# Feel good operas



## Yashin (Jul 22, 2011)

What are your feel good operas?

I was by the pool just now and was listening to bits of l'elisir d'amore -this is such a wonderful uplifting opera. Was thinking what other jolly operas are there? One's where it is just melody, lyrical and no one dies,is shot, dumped or robbed

l'elisir d'amore
Die Zauberflote
Il Barbiere
La Cenerentola

Probably anything Rossini...?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Semele
The Fairy Queen
Albert Herring
The Bartered Bride
Les Indes Galantes
L'Enfant et les Sortileges
and for some reason Giulio Cesare ( I think this might be due to the Glyndebourne DVD)


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Yashin said:


> ...no one dies, is shot, dumped or robbed.





mamascarlatti said:


> The Bartered Bride


Well, he's not _technically_ dumped, but Vašek sure is strung along sumpin' terrible...

My "Captain Obvious" addition to this thread is _Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg_.


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## Yashin (Jul 22, 2011)

Chi_townPhilly said:


> Well, he's not _technically_ dumped, but Vašek sure is strung along sumpin' terrible...
> 
> My "Captain Obvious" addition to this thread is _Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg_.


Yes, Meistersinger is one i never thought of. Not sure about Giulio Cesare with the head in a box early on. Beautiful music and opera though. As much as i love the Glyndebourne DVD i prefer the male Giulio as in the Copenghagen DVD.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Chi_townPhilly said:


> Well, he's not _technically_ dumped, but Vašek sure is strung along sumpin' terrible...


In the version I saw recently at NZ Opera, he ran off to join the circus. And Esmeralda had taken rather a fancy to him. I think he's a happy man now in his bear costume.



> My "Captain Obvious" addition to this thread is Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.


Hmm, I never feel happy at the end of this. I feel sorry for Beckmesser, and even for Hans Sachs, all alone without Eva even to visit him.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

_Fidelio_ (of course)
Any of Mozart's operas
_Il Barbiere di Siviglia_
_La Cenerentola_


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

It doesn't get more feel-good than this:


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

*Hope no-one minds the temporary tangent*



mamascarlatti said:


> In the version I saw recently at NZ Opera, he ran off to join the circus. And Esmeralda had taken rather a fancy to him. I think he's a happy man now in his bear costume.


Thanks for calling my attention to the visuals. Yeah... I hope that Vašek continues in happiness-- but for me, the question is: where would Esmeralda's attentions be were it not for the fact that Vašek's physiognomy was an ideal fit for the bear-costume? [And, by extension, how sincere could they possibly be?!]

And speaking of visuals, I was devastated when listening to recordings of Mařenka's lament, when she thought that Jeník had abandoned her. It came together more clearly when seen on the stage- in that setting, it seemed to come into focus as a little temporary "karmic payback" for her treatment of Vašek.


mamascarlatti said:


> Hmm, I never feel happy at the end of [Meistersinger]. I feel sorry for Beckmesser, and even for Hans Sachs, all alone without Eva even to visit him.


The issue of the extent to which one might feel sympathy for Beckmesser is a topic worthy of its own thread (so I won't burden _this_ one). However, I agree with you in the basic premise that in _Meistersinger_, like stories that have been told since mankind began telling stories, the ultimate prize is the girl- and that prize is destined not to go to Sachs.

Nonetheless, if you can't get the girl, you could do worse that having the last lines of the opera sung by every other person on stage, praising your name- "*Heil, Sachs! Hans Sachs! Heil Nürnberg's teurem Sachs!*"


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Other feel good operas : Maskarade by Carl Nielsen . The Devil and Kate by Dvorak .

The love for Three oranges by Prokofiev . (in a kind of Monty Python way). 

Albert Herring by Britten . May Night by Rimsky-Korsakov . Arabella by Richard Strauss .


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## Hesoos (Jun 9, 2012)

Così fan tutte
L'italiana in Algieri 
La serva padrona "sempre in contrasti con te si sta...e qua e là...e su e giu"
La belle hellene "Je suis le roi della Grece, le roi Agamemnon" !! So funny!
Die fledermaus


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

superhorn said:


> Other feel good operas : Maskarade by Carl Nielsen.


Oh my GOD yes! The first act never fails to bring a smile to my face! Or the chorus scene in act two. Such a great opera!

Also, Falstaff, especially the second scenes of the first, second, and third acts.

And La vie Parisienne. How can you not love a finale like this?


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## drpraetorus (Aug 9, 2012)

Schwanda the Bagpipper (dudelsack actually, he's not Scottish) by Weinberger


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Mozart ~ Cosi fan tutte
Humperdinck ~ Hansel und Gretel; well, that witch dies, but we want that hag to burn, don't we?
Ravel ~ L'enfant et les sortileges
Stravinsky ~ Le Rossignol / Mavra (opera buffa, one act)
Britten ~ A Midsummer's Night Dream

Each an "All's well that ends well." affair.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I've just realised what my ultimate feelgood opera is, it's like chicklit with gorgeous music: La Fanciulla del West. I'm watching it now, with Nina Stemme and and Aleksandrs Antonenko in a kind of "silent film" producion, and it's so relaxing after the whole of the Audi Ring.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

My own favourite is _Falstaff_.

Heart warming and good fun.


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

Walton's one-acter 'The Bear' (based on Chekhov's play). Initial mutual dislike and subsequent verbal sparring between the two principal characters (widow Popova's late husband owed money to the gruff Smirnov who wants to collect) gives way to eventual realisation that they fancy each other. Debt cancelled, presumably.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

And of ocurse, Die Meistersinger. If that isn't a "feel good opera", nothing is !


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

elgars ghost said:


> Walton's one-acter 'The Bear' (based on Chekhov's play). Initial mutual dislike and subsequent verbal sparring between the two principal characters (widow Popova's late husband owed money to the gruff Smirnov who wants to collect) gives way to eventual realisation that they fancy each other. Debt cancelled, presumably.


That sounds interesting!


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## Sunshine (May 30, 2012)

Mozart of course! So happy


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Sunshine said:


> Mozart of course! So happy


eerm Don Giovanni? Happy? The Don is dragged to Hell and everyon else is completely discombobulated. Cosi fan tutte? Happy? With what are eveidently the wrong life partners? Even Nozze di Figaro, you know it's all going to turn to custard when the Count conveniently forgets his moment of contrition and goes back to his bad old ways. No the music is uplifting, but the plots are not happy for me.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> eerm Don Giovanni? Happy? The Don is dragged to Hell and everyon else is completely discombobulated. Cosi fan tutte? Happy? With what are eveidently the wrong life partners? Even Nozze di Figaro, you know it's all going to turn to custard when the Count conveniently forgets his moment of contrition and goes back to his bad old ways. No the music is uplifting, but the plots are not happy for me.


Or even Cosí, whose plot, if you think about it, is just plain cruelty.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

*What are your feel good operas?

*Yuh know, it depends on what mood I'm in.

Sometimes, it could be murder & mayhem makin' me feel good. Other times, maybe something akin to "I Love Lucy"...with a twist.

"Luuuuuccccccyyy, I'm home!"


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

sospiro said:


> That sounds interesting!


Hi Sospiro. I don't know how many recordings there are of 'The Bear' or which is supposed to be the best but the one I have is with Monica Sinclair and John Shaw on an EMI twofer with 'Facade' (with Fenella Fielding and Michael Flanders hamming/camping it up beautifully) and the 'Wise Virgins' ballet (based on JS Bach tunes) - a nice little package, in fact!


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

Of course, Rossini comes first with all his opera buffa. 
I am totally addicted to Il Barbiere. I watch/listen to it quite often, and I don't get bored. It always cheers me up. Die Zauberflöte is very close. I also loved Offenbach, Les contes d'Hoffmann.
Opposite to my cheering up operas, when I watch Traviata I always cry in the end (except for the famous Anna Netrebko Violetta, when I was happy the end was coming...)


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Aksel said:


> Or even Cosí, whose plot, if you think about it, is just plain cruelty.


Quite. I did mention it. Don Alfonso is a bit of a psychopath.



mamascarlatti said:


> Cosi fan tutte? Happy? With what are evidently the wrong life partners?


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Quite. I did mention it. Don Alfonso is a bit of a psychopath.


I'm sorry. I can't read, these days, apparently.


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> eerm Don Giovanni? Happy? The Don is dragged to Hell and everyon else is completely discombobulated. Cosi fan tutte? Happy? With what are eveidently the wrong life partners? Even Nozze di Figaro, you know it's all going to turn to custard when the Count conveniently forgets his moment of contrition and goes back to his bad old ways. No the music is uplifting, but the plots are not happy for me.


For me Cosi is the least happy.... If you're a little naive, you may reason Don Giovanni has a happy end, the bad one has been punished. And the other simply pick up their lives. Leporello finds another boss, Zerlina and Masetto will have a nice diner, Donna Anna will marry Don Ottavio in 1 year, and Donna Elvira suddenly knows her love for Don Giovanni was wrong so she will set this straight by spending the rest of her life devoted to God... And, after all, it has just been ONE bad day  Or ... ? Too bad I can't believe this.

In Figaro it's a little different, there is a fair chance it will work out for the two couples. One small proof of this, is the ultimate scene of the opera where the count apologizes, yes three times perdono, and the music is so overwhelming, how can we not believe him. Well, I think I can.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Dongiovanni said:


> In Figaro it's a little different, there is a fair chance it *will work out for the two couples*. One small proof of this, is the ultimate scene of the opera where the count apologizes, yes three times perdono, and the music is so overwhelming, how can we not believe him. Well, I think I can.


Except then you remember that it totally doesn't and stop believing in humanity altogether.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

About the music, well it is absolutely overwhelmingly lovely at that point, and I think the count really believes what he is saying at that point. But i reckon he will be back in Barbarina's bedroom within a week (and she's TWELVE ugh, he's worse than Pinkerton.)


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## tyroneslothrop (Sep 5, 2012)

Aksel said:


> Except then you remember that it totally doesn't and stop believing in humanity altogether.


Except then you remember that it does work out for Figaro and Susanna and can half believe in humanity.


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

"I quatro rusteghi" by Wolf-Ferrari.
Venetian vernacular never fails to put a smile on my face.

"Il cappello di paglia di Firenza" is another hilarious *lesser know* twentieth century opera buffa with a good ending (first act is so so but the rest is gold).


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

tyroneslothrop said:


> Except then you remember that it does work out for Figaro and Susanna and can half believe in humanity.


Touché.


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## SerbenthumInDerMusik (Nov 9, 2012)

Many will disagree, but

La Boheme.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

SerbenthumInDerMusik said:


> Many will disagree, but
> 
> La Boheme.


Yes nothing like a nice bit of dying by inches of consumption to lighten your day:lol:!


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## SerbenthumInDerMusik (Nov 9, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> Yes nothing like a nice bit of dying by inches of consumption to lighten your day:lol:!


Well look at it this way. Boheme is one of the very few operas in which everyone is "good", not a hero but just "good". Opera doesn't really pass judgement on anyone or raise any deep doubts about world/society/fate/whatever. Maybe Rodolfo could have treated Mimi better, but we get the idea that he did the best he could, it was fate that took her away.. And even though it's sometimes billed as "Verismo" it doesn't really engage in a serious social criticism... It just draws sentimental condescending tears from the audience.


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## tyroneslothrop (Sep 5, 2012)

SerbenthumInDerMusik said:


> It just draws sentimental condescending *tears* from the audience.


Which makes it a _feel good_ opera?


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

tyroneslothrop said:


> Which makes it a _feel good_ opera?


I think SerbenthumInDerMusik has a different definition of the "feel good" concept.

So, what is "feel good" ?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I've just realised that I DO count Mozart among my feelgood operas, despite the underlying darkness of some of his themes. For me feelgood operas are ones that I listen to for pure pleasure. They are accessible, the music is beautiful and melodic, there is usually some humour, and nobody dies. (The polar opposite of Lulu then).


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Many people have mentioned the Meistersingers, let me add my vote to that. What's interesting is that it's a very philosophical and deep feelgood opera about culture in general... all the while being a pure feelgood opera.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Two more of my favourites: _Un giorno di regno_ and _Il viaggio a Reims_


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## tyroneslothrop (Sep 5, 2012)

_Iolanta_. Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl. Boy gets girl. Boy is happy. Girl is happy. Dad is happy. And even the other suitor is happy. Now that is feel good!


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

SerbenthumInDerMusik said:


> Many will disagree, but
> 
> La Boheme.


Actually, the last time somebody asked me "what's your happy place?", my answer was Act II of La Boheme.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Cavaradossi said:


> Actually, the last time somebody asked me "what's your happy place?", my answer was Act II of La Boheme.


Yes, but then that creepy drum major comes along and all the people take off their wigs and the children appear in the painting ...


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## tyroneslothrop (Sep 5, 2012)

superhorn said:


> The love for Three oranges by Prokofiev . (in a kind of Monty Python way)


There is also Stravinsky's _Mavra_--short, cute, and it also happened to be one of the composer's favorites!


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## drpraetorus (Aug 9, 2012)

Hey, what about those G&S works?


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## drpraetorus (Aug 9, 2012)

Orpheus in the Underworld, Offenbach


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## Clark (Dec 13, 2012)

Mozart - Cosi fan tutte

is exelent


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## waldvogel (Jul 10, 2011)

_Gianni Schicchi_ - the money ends up in the right hands, with the exception, of course, of a fee to Signor Schicchi for his excellent legal advice.

_Beatrice et Benedict _ - it sparkles as much as the original Shakespeare.


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Clark said:


> Mozart - Cosi fan tutte
> 
> is exelent


True! But that's more a feel GREAT opera! :tiphat:


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

I am surprised anyone should pick Cosi as a feel good opera when the plot is so cruel and the ending so ambiguous. No-one knows whether the couples will make out in the end. The music is some of the greatest opera music ever composed but it always leaves me wondering, which is what Mozart and Da Ponte probably intended. The ultimate feel-good opera by Mozart is Zauberflote but even that has its dark side.
For me, the opera that has the most exultant, feel-good ending is Fidelio.


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