to confirm the inexorability of the tragedy we have just witnessed. However, I don't think that the concluding scenes of _Tristan_ or all four of the Ring operas can really be matched for sheer creative, dramatic, soul-stirring power.


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

RobertJTh said:


> Wozzeck.
> Hop hop!


Eerie - and that poor kid not knowing yet that he's been orphaned overnight due to the murder of his mother and the accidental death or even possible suicide of his father (assuming Wozzeck _was_ the actual biological father...).


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

The ending of the first Act and that of the last Act of Boito's *Mefistofele*, with the chorus of angels and orchestral _tutti_ of _Ave Signor_ on _Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa_ VEEEEEEEEEE.

Makes me cry every time.






These _finales_ in the San Francisco Opera production, were even more impressive live.

My favorite recording of it is still the Tebaldi/Del Monaco/Siepi/Serafin


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

MAS said:


> The ending of the first Act and that of the last Act of Boito's *Mefistofele*, with the chorus of angels and orchestral _tutti_ of _Ave Signor_ on _Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa_ VEEEEEEEEEE.
> 
> Makes me cry every time.
> 
> ...


It's my favorite opera and I agree with you about the tears flowing. I get it.
But my favorite is with Olivero/Campora/Hines. The audience goes completely bonkers after the 2nd act when she's in jail.
DelMonaco takes over in "Lontano, lontano" when their voices are supposed to blend together in a lullaby sound.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

^^^^^I agree with you folks, a VERY under rated opera.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

nina foresti said:


> It's my favorite opera and I agree with you about the tears flowing. I get it.
> But my favorite is with Olivero/Campora/Hines. The audience goes completely bonkers after the 2nd act when she's in jail.
> DelMonaco takes over in "Lontano, lontano" when their voices are supposed to blend together in a lullaby sound.


It's peculiar that I like Del Monaco so much on the recording. Chalk it up to it being my first "formative" experience with *Mefistofele*. I think Tebaldi holds her own against Del Monaco - thankfully, her voice is hefty enough against his not to be overwhelmed.

I had never heard the Olivero, but her combination of canny vocalism and stage craft usually win the day. A master.


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## ALT (Mar 1, 2021)

These finales certainly pack a wallop.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

ALT said:


> These finales certainly pack a wallop.


... and coincidentally they all seem to feature Cheryl Studer. Funny that!


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## ALT (Mar 1, 2021)

Tsaraslondon said:


> ... and coincidentally they all seem to feature Cheryl Studer. Funny that!


Well, not the Fidelio. But at least we are spared, if momentarily, we-know-who.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Without playing games, who is "we-know-who"?


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

ALT said:


> Well, not the Fidelio. But at least we are spared, if momentarily, we-know-who.


I can't think who you mean. I've been through the whole of this thread and actually very few videos have bee posted full stop. I don't think any particular singer has been favoured more than once ... except for your favourite, Studer, that is.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

There are many wonderful opera endings from the triumphant finale of Beethoven's Fidelio to the tragic leap from the castle roof in Tosca, but probably one of the greatest endings is this one (and an excellent performance too):


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

One of my favorites is _Werther_. The merry children's chorus offstage contrasting with the sad scene of Werther's death, which finally ends with a drumroll and that final major chord makes it one of the most unique and jarring endings I know.

In first place, though, I might choose _Elektra_. I love the cries of "Orest!" followed by that three-chord motif that repeats over and over before the final two notes. It floored me the first time I listened to it.

And well, _Turandot _ is simply spectacular to watch:


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## lextune (Nov 25, 2016)

In no particular order...

Das Rheingold
Die Walküre
Siegfried
Götterdämmerung

...wait, ...there is a particular order...

1. Tristan und Isolde


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## dave2708 (Sep 28, 2020)

It really depends on whether you are talking from a purely music point of view, story point of view or the fusion of both.
You cant go past the Ring & Tristan in these stakes.
I love the Turandot end even if reprising Nessun Dorma doesn't rally makes sense.
I also like the end of Faust where Maggie takes the elevator to the pearly gates. More for the music than the journey.





I do know the most predictable opera ending will be said soprano falls dead...for seemingly no realistic reason other than a bit of shock at the outcome of events..


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Nacqui all'affanno... Non più mesta: Frederica von Stade

:angel:


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

The finale to *Samson et Dalila





*


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Donizetti: La fille du régiment / Act 2 - Oui! Quand le destin, au milieu de la guerre, enfant


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Poulenc*: _Dialogues Des Carmelites_ - "Salve Regina"


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Gaetano Donizetti-Poliuto-Finale (Adriana Maliponte, Giorgio Lamberti, Renato Bruson)


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## Marc (Jun 15, 2007)

Final aria & chorus of _Dido and Aeneas_ by Purcell.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Puccini: Tosca - Final Scene - Kabaivanska, Domingo, Milnes / De Bosio


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Mozart: Der Schauspieldirektor, K.486 - Jeder Künstler strebt nach Ehre ·
Edita Gruberova · Kiri Te Kanawa · Uwe Heilmann · Manfred Jungwirth ·
Wiener Philharmoniker · Sir John Pritchard


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## Agamenon (Apr 22, 2019)

In pure musical terms: Gotterdämmerung and Tristan und Isolde.

As Drama: Elektra, Don Giovanni, and Meistersingers


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Arabella Act 3; Das war sehr gut, Mandryka - finale (Lucia Popp, Bernd Weikl)


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

Surely, favourite is singular?


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## marlow (11 mo ago)

Falstaff - no contest!


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

The thread asked for the members' favorite opera ending (not endings). Instead it is turning into a post a video without discussion once more. When we deleted the opera videos sub-forum, we posted:



Art Rock said:


> In August 2020 we created an Opera sub-forum for threads focusing on YouTube videos. This was done at the request of a group of users of the Opera forum, who considered the daily updating of about ten of these threads was detrimental to the general opera discussion.
> 
> After a year we evaluated the situation. We found that the new sub-forum is used by almost no-one. An attempt to get more people involved in the sub-forum failed completely - no new posts have appeared at all since then. Given the current situation, we have decided that there is no reason to keep this sub-forum.
> 
> This does not mean that 'videos only' threads can now appear on the main Opera forum once more. Given the developments of the past year, we conclude they have no function on this site, since they do not stimulate any interaction between our members. Starting a 'videos only' thread will therefore not be allowed without prior permission of the moderating team.


Obviously, the same holds for using existing threads for this purpose - even more when posters are not adhering to the thread's intention. The thread has run for over 10 years, and we think there has been ample time for TC members to post their favorite aria. We're closing it.


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