# Rank your 10 favorite Verdi operas........................



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

From your favorite on down.
Your most favorite as 1 on down to 10.


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

1. Otello
1a. Simon Boccanegra
2. La Forza del Destino
3. Un Ballo in Maschera
4. Don Carlos (French original five-act version, not Don Carlo)
5. Rigoletto
6. Nabucco
7. Requiem (not his "best opera" but pretty good, particularly the Ingemisco) 
8. Attila 
9. Falstaff
10. Il Trovatore (a sentimental favorite as it was my first complete opera recording)

(Edited to correct a senior moment that made me omit my avatar, Simon Boccanegra. To make it worse it's actually my second favorite.)


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Revenant said:


> 1. Otello
> 2. La Forza del Destino
> 3. Un Ballo in Maschera
> 4. Don Carlos (French original five-act version, not Don Carlo)
> ...


Very interesting list. Is it the Abbado you have for Don Carlos?


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

Itullian said:


> Very interesting list. Is it the Abbado you have for Don Carlos?


I have the Pappano in both cd and video, but I must say that the classic recording by Giulini, thanks to everyone involved in that one, is outstanding.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

1. Otello
2. Otello
3. Otello
4. Otello
5. Falstaff
6. Macbeth (revised version, Callas singing, otherwise not on the list)
7. La Traviata
8. Simon Boccanegra
9. Rigoletto
10. Un Ballo in Maschera


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Revenant said:


> 1. Otello
> 1a. Simon Boccanegra
> 2. La Forza del Destino
> 3. Un Ballo in Maschera
> ...


Love your list!!


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Itullian said:


> From your favorite on down.
> Your most favorite as 1 on down to 10.


Noooo!!! I think you're very cruel!! :devil:

I'll re-visit this thread when I've worked out which of my 'children' I can exclude.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

1.	Don Carlos- by far. Five act French version starting with the woodcutters’ chorus.
2.	Otello
3.	La traviata
4.	Stiffelio
5.	La Forza del Destino
6.	Simon Boccanegra
7.	Un Ballo in Maschera
8.	Macbeth
9.	Les Vêpres Siciliennes
10.	Il Trovatore


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Well I once remarked to a friend that my favourite Verdi opera tended to be whichever one I was listening to or watching at the time. However, with the memory of my recent Verdi marathon in mind, I'll give this a try, secure in the knowledge that tomorrow I'll have changed my mind. I find it interesting that *Aida*, which was once Verdi's most performed opera hasn't turned up on anyone's list so far.

Anyway here goes, with my preferred recording alongside

1. Don Carlo (preferably in the 5 act version, though Italian is fine with me) _EMI/Giulini_
2. La Traviata_ Callas live from Covent Garden 1958_
3. Otello _Serafin_
4. Simon Boccanegra _Abbado_
5. Un Ballo in Maschera _Callas/Votto_
6. Rigoletto _Serafin_
7. Il Trovatore _ Karajan I_
8. Falstaff _Karajan I_
9. Stiffelio _Gardelli_
10. Macbeth _Callas/De Sabata live from La Scala_ but also _Abbado_

But I feel terrible about the ones I've left off  I thought of making them all 10th equals


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

1. Simon Boccanegra (1881 version)
2. Macbeth (1865 version)
3. Falstaff
4. Un giorno di Regno
5. Don Carlo (5 act Italian)
6. Nabucco
7. Attila
8. Il trovatore
9. Un ballo in maschera
10. Rigoletto

So hard to choose .....


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Unfortunately, I'm really not familiar with Verdi's late-middle-period operas, like BALLO IN MASCHERA, so this list will probably change somewhat as I get familiar with them:

1. Rigoletto (not likely ever to change)
2. Luisa Miller
3. La Traviata
4. Otello
5. Macbeth
6. Don Carlo (in Italian)
7. Ernani
8. Il Trovatore
9. Simon Boccanegra
10. Attila


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## SilenceIsGolden (May 5, 2013)

Tier one:
Otello
Don Carlos
La Traviata
Falstaff

Tier two:
Rigoletto
Aida
Simon Boccanegra
Il Trovatore


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Actually, I'd like to switch around SIMON BOCCANEGRA and IL TROVATORE on my list, or I might even put TROVATORE last...But hey, at least I can say I _like_ TROVATORE now! It used to be that I didn't like it much at all.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

1. Don Carlos
2. Otello
3. Falstaff
4. Aida
5. Rigoletto
6. La Traviata
7. Il Trovatore
8. Simon Boccanegra
9. Macbeth
10. Luisa Miller


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

My picks:

1. Rigoletto
2. Il Trovatore
3. Aida
4. Don Carlo (5 act version)
5. La Traviata
6. Luisa Miller
7. Macbeth
8. Un ballo in maschera
9. La forza del destino
10. Simon Boccanegra


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

GregMitchell said:


> Well I once remarked to a friend that my favourite Verdi opera tended to be whichever one I was listening to or watching at the time. However, with the memory of my recent Verdi marathon in mind, I'll give this a try, secure in the knowledge that tomorrow I'll have changed my mind. I find it interesting that *Aida*, which was once Verdi's most performed opera hasn't turned up on anyone's list so far.
> 
> Anyway here goes, with my preferred recording alongside
> 
> ...


Yeah, what is it about _Aida_? There's nothing wrong with it, is there? But I don't care that much about it and it would take some incredible (probably deceased Golden Age) singers to induce me to see it. It is, to quote Ed Sullivan, a "really big shoe," but maybe that gets in the way of the human situation, or maybe everybody in it, except perhaps Amneris, is a little boring... I don't know. Those pseudo-Egyptians just don't "get" me emotionally like Violetta, Otello or Rigoletto, and for me that's what Verdi is about above all (except in Falstaff, where I mainly just love listening to the orchestra chuckle and chortle and shimmer).

What do others think about this?


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## SilenceIsGolden (May 5, 2013)

I'm actually a bit surprised _Aida_ seems to be held in relatively low estimation. Maybe its a bit of a backlash to all its pompousity and grandeur, and maybe to the fact that it is or has been his most popular work although not his greatest. But for all of its extravagance and ornament and ceremony, I actually find it to be quite poignant in places. And I can't lie, I simply love its rich music and impassioned arias. Was Verdi ever more evocative than in Act 3 with those astonishing woodwinds that transport us directly to the Nile? And the music for the final scene is some of the most luminous and delicately nuanced he ever wrote. An uneven work perhaps, but totally indispensable nonetheless in my opinion.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Bellinilover said:


> But hey, at least I can say I _like_ TROVATORE now! It used to be that I didn't like it much at all.


I'm still not there. I do like a rousing "di quella pira" once in a while. But remind me now: who is it that's throwing babies in the fire? Or am I thinking of _Hansel and Gretel_? And is that a bunch of anvils making all that racket? Oh wait - that's _Rheingold_.

Sigh.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Woodduck said:


> I'm still not there. I do like a rousing "di quella pira" once in a while.


How about a sublime "Il balen" ?


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

SilenceIsGolden said:


> An uneven work perhaps, but totally indispensable nonetheless in my opinion.


I don't think *Aida* is uneven. Quite the reverse in fact. It is from beginning to end a masterly score, with many felicitous touches in the orchestra. The problem for me is that it rarely involves me, the characters being more operatic archetypes than flesh and blood creations like Violetta, Don Carlo, Philip or Simon Boccanegra, to name a few of Verdi's great characterisations. I admire it, but I don't love it.

The same could be said for *Il Trovatore* of course, but for some reason I respond more to its rude vigour, the dark _tinta_ of the score, particularly the crepuscular _cantabile_ of Leonora's music.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

sospiro said:


> How about a sublime "Il balen" ?


Hmmm... Bastianini. Fantastic instrument. No legato. No subtlety. All forte and fortissimo. It won't convert me.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

My favorites, as of April, 2014 (this list has changed over the years, and undoubtedly will change again:

1. Otello
2. La Traviata
3. Aida
4. Simon Boccanegra
5. Rigoletto
6. Falstaff
7. Il Trovatore
8. Un ballo in maschera
9. Don Carlo
10. Luisa Miller


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## SilenceIsGolden (May 5, 2013)

GregMitchell said:


> I don't think *Aida* is uneven. Quite the reverse in fact. It is from beginning to end a masterly score, with many felicitous touches in the orchestra.


Musically I'm inclined to agree. I just feel that the more intimate scenes are far more gripping than the more grandiose ones, and in those moments I can't help myself from getting caught up in the emotions and being swept away by the characters.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

SilenceIsGolden said:


> I just feel that the more intimate scenes are far more gripping than the more grandiose ones,


On that I agree with you, and in fact, apart from the Triumphal Scene, it is mostly an intimate opera. Grandiose productions such as those that we see from Verona have tended to blind us to that fact.


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## SilenceIsGolden (May 5, 2013)

GregMitchell said:


> On that I agree with you, and in fact, apart from the Triumphal Scene, it is mostly an intimate opera. Grandiose productions such as those that we see from Verona have tended to blind us to that fact.


That's an excellent point. Because its styled after grand opera producers do tend to go over the top in the "grand" department.


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

SilenceIsGolden said:


> I'm actually a bit surprised _Aida_ seems to be held in relatively low estimation. Maybe its a bit of a backlash to all its pompousity and grandeur, and maybe to the fact that it is or has been his most popular work although not his greatest. But for all of its extravagance and ornament and ceremony, I actually find it to be quite poignant in places. And I can't lie, I simply love its rich music and impassioned arias. Was Verdi ever more evocative than in Act 3 with those astonishing woodwinds that transport us directly to the Nile? And the music for the final scene is some of the most luminous and delicately nuanced he ever wrote. An uneven work perhaps, but totally indispensable nonetheless in my opinion.


Transports us to the Nile is right. I think Verdi tapped some Jungian memory bank with some of the music in Aida. I've always found the music summoned to my mind images of rows of pharaonic structures and one-dimensional figures on wall carvings adopting stepped-on poses.


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## Xavier (Jun 7, 2012)

1) Falstaff will *always* be number one in my book.

And then:

2) Otello

3) Aida

4) Don Carlo

5) A Masked Ball

6) Simon Boccanegra

7) La Forza del Destino

8) Il Trovatore

9) Rigoletto

10) Luisa Miller


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## perempe (Feb 27, 2014)

I've already seen Rigoletto, Otello, Aida and Nabucco in the season. I'll see Rigoletto again (with a different cast and orchestra), Simon Boccanegra and Il Trovatore at the end of the month (within 9 days). Beat that! 

you rank Simon Boccanegra high on the list, hopefully i'll like it too.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Xavier said:


> 1) Falstaff will *always* be number one in my book.
> 
> And then:
> 
> ...


--
As much as I treasure _Don Carlos, Othello, Traviata, Rigoletto_, and such-- _Falstaff _is a real hard act to beat.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Marschallin Blair said:


> --
> As much as I treasure _Don Carlos, Othello, Traviata, Rigoletto_, and such-- _Falstaff _is a real hard act to beat.


When a composer's style continues to evolve so stunningly right to the end of his life, it makes you want to double the human life span (though I'm sure old Giuseppe would have fainted dead away at the prospect of having to unretire yet again).

Interestingly, Stravinsky claimed to like earlier Verdi better than _Otello_ and _Falstaff_. More clear-cut melody. Recall that he venerated Tchaikovsky, king of melody, and bashed Wagner for his idea of "endless melody," calling it "no melody at all." He felt Verdi was going down that road in his last operas.

But when did you last find yourself humming _Les Noces_?


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Hmmm... Bastianini. Fantastic instrument. No legato. No subtlety. All forte and fortissimo. It won't convert me.


Unfortunately, I'm in the library right now and can't play the video. But you've captured my thoughts exactly about Bastiannini's Germont in that famous live Callas TRAVIATA. He had a great voice, but I can't stand to hear Germont sung without softness or tenderness, and the baritone's relentlessly loud singing, coupled with the harsh recorded sound, makes the performance just about unlistenable for me. It's the only time I've ever heard Batiannini; my friend says that Germont wasn't a good role for him and that I should go elsewhere to hear the best of him. Maybe I'll try his di Luna.


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## SilenceIsGolden (May 5, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> When a composer's style continues to evolve so stunningly right to the end of his life, it makes you want to double the human life span (though I'm sure old Giuseppe would have fainted dead away at the prospect of having to unretire yet again).
> 
> Interestingly, Stravinsky claimed to like earlier Verdi better than _Otello_ and _Falstaff_. More clear-cut melody. Recall that he venerated Tchaikovsky, king of melody, and bashed Wagner for his idea of "endless melody," calling it "no melody at all." He felt Verdi was going down that road in his last operas.
> 
> But when did you last find yourself humming _Les Noces_?


Well true, but let's be fair, Stravinsky also has his fair share of strikingly melodic scores as well.

You bring up an interesting point though. I agree that it's often fascinating to hear one great composer's thoughts on another, but we must remember that being creative artists they are naturally going to have their preferences and their biases that go a long way in cultivating and informing their own particular gifts and kind of genius. So while some use Tchaikovsky's opinions on Brahms or Stravinsky's on Strauss or whatever the case may be as a kind of stick to beat the other composer with, it's enlightening if we look at those opinions less as "expertise" and more as statements that help us to ascertain the antithetical qualities of different composers.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Bellinilover said:


> Unfortunately, I'm in the library right now and can't play the video. But you've captured my thoughts exactly about Bastiannini's Germont in that famous live Callas TRAVIATA. He had a great voice, but I can't stand to hear Germont sung without softness or tenderness, and the baritone's relentlessly loud singing, coupled with the harsh recorded sound, makes the performance just about unlistenable for me. It's the only time I've ever heard Batiannini; my friend says that Germont wasn't a good role for him and that I should go elsewhere to hear the best of him. Maybe I'll try his di Luna.


Renato on the live Callas *Ballo* is a much more congenial role for him than Germont. That said, I still prefer Gobbi on the studio version despite Bastianini's more beautiful tone.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> When a composer's style continues to evolve so stunningly right to the end of his life, it makes you want to double the human life span (though I'm sure old Giuseppe would have fainted dead away at the prospect of having to unretire yet again).
> 
> Interestingly, Stravinsky claimed to like earlier Verdi better than _Otello_ and _Falstaff_. More clear-cut melody. Recall that he venerated Tchaikovsky, king of melody, and bashed Wagner for his idea of "endless melody," calling it "no melody at all." He felt Verdi was going down that road in his last operas.
> 
> But when did you last find yourself humming _Les Noces_?


---

Ex_-ACT_-ly.

As much as I like Stravinsky, I always get the feeling in his post-Diaghilev works that he's more interested in being clever than in expressing something profound, noble, or beautiful-- like say, Vaughan-Williams: a composer with considerably less technical talent, but with a far more beautiful mind. . . my view, anyway.

Didn't Stravinky say that he wasn't a_ composer _but rather a_ craftsman_?

Well, I'll take him at his word.


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## SilenceIsGolden (May 5, 2013)

Marschallin Blair said:


> ---
> 
> Ex_-ACT_-ly.
> 
> ...


His works may have been created with great precision and poise, but I think _Symphony of Psalms_, _Apollo_, _Cantata_, _Orpheus_ and others are pretty profoundly beautiful, actually. Many have also pointed out that _Oedipus Rex_'s Verdian influence is quite noticeable.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

SilenceIsGolden said:


> His works may have been created with great precision and poise, but I think _Symphony of Psalms_, _Apollo_, _Cantata_, _Orpheus_ and others are pretty profoundly beautiful, actually. Many have also pointed out that _Oedipus Rex_'s Verdian influence is quite noticeable.


--
I can make a qualified acceptance for _Orpheus_ and _Apollo_. _;D_


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> When a composer's style continues to evolve so stunningly right to the end of his life, it makes you want to double the human life span (though I'm sure old Giuseppe would have fainted dead away at the prospect of having to unretire yet again).
> 
> Interestingly, Stravinsky claimed to like earlier Verdi better than _Otello_ and _Falstaff_. More clear-cut melody. Recall that he venerated Tchaikovsky, king of melody, and bashed Wagner for his idea of "endless melody," calling it "no melody at all." He felt Verdi was going down that road in his last operas.
> 
> But when did you last find yourself humming _Les Noces_?


_Oedipus Rex _is filled with many a catchy ditty. Said no one ever. Maybe Strav loved melody because he couldn't come up with any, afaik.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

SilenceIsGolden said:


> His works may have been created with great precision and poise, but I think _Symphony of Psalms_, _Apollo_, _Cantata_, _Orpheus_ and others are pretty profoundly beautiful, actually. Many have also pointed out that _Oedipus Rex_'s Verdian influence is quite noticeable.


This is all going a bit off topic of course, but I confess that I do find some of Stravinsky's music a bit arid. I love the early ballets, *Firebird*, *Petrushka* and *The Rite of Spring*, but I have equivocal feelings about much of his oeuvre after that.


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## SilenceIsGolden (May 5, 2013)

GregMitchell said:


> This is all going a bit off topic of course, but I confess that I do find some of Stravinsky's music a bit arid. I love the early ballets, *Firebird*, *Petrushka* and *The Rite of Spring*, but I have equivocal feelings about much of his oeuvre after that.


Ah, well I love most of his music actually. But of course there are many who would agree with you...and I don't deny that his music doesn't exactly possess a lot of rapture or ardor in the traditional sense. But I usually find the architectures he conceives through building blocks of sound quite engrossing; and getting back to the topic of the thread while he definitely doesn't have a penchant for "catchy" tunes, he definitely wasn't incapable of crafting or appreciating a pleasing melody, as his fondness for Verdi illustrates.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

SilenceIsGolden said:


> Well true, but let's be fair, Stravinsky also has his fair share of strikingly melodic scores as well.
> 
> You bring up an interesting point though. I agree that it's often fascinating to hear one great composer's thoughts on another, but we must remember that being creative artists they are naturally going to have their preferences and their biases that go a long way in cultivating and informing their own particular gifts and kind of genius. So while some use Tchaikovsky's opinions on Brahms or Stravinsky's on Strauss or whatever the case may be as a kind of stick to beat the other composer with, it's enlightening if we look at those opinions less as "expertise" and more as statements that help us to ascertain the antithetical qualities of different composers.


Yes. They did make a lot of strange pronouncements about each other, from a bystander's point of view. But I agree with you: their own consuming visions determined, even necessitated, their biases. Besides, I think that in most cases their comments had some validity, or at least pointed to something real that's worth taking a look at. In my less than devoted moments (not many), I do detect a whiff of aridity or artifice in that Romantic-wishing-to-be-Classical Brahms, and I think this quality rubbed something fundamental in Tchaikovsky's nature the wrong way. As for Stravinsky, he spoke of the need for limits in artistic creation, of conceiving a work within definite structural bounds, bounds which would be clearly apparent in the finished work. For example, he told Balanchine, who commissioned ballet scores from him, to tell him exactly what rhythms and timings he wanted for each bit of choreography. And he said that a composer who proceeded without limits would end up writing _Parsifal_, "but _Parsifal_ is already there. Who wants to write it again?" This is of course grossly untrue about _Parsifal_, which is full of varied, subtly interconnected forms and carefully plotted thematic relationships. But there you are: another composer with a unique and powerful aesthetic vision defining and sharpening his own identity by caricaturing the opposition! (In this connection, I've always chuckled over Debussy's consternation at being unable to exorcise the strong echoes of _Parsifal_ in the orchestral interludes to _Pelleas et Melisande_.)


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## BaronScarpia (Apr 2, 2014)

So many to choose from!

I couldn't do a top ten, but my favourite is _probably_ (though I'm not sure!), Otello. I love La traviata as well (who doesn't?) and Rigoletto is pretty great. Macbeth, Aida and Falstaff are also favourites, and I am tempted to say Don Carlo (only ever heard it in Italian) as well.


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## Donata (Dec 28, 2013)

1. La Traviata 
2. Otello
3. Rigoletto
4. Il Trovatore
5. Don Carlo
6. Aida

Since I haven't seen ten, here are my top six.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Falstaff
Un Giorno di Regno (weird I know ) maybe even no. 1 
Rigoletto
Il Trovatore
Macbeth
Carlos
Simon B.
the rest...............


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Itullian said:


> Un Giorno di Regno (weird I know ) maybe even no. 1


A trifle weird, I'll grant you, but each to his own :lol:


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## Signor Crescendo (May 8, 2014)

Top ten:
_Don Carlos_
_Rigoletto_
_Aida_
_Il trovatore_
_Luisa Miller_
_Stiffelio_
_Un ballo in maschera_
_I due Foscari_ (!)
_Macbeth_
_Otello_


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

Trovatore
MacBeth
Traviata
Rigoletto
Aida
Don Carlo (Italian)
Un Ballo Maschera
Simon Boccanegra
Otello
Luisa Miller

Oh how I do love Trovatore, and my favorite Leonora......


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## Jeremy In Chicago (Aug 1, 2015)

Some of my favorites have inane plots, but I am going to rank them primarily from a musical standpoint. For example, Don Carlos' ending is nonsensical and Il Trovatore is overall ridiculous and convoluted, but their scores are beyond compare. If I were to rank the operas overall and as objectively as possible, Aida would be top and Traviata a close second.

1. Don Carlos (5 act but in Italian!)
2. Aida
3. Il Trovatore
4. Rigoletto
5. La Traviata
6. Otello
7. In Ballo in Maschera
8. Macbeth
9. Simon Boccanegra
10. La Forza del Destino

I've never seen Luisa Miller. I watched Falstaff with great anticipation, and did not like it. I like my Verdi dark and bombastic. Falstaff sounds like Verdi trying to be someone else. I respect it but did not enjoy it.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

1. Don Carlo
2. Otello
3. Rigoletto
4. La traviata
5 Il trovatore
6. Un ballo in maschera
7. La forza del destino
8. Simon Boccanegra
9. Macbeth
10. Aida


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## ma7730 (Jun 8, 2015)

1. Falstaff 
2. Otello (though depending on my mood this can come first)
3. Un Ballo in Maschera
4. Don Carlo
5. Rigoletto
6. Simon Boccanegra
7. Macbeth 
8. Aïda
9. La Traviata
10. Il Trovatore


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Un Giorno di Regno
Rigoletto
Trovatore 
Falstaff

Don't listen to others much anymore.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Itullian said:


> Travatore


Il *trov*atore
La *trav*iata

Erm?


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

sospiro said:


> Il *trov*atore
> La *trav*iata
> 
> Erm?


Haven't you heard? It's the latest advance in regietheater. You see, Mr. Germont once had two children, but he threw one of them into a blazing pyre...


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

graziesignore said:


> Haven't you heard? It's the latest advance in regietheater. You see, Mr. Germont once had two children, but he threw one of them into a blazing pyre...


D'oh! Of course!!

:clap::lol:


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

sospiro said:


> Il *trov*atore
> La *trav*iata
> 
> Erm?


oooops, sorry S. :tiphat:


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## DonAlfonso (Oct 4, 2014)

Rigoletto
Traviata (but only for Papa Germont)
Requiem (not an opera but shows Verdi was capable of writing interesting choral music, unlike his boring opera choruses)
Don Carlo
Macbeth


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

DonAlfonso said:


> Requiem (not an opera but shows Verdi was capable of writing interesting choral music, unlike his boring opera choruses)




Sacrilegio!!


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> 1. Otello
> 2. Otello
> 3. Otello
> 4. Otello
> ...


My list is the same as yours except that the first eight are Otello, followed by Falstaff twice!!


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

Only the first 5 are operas I am very familiar with. The next 5 are less played (maybe some just once, with the exception of Aida and Don Carlo). I've watched Stiffelio only once on youtube, but I really fell in love with it.
1. Rigoletto
2. La Traviata
3. Nabucco
4. Il Trovatore
5. Stiffelio
6. Falstaff
7. Aida
8. Un Ballo in Maschera
9. Don Carlo
10. La Forza del Destino

I don't think Rigoletto could lose its first spot soon in my list, if ever. Traviata is definitely among my first 3 Verdi's opera. I don't see Traviata going further than 5...but I still have a lot of operas to listen to for the first time. Unfortunately, in order to really understand and like an opera, I need to watch it, either live or on DVD, so it not so easy.


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## Marsden (Nov 25, 2011)

1. La Forza
2. Ballo in Maschera
3. Traviata
4. Otello
5. Aida
6. Rigoletto
7. Don Carlos
8. Falstaff
9. Trovatore

That's all I know, and I need to listen to some (e.g. Falstaff, Otello) a lot more.
Unlike most of you I'm no musical sophisticate. I just love the stuff.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Marsden said:


> 1. La Forza
> 2. Ballo in Maschera
> 3. Traviata
> 4. Otello
> ...


That's all you need!

I'm no sophisticate either, wouldn't know a 'B' flat from a ground floor flat, I just love the stuff.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

1. Falstaff
2. Otello
3. Don Carlo
4. Aida
5. Rigoletto
6. Trovatore
7. Forza
8. Traviata
9. Ballo
10. Simon Boccanegra
This list is subject to change


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