# Short operas - recommendations!



## Janspe (Nov 10, 2012)

I've only recently started to navigate my way through the world of opera, and mostly I've enjoyed the journey very much. Listening to Wagner's _Parsifal_ was a fantastic experience, as was Mozart's _Don Giovanni_ and Debussy's _Pelléas et Mélisande_. I've seen two operas live: Puccini's _Turandot_ and Wagner's _Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg_.

But here's the thing: operas are often very long, and I've been having a hard time trying to find time for the listening - and while I enjoy delving into a five hour Wagner opera very much, those moments of free time don't present themselves too often. However: there are a lot of short operas too! I was prompted to make this thread after listening to Bartók's _Bluebeard's Castle_ today - it is an absolutely fantastic work, one of my favourites in Bartók's entire oeuvre. Probably _the_ favourite, to be honest, despite a very good competition from such awesome works such as the piano concertos, the string quartets, the sonata for solo violin, the concerto for orchestra... An so on. So I began to think that maybe I could explore shorter operas like the _Bluebeard's Castle_ while being too busy for full-fledged long operas. I could easily listen to a one hour opera while taking the night bus home, or something like that.

So now I'm asking you guys: which "short" operas do you find worth the effort? Come out with your personal favourites! And some recording recommendations would be greatly appreciated as well - this is one genre in which I really have almost no experience at all. And while we're at it, I'd be interested to hear if people enjoy Bartók's only opera as much as I do!

Thanks in advance.  PS. I'm not afraid of anything, so any period or style is welcome - the more variety, the better!


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

Rameau's Pygmalion

Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict

Ravel's L'heure espagnole and L'enfant et les sortilèges

Dallapiccola's Il prigioniero and Volo di notte

Poulenc's Les mamelles de Tirésias and La voix humaine


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Schoenberg's Erwartung and Stravinsky's The Nightingale come to mind. Both are much shorter than an hour.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Johann Sebastian Bach, secular cantata _Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen_, BWV 213. This is the closest we shall get to a Bach opera and might as well be considered as one. Also consider _Geschwinde, ihr wirbelnden Winde_, BWV 201. Both these works are short, with full operatic da-capo arias in the recitative-aria format following Baroque opera convention of the time. Nothing religious at all, it is secular.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Purcell's Dido and Aeneas is a Baroque opera classic.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Puccini - Giannii Schicchi
Holst - At the Boar's Head

The Holst piece is yet another Falstaff opera although, unlike Verdi, is based on the Henry IV plays rather than Merry Wives of Windsor.
Interestingly, the above two were performed in a double-bill at the premiere of the Holst work.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

*Massenet*: La Navarraise and *Leoni's* L'Oracolo spring to mind


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Die beiden Pädagogen (The Two Pedagogues) - Mendelssohn. About 53 minutes total time.









Clips here, but for some reason showing the wrong album cover and some of the clips end in static, but my CD copy plays fine.

A short write-up and synopsis here.

Now I shall have to listen to it again.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Becca said:


> Puccini - Giannii Schicchi


Also the other two operas in Il trittico and Puccini´s first opera Le Villi.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Pugg said:


> *Leoni's* L'Oracolo spring to mind


Speaking of operas by Italian composers about Chinese people there is also Busoni´s Turandot.


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

Apart from the Stravinsky and Ravel already mentioned I'd also nominate the following:

Hindemith - _Sancta Susanna_
Walton - _The Bear_
Britten - _Curlew River_ and _Noye's Fludde_
Zemlinsky - _A Florentine Tragedy_
Puccini - _Il Tabarro_ and _Gianni Schicchi_
W. Schuman - _The Mighty Casey - a Baseball Opera_
Ullmann - _Der Kaiser von Atlantis_
Wolpe - _Zeus und Elida_


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Sloe said:


> Also the other two operas in Il trittico and Puccini´s first opera Le Villi.


Le Villi is good :tiphat:


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

_El retablo de maese Pedro_ (Master Peter's Puppet Show), from 1923 by Manuel de Falla, is about 27 minutes. Very good, very enjoyable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_retablo_de_maese_Pedro


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

I'll 2nd elgar's ghost's recommendation of Zemlinsky's Eine Florentinische Tragödie. It's *really* good!


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## Xenakiboy (May 8, 2016)

Does Zorn's Rituals count? 
I'd assume it'd be an opera in a similar way to Einstein On The Beach (which is NOT short :lol


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Pugg said:


> Le Villi is good :tiphat:


There are lots of good operas mentioned in this thread.
Mascagni´s Cavalleria Rusticana the most popular short opera have not been mentioned yet.
Since the OP mentioned Don Giovanni there is also Don Giovanni by Gian Francesco Malipiero another short opera and also by the same composer Torneo Notturno and Don Tartufo bacchettone.
Akutagawa´s Orpheus in Hiroshima is also worth mentioning.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Mahlerian said:


> Stravinsky's The Nightingale


Also Oidipus Rex.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Jonathan Dove: _Tobias and the Angel_; _Siren Song_. Both are released on Chandos; there's also _Flight,_ but I haven't heard that.
David Lang: _The Difficulty of Crossing a Field_. Listen here on Bandcamp.


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## Xenakiboy (May 8, 2016)

Sloe said:


> Also Oidipus Rex.


Oedipus Rex is so good!!


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Massenet's Therese (Pugg has already mentioned La Navarraise)
Adam's Farfadet - listened to it this afternoon; it's only 40 minutes and has a brilliant duo imitating the noise of the storm





A lot of Offenbach's are very short; he made his name writing one act bouffes. Two of the best:










If you like those, try Chabrier's.

Mehul's Uthal
Boieldieu's Calife de Bagdad
Bizet's Djamileh
Gretry's Le magnifique; Guillaume Tell; and Zemire et Azor

(You can find all the above online!)

Rossini's early 1 act farse: Il signor Bruschino; La scala di seta; La cambiale di matrimonio; L'inganno felice; L'occasione fa il ladro
Donizetti's Betly; Il campanello di notte; Francesca di Foix; Elvida; La romanziera e l'uomo nero; Il giovedi grasso; I pazzi per progetto

If you want something darker / more post-Wagnerian:
Strauss's Daphne and Friedenstag


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## manyene (Feb 7, 2015)

All three of Rachmaninov's short operas, especially 'The Miserly Knight': DG have issued them in a box, conducted by Neeme Jarvi. A pity he did not return to this genre later


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Two others: no so serious , very nice though .



Il Segreto di Susanna; Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari


Le Domino Noir ; Auber​


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Pugg said:


> Two others: no so serious , very nice though .
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Domino noir is 3 acts! Auber wrote a few one act operas, but they haven't been performed for 2 centuries! I love the Act II finale, though:





Stil, if you're suggesting Auber's opera comiques, I'll add:
Fra Diavolo
Le cheval de bronze





Boieldieu's Dame Blanche


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

SimonTemplar said:


> Domino noir is 3 acts! Auber wrote a few one act operas, but they haven't been performed for 2 centuries! I love the Act II finale, though:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's on 1 CD so for me that counts :lol:


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Pugg said:


> It's on 1 CD so for me that counts :lol:


How did you fit onto it onto one?


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

SimonTemplar said:


> How did you fit onto it onto one?


I am sure that you know what I mean.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

manyene said:


> All three of Rachmaninov's short operas, especially 'The Miserly Knight': DG have issued them in a box, conducted by Neeme Jarvi. A pity he did not return to this genre later


I was going to mention them. The Miserly Knight is especially a very gripping work. I'll mention:


Rimsky-Korsakov's "Kashchey the Immortal" & "Mozart and Salieri."
William Grant Still's "Highway One"
Sibelius' "The Maiden of the Tower"
Stravinsky's "Persephone" (Melodrama for speaker, soloists, chorus, dancers and orchestra in three tableaux)
Kodaly's "Székelyfonó (The Spinning Room)
Cui's "A Feast in Time of Plague"
I second Poulenc's, Massenet's (esp. Therese), and Stravinsky's other short operas wholeheartedly.


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## manyene (Feb 7, 2015)

Has anyone mentioned 'I Pagliacci'? Dramatically better than its stablemate 'Cav'


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

manyene said:


> Has anyone mentioned 'I Pagliacci'? Dramatically better than its stablemate 'Cav'


There is also Zingara by Leoncavallo.


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## Balthazar (Aug 30, 2014)

I nominate Szymanowski's _King Roger_. Though it's closer to an hour and a half...


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Xenakiboy said:


> I'd assume it'd be an opera in a similar way to Einstein On The Beach (which is NOT short :lol


Depends if the conductor observes all the repeats.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Offenbach's _Ba Ta Clan_ seconded.


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## Alfacharger (Dec 6, 2013)

Vaughan Williams little masterpiece.

[


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Alfacharger said:


> Vaughan Williams little masterpiece.
> 
> [


Beautiful picture.


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## Xenakiboy (May 8, 2016)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> Depends if the conductor observes all the repeats.


Well conductor can take a coffee break on that Zorn piece! :lol:
(There are absolutely NO repeats....)


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

There is a delightful short opera by the (very) young Korngold, "Violanta", that is really a nice hearing. The first bars of the opera, with the sound world of diffuse harmonies and long melodic phrasing, foreshadowed the career and the style of Korngold, who was entering his youth as an established composer at as early an age as Mozart or Rossini.


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## Argos (Oct 11, 2014)

I'd have to recommend Leoš Janáček's "The Cunning Little Vixen" - it is probably one of my favorite operas and I can't recommend it enough.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Argos said:


> I'd have to recommend Leoš Janáček's "The Cunning Little Vixen" - it is probably one of my favorite operas and I can't recommend it enough.


But it is not short.
Of course that depends on the definition of short.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Sloe said:


> But it is not short.
> Of course that depends on the definition of short.


Most operas are short compared to some of Wagner's operas such as his Meistersinger being about 5 hours!


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I second a number of the recommendations so far:
Oedipus Rex; La Voix Humaine; Riders to the Sea; Dido and Aeneas; Curlew River and Noyes Fludd - I have not seen all of them staged but musically they are each a treat.

On top of this:
Why not try Peter Maxwell-Davies' The Lighthouse? Or Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher (a dramatic oratorio but close enough)? Both are stirring and great fun. And Handel's Acis & Galatea is a must (it must have been recommended already but I didn't see it).


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

^
^

_The Lighthouse_ seconded - quite eerie and Max's music really enhances both the isolation and the tension between the three men.


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## Janspe (Nov 10, 2012)

Thank you, everybody, for all the great recommendations - I will certainly listen to these pieces in the near future! :tiphat:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Before you go...try: d' Albert's Die Abreise.:tiphat:


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## StDior (May 28, 2015)

Not mentioned yet, so I would recommend Puccini’s Suor Angelica.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

StDior said:


> Not mentioned yet, so I would recommend Puccini's Suor Angelica.


I did not mentioned it by name but in a reply to a post were Gianni Schicchi was recommended I also suggested the two other operas in Il trittico.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

SimonTemplar said:


> Massenet's Therese (Pugg has already mentioned La Navarraise)
> *Adam's Farfadet - listened to it this afternoon; it's only 40 minutes and has a brilliant duo imitating the noise of the storm*
> 
> A lot of Offenbach's are very short; he made his name writing one act bouffes. Two of the best:
> ...












I have _Le Farfadet_, but I don't think I've played it yet. My favourite one act Adam opera is _Le Chalet_, which has the same plot as Donizetti's _Betly_. It's a gorgeously tuneful vehicle for a virtuoso bass, which may explain why it isn't sung very often! I really like this version with the excellent and underrated Corsican bass baritone Julien Giovannetti, who copes very well with the difficult coloratura of _Vallons d'Helvetie_, although in order to hit all the notes he has to take it rather more slowly than Plançon does on his iconic recording! On the subject of earlier recordings, there's also a stirring rendition of Max' other great aria_ Dans le service de l'Autriche_ sung by Armand Narçon, which Malibran have issued as a bonus track on the CD devoted to the 'mystery tenor' Georges Granal, and YouTube has the great Hippolyte Belhomme in the duet _Il me faut céder ta maitresse._

Belhomme: 





I just found these excerpts on YT from a different recording which I haven't heard, and a bass who is unknown to me:


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Le Silence de la Mer by Henri Tomasi:






I was listening to this recently and didn't realise it was actually an opera - Wikipedia thinks it is - it's mostly a monologue for baritone, and only 33 minutes long! The recording on YouTube is the only one I've heard and it's very good.


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## alan davis (Oct 16, 2013)

Rossini: La Scala Di Seta
Il Signor Bruschino

Stravinsky: Mavra


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