# What now?



## Dins (Jun 21, 2011)

I have listened to all operas on the top 100 list, and a few outside top 100 and even the top 272 list. Listened means that i heard an opera in its entirety at least once. So now I am considering where to go from here. Some of the operas I know fairly well after seeing them on DVD or live, others I have only listened to after reading a synopsis of the libretto, and just got a basic idea of what the opera is about.

I could listen to even more operas, and go through the entire top 272 list. But I'm not sure that that would be that productive. Sure there are probably a few operas i would like there as well, but there will probably be fewer of them.

The other approach is to start to get into depth with a selection of the operas i already listened to, but that i does not know that well. This is the route I think i will take. I will probably listen to new operas as i become more aware of them, but i intend to let that happen when it happens. 

So what is a good way to get more into depth now? Start buying hordes of librettos, read and listen? Get DVD:s and watch? A combination of the two? 

I will probably do a combination of DVD and libretto in a pace that time, economy and availability allows.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)




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## Dins (Jun 21, 2011)

kv466 said:


>


Well I'm really neither...


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

I think you did quite a good job of answering your own questions!


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## Dins (Jun 21, 2011)

Polednice said:


> I think you did quite a good job of answering your own questions!


Yes, i probably needed to formulate it in a post to get a grip on how to proceed. I knew better how i should proceed when i wrote the end of the post than i did when i started writing it.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Dins said:


> I have listened to all operas on the top 100 list, and a few outside top 100 and even the top 272 list. Listened means that i heard an opera in its entirety at least once. So now I am considering where to go from here. Some of the operas I know fairly well after seeing them on DVD or live, others I have only listened to after reading a synopsis of the libretto, and just got a basic idea of what the opera is about.
> 
> I could listen to even more operas, and go through the entire top 272 list. But I'm not sure that that would be that productive. Sure there are probably a few operas i would like there as well, but there will probably be fewer of them.


:tiphat:

That's fantastic, you've listened to far more than I have!



Dins said:


> The other approach is to start to get into depth with a selection of the operas i already listened to, but that i does not know that well. This is the route I think i will take. I will probably listen to new operas as i become more aware of them, but i intend to let that happen when it happens.
> 
> So what is a good way to get more into depth now? Start buying hordes of librettos, read and listen? Get DVD:s and watch? A combination of the two?
> 
> I will probably do a combination of DVD and libretto in a pace that time, economy and availability allows.


That's what I do. I read up on the history of the opera, read the synopsis, listen with the libretto & then watch the DVD. I personally find it very rewarding to know an opera really well. Then I leave it alone for a couple of months & when I go back to it, it's like meeting up with an old friend.

Let us know your progress!


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

Like Sospiro said. :tiphat: You make my opera listening experience look pitiful...lol. I've only listened to about 30 opera's in the last 10 years, and usually the same ones. I just watched Dvorak's Rusalka for the 1st time last week and that was probably my first new opera in over a year...lol.

I usually listen to one first, then watch it on DVD (sometimes the reverse, watch one on DVD, then find a good audio recording with singers or conductors I am fond of) and in between read all about the history of it and how the composer wrote it. I think it's good to know the storyline and history in and out. Maybe even memorize the words to your favorite Aria or something


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## Jeremy Marchant (Mar 11, 2010)

Go for depth.

Identify the ten you responded most strongly to (I didn't say "liked") and investigate. Listen again. If you don't have a libretto, you will need one to really understand the music. Listen again, maybe - but not essentially - listening to different versions. Listen to other operas by the same composer. Read some books. Watch one live - though given the paucity of live opera anywhere, you're probably better off going to whatever's available and using that as the object of further research.

My only caveat is, if your ten operas all turn out to be Italian verismo, say, you ought really to include some other styles.

So, you might like to consider including one by Monteverdi (say _Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria_), one by Mozart, one by Verdi, one by Britten, one by a Russian (say _Boris Godunov_). Not because these are good (though they are), but because they are solid mainstream representatives of various operatic genres and between them you'll get good overview on which to build (if you can build on a view).


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## Dins (Jun 21, 2011)

Fortunately I can listen to music in my earphones at work. Since I work in an open plan office I more or less have to listen to music, to drown out the noise, to be able to get any work done.  5-6 solid listening hours a day sure gives you a lot of time to listen to a lot of opera.  And I always like to explore new composers and styles, so that's why I choose volume over depth in the beginning. But I think going through all these operas have given me a good understanding of what I like and dislike in opera, and gives me a great base from which I can dive deeper.



Jeremy Marchant said:


> Go for depth.
> 
> So, you might like to consider including one by Monteverdi (say _Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria_), one by Mozart, one by Verdi, one by Britten, one by a Russian (say _Boris Godunov_). Not because these are good (though they are), but because they are solid mainstream representatives of various operatic genres and between them you'll get good overview on which to build (if you can build on a view).


Well the ring seems to be required knowledge here, so that is one (or four really)  I have seen both Eugene Onegin and Lady Macbeth from Mtzensk live so I think I have a start at Russian opera at least. As for Mozart I have seen the Zauberflöte umpteen times so that is probably the opera that I know best by all by far. Don Giovanni on the other hand....

I thought that I was a Verdi freak before listening to all these operas. Turns out I am more of a Puccini Maniac....  But not only Puccini. I enjoy everything from baroque to modern operas.
Still I would have to include something by Puccini. Although it has not been officially announced yet I am fairly certain that Turandot will be performed at the Gothenburg opera next season, so that might be a good choice. It is also an opera i like musically.

For something more modern I would choose Peter Grimes. I like the music, and with an English libretto it is much easier to get into for me since I don't have to read a translated libretto.

And Fidelio is also an opera I really like musically.

No baroque opera on the list at the moment though.
But that is just a rough idea. I will probably end up with another ten operas altogether.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

I am perplexed by this check-off list mentality (Chekhov / Liszt)

When I first visited the Louvre, I stopped and viewed a number of things. If you are really looking and it is all somewhat new, a point of saturation happens quickly enough.

Once I felt I was not really 'taking anything in' due to saturation, I then did a quick walk-through of numbers of the other many galleries of this huge museum. A quick familiarization tour of what was generally there, and where.

When I returned, I then had a better idea of which galleries, and at least a few specific pieces, I wanted to look at. 

Similarly, a third visit had me returning to specific things I wanted more time with.

So you've had your familiarization tour. With no disrespect intended, of all or any one of the ones surveyed, you don't know opera, at all, let alone at all know it well.

So - back to the ones which held the most interest for you, and go through them again. Several times, over a period of time.

Expert advice. Free. (in a way, worth what you've paid for it, and you are therefor free to do with it what you will, including dispose of or ignore it.)


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I personally do a bit of both. 

I spend sometime really exploring an opera I enjoy or respond to. Watch and listen to several versions. At them moment it's Pique Dame. Can't get enough of it.

Then I'll explore couple of new ones. I love that too because sometimes you discover something new that you really respond to. (I've just discovered Arne's Artaxerxes. Lovely)


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

I see two ways to go from here:

1. Listen to the 100 operas again 10 times.
2. Listen to Wagner's 10 operas again 100 times.

I highly recommend no. 2.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

I've heard recordings of probably over 500 different operas, and that doesn't count the ones I've heard multiple versions of, or at least two or three . Yet there are still lots of them I haven't heard . Just go to the opera section at arkivmusic.com, the website with probably the widest selection of classical CDs and DVDs on the internet . 
There are who knows how many operas by who know show many different composers .Obscure operas by Rossini, Donizetti, Saverio Mercadante , Alberic Magnard, Rousell, Enescu, Zdenek Fibich, Bohuslav Martinu, 
Carl Nielsen, Hans Pfitzner, Heinrich Marschner, Vaughan Williams, Zemlinsky, Korngold, Schreker, 
Braunfels, Pavel Haas, anf so many other operas hardly any one has ever heard of . 
I've also seen several operas on DVD I had not heard on CD ; Pergolesi's Lo Frate Nnamorato, Salieri's Falstaff , Giovanni Paisiello's La Serva Padrona (same libretto as the one by Pergolesi ), Kepler by Philip Glass .
The situation with opera on CD and DVD is like being the proverbial kid in a candy store !


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Door #5. Become the second Puccini.

View attachment 3853


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## Dins (Jun 21, 2011)

superhorn said:


> I've heard recordings of probably over 500 different operas, and that doesn't count the ones I've heard multiple versions of, or at least two or three . Yet there are still lots of them I haven't heard . Just go to the opera section at arkivmusic.com, the website with probably the widest selection of classical CDs and DVDs on the internet .


I did a quick check of arkivmusic.com, and yes they certainly is well stocked. That site is bound to cost me a small fortune if I don't control myself....


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Dins said:


> I did a quick check of arkivmusic.com, and yes they certainly is well stocked. That site is bound to cost me a small fortune if I don't control myself....


I hope you kept notes. If I was in your shoes, I'd go the DVD/Blu-ray route, getting the best one(s) available for your favorites. Visual is so much better than staring at the speakers for three hours.

This will bring new challenges to you, in preferences for acting, costumes, set design, direction, etc.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

As you live in Sweden you might also like to check a wonderful UK site, Presto Classical. They often have sales (eg Decca Operas at the moment). I also like their write ups on various productions.


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## fuzzyLogic (Mar 15, 2012)




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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

*Ligeti: Le Grand Macabre*






And when you're done with that.........

*Brett Dean: Bliss*


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## rsmithor (Jun 30, 2011)

Dins said:


> I have listened to all operas on the top 100 list, and a few outside top 100 and even the top 272 list. Listened means that i heard an opera in its entirety at least once. So now I am considering where to go from here. Some of the operas I know fairly well after seeing them on DVD or live, others I have only listened to after reading a synopsis of the libretto, and just got a basic idea of what the opera is about.
> 
> I could listen to even more operas, and go through the entire top 272 list. But I'm not sure that that would be that productive. Sure there are probably a few operas i would like there as well, but there will probably be fewer of them.
> 
> ...


Awesome post... In my head, I'm figuring how long it would take me to listen (with libretto in hand) to 100+ operas... then I noted your location... Gothenburg, Sweden... Perhaps those _long winter nights_ helped...


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