# Favorite Opera?



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

What is YOUR favorite opera/operas?


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

Porgy and Bess
Vanessa
Sweeney Todd [I consider it an opera even though Mr. Sondheim himself would disagree.]


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## omega (Mar 13, 2014)

So far, I would pick Puccini's _La Bohème_ or Wagner's _Parsifal_. But I have a lot more to discover...


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Difficult to pick one, but *Il Trovatore* qualifies.














On another day, perhaps, *Macbeth* or *Un Ballo in Maschera*






.








On the other hand, I love this, too!


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

And I really can't do without *Der Ring des Nibelungen*, especially in this fantastic-sounding incarnation.


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## Cesare Impalatore (Apr 16, 2015)

I could try to do a top 10 but I know exactly that it'll end up being a top 50 instead and I'll fall into madness in the making. Let's just say that my favourite opera is Giordano's Andrea Chénier.


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## Levanda (Feb 3, 2014)

I did enjoyed Aida, War and Peace.


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## EDaddy (Nov 16, 2013)

Pro'ly this one.


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## Balthazar (Aug 30, 2014)

My favorite is Don Giovanni.


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

Verdi's Don Carlo (more for the story than the music, I think). For the music, Il Tabarro.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Gounod's Faust. Beautiful music, and probably better served on records (both complete recordings and individual arias) than any other opera.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

_Parsifal._

Not so much an opera as a magic carpet ride to someplace unimaginable, where time becomes space.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

All 10 Wagner operas
William Tell
Faust
Tales of Hoffman
Mefistofele
Lucia de Lammermoor


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Wagner Parsifal
Berg Lulu
Berg Wozzeck
Busoni Doktor Faust
Weber Der Freischütz
Strauss Elektra
Prokofiev Fiery Angel
Mozart Zauberflöte

Maybe a few others


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> _Parsifal._
> 
> Not so much an opera as a magic carpet ride to someplace unimaginable, where time becomes space.


^^^I hesitate to choose a favorite opera when reading posts like this.

As much as I love _Troyens, Tristan, Traviata, Turandot, Trovatore_ (and that's just for the 'T's') and suchlike- can I really say in good conscience that I have an understanding of any of these operas like Woodduck does of his beloved_ Parsifal_ which he knows forwards, backwards, sideways, yesterday, and five-ways-from-Friday?

_"Blair, you're blushing."_

I can't readily admit it, but I do occasionally know the meaning of 'humility.'


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

But you probably knew that already.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Marschallin Blair said:


> ^^^I hesitate to choose a favorite opera when reading posts like this.
> 
> As much as I love _Troyens, Tristan, Traviata, Turandot, Trovatore_ (and that's just for the 'T's') and suchlike- can I really say in good conscience that I have an understanding of any of these operas like Woodduck does of his beloved_ Parsifal_ which he knows forwards, backwards, sideways, yesterday, and five-ways-from-Friday?
> 
> ...


Awwww, jeez! Don't be shy! Blondes can have favorite operas as well as favorite hairdressers!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Celloman said:


> But you probably knew that already.


It never hurts to be reminded. Superb taste.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Marschallin Blair said:


> I can't readily admit it, but I do occasionally know the meaning of 'humility.'


I have carefully memorized the meaning of the word ... but I still think that it is a vastly overrated concept


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Becca said:


> I have carefully memorized the meaning of the word ... but I still think that it is a vastly overrated concept


It never did much for 'her-story,' did it Susan B. Anthony?


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> Awwww, jeez! Don't be shy! Blondes can have favorite operas as well as favorite hairdressers!


What's an 'opera'?- In fact, what's 'the Internet'?

Anyway, yes: baeuty, glam0ur, and faschion apply to opera as well- because "Ramona said so" on the _Real Housewives of Manhattan. _


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Benjamin Britten, Peter Grimes.

If that didn't exist, probably Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

This would be a short list of my favorite operas at this moment in time:

Carmen - Bizet
Dialogues des Carmélites - Poulenc
Die Tote Stadt - Korngold
Don Giovanni - Mozart
Giulio Cesare in Egitto - Handel
La Bohème - Puccini
La Traviata - Verdi
Luci mie traditrici - Sciarrino
Lulu - Berg
Norma - Bellini
Pelléas et Mélisande - Debussy
Saint François d'Assise - Messiaen
Tancredi - Rossini
The Turn of the Screw - Britten
Tristan und Isolde - Wagner

If I would have to select just one, I will go with Bellini's "Norma".


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

The three Mozart / da Ponte operas. Supreme genius - never equalled!


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

DavidA said:


> The three Mozart / da Ponte operas. Supreme genius - never equalled!


What??! I thought it would be a Wagner opera!


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

Berlioz - les Troyens


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## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

Bellini Norma

But then I thought that it's only because Callas sang it so well. Then I started to think all my other favorite operas and Callas seemed to sing every one of them. It is quite interesting to think what my favorite operas would be, if I hadn't never even heard of Callas.


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## omega (Mar 13, 2014)

brotagonist said:


> Berg Lulu
> Berg Wozzeck


This will be added on my to-listen-to list (which is breaking records in terms of length). Do you recommend any specific version?


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

Diminuendo said:


> It is quite interesting to think what my favorite operas would be, if I hadn't never even heard of Callas.


Non-Italian, of course. Callas doesn't give you much of a chance to hear Wagner since she never recorded a full opera. If she had kept her weight, she could have "Ho-yo-to-hoed" her way to Valhalla.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Diminuendo said:


> Bellini Norma
> 
> But then I thought that it's only because Callas sang it so well. Then I started to think all my other favorite operas and Callas seemed to sing every one of them. It is quite interesting to think what my favorite operas would be, if I hadn't never even heard of Callas.


I understand the feeling. My favorite operas - including _Parsifal_, _Tristan_ and _Walkure_ - are not ones that Callas sings (though she did sing them before she discovered Bellini), but she compels me to enjoy operas I don't care much about otherwise, particularly the bel canto era stuff. She definitely has a way of spoiling you for other interpretations.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

Celloman said:


> Non-Italian, of course. Callas doesn't give you much of a chance to hear Wagner since she never recorded a full opera. If she had kept her weight, she could have "Ho-yo-to-hoed" her way to Valhalla.


she didn't do so in the studio but there is a live performance of Parsifal with Christoff and Gui from 1950 (slightly abridged and in Italian) - I won't go into the many versions of this that are available, but one example is at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wagner-Parsifal-Recorded-1950-Callas/dp/B00005KC9D


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## anmhe (Feb 10, 2015)

Parsifal
Duke Bluebeard's Castle
Das Wunder Der Heliane
Rigoletto 
Nixon In China (yes, I do realize there are parts where Adams almost plagiarizes Wagner, but I sill have a soft spot for it)
Lohengrin 
Powder Her Face


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Celloman said:


> What??! I thought it would be a Wagner opera!


No dear old Richard is left at the starting post.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

DavidA said:


> No dear old Richard is left at the starting post.


Just when I think I can avoid getting into a dumb argument it reaches an all-time level of dumbness and the temptation to join the farce proves too great.

Starting post? You are, of course, joking? Ha ha ha? N'est-ce pas?


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## timh (Nov 14, 2014)

Wagner The Ring
Prokofiev Fiery Angel
Havergal Brian The Tigers
Martinu Julietta
Janacek The Cunning Vixen
Stravinsky Oedipus Rex


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

Surprise.... it's Don Giovanni!


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

*1.* _Simon Boccanegra_

*2.* _Macbeth_

*3.* _Boris Godunov_

*4.* _Mefistofele_

*5.* _Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria_

The rest change regularly but my number one will never change.


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

Simon Boccanegra is one of the very few operas I will listen to wherever, whenever and with whatever cast - and like it every time. Same goes for Don Carlo (any version). I have no interest in ranking the "best of" performances of these operas, as they give me pleasure to listen to every time.


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## Xavier (Jun 7, 2012)

My usual top favorite 5:

-Pelleas and Melisande

-Falstaff

-Hippolytus and Aricia

-Mathis The Painter

-The Woman Without A Shadow


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

Also I would like to add: every favorite or top list posted here thus far, contains at least one opera that I already enjoy (or really like). Y'all have good taste.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

graziesignore said:


> Simon Boccanegra is one of the very few operas I will listen to wherever, whenever and with whatever cast - and like it every time. Same goes for Don Carlo (any version). I have no interest in ranking the "best of" performances of these operas, as they give me pleasure to listen to every time.


I agree but with Simon Boccanegra, if I had listened to the 1857 version first it may not have had the impact the 1881 version had.










As it happened, the Abbado was the first one I listened to and remains my favourite.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Der Rosenkavalier - No, I meant Ariadne, - No, I meant Meistersinger, La Boheme, Boris, Zauberflote. Oh who cares, I love them all and my favourite is the one I'm listening to at any point in time.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

graziesignore said:


> Also I would like to add: every favorite or top list posted here thus far, contains at least one opera that I already enjoy (or really like). Y'all have good taste.


And we all thank you.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I find it fascinating when someone picks operas
with hardly any melodies.


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## Xavier (Jun 7, 2012)

Itullain,



Itullian said:


> I find it fascinating when someone picks operas with hardly any melodies.


Two points:

1) How an individual makes sense of melodic line in any opera is highly subjective.

2) I have a special affection for operas that contain acres and acres of fine declamatory recitative.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Thanks :tiphat:

I still find it fascinating.


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## alan davis (Oct 16, 2013)

Trying to pick a favourite opera above all others is one tough gig when one considers how rich and diversified an art form it is. Lets just add a handfull


Meistersingers
Die Walkure
Gotterdammerung
Parsiful
The Magic Flute (surely this contains some of the most beautiful music ever written for the female voice)
Die Tote Stadt (after listenning to this the melodies haunt me for days)
La Boheme (in fact all Puccini)
Otello (perhaps my favoutite of Verdi's rich canon)
Der Rosencavalier (in fact all Strauss)

Forced to live with one only on a desert island, Tristan and Isolde (wanted to call my first daughter Isolde but had to compromise with my wife so we ended up with an Isabel).


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Which operas have hardly any melodies?


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

According to what I have on CD and DVD and have enjoyed:

Anna Bolena
La Serva Padrona
L'Elisir d'Amore
Maria Stuarda
Meistersinger
La Fille du Regiment
La Sonnambula
Fidelio
La Cenerentola
L' Amico Fritz
Martha
Tosca Act II with Callas

Besides that, I have some on CD only that I like very much:

Adelia
Elisabetta Al Castello Di Kenilworth
Emilia Di Liverpool
La Figlia del Reggimento (version of La Fille Du Regiment but in Italian)
Leonora 1805 version
Leonora 1806 version
Lodoiska
Tancredi
Tosca

I just received my DVD of La Gazza Ladra, but have not watched it yet.


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

When I mentioned Don Carlo I said "more for the story than the music," and I was acknowledging that there are no famous popular arias in it, for being such a big opera (though there is at least one important aria, Ella giammai m'amo). However, it has many splendid musical moments that I love.


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## Ilarion (May 22, 2015)

I will mention only one opera: Parsifal by Wagner...Why? There are many others which are favorites too...


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

I had a crush on *Il Barbiere* that lasted a couple of years. I moved on, but I still like it a lot. From Rossini I really love *La Cenerentola.*
From my beloved Mozart I'd pick *Die Zauberflöte* and *Don Giovanni*.
From Verdi I chose *Traviata* and *Rigoletto*
And I really love *Norma*....


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Also fascinating how very few women's lists include Wagner.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Oh, what the hell (excuse the pun)

*Mefistofele*

But as others have listed a few, here's the rest of my top 5. Not exactly revelatory choices here ...
*Falstaff
Don Carlo
Tristan and whatsername
The Ring thingy*


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Beatrice di Tenda (and Norma, of course)

and (second or third favourite) goes to the Ring.

N.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Diminuendo said:


> Bellini Norma
> 
> But then I thought that it's only because Callas sang it so well. Then I started to think all my other favorite operas and Callas seemed to sing every one of them. It is quite interesting to think what my favorite operas would be, if I hadn't never even heard of Callas.


I feel much the same way, and I too was going to say *Norma*. Then I realised it's only my favourite when Callas is singing it. I feel much the same about the Verdi operas she sang, especially *La Traviata*.

So, in the end, I'll plump for Berlioz and *Les Troyens*. Now, if only Callas had sung Cassandre and Didon!


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Top 10: (Not including The Consul or Sweeney Todd)
Mefistofele
Don Carlo
Otello
Madama Butterfly
Dialogues des Carmelites
Eugene Onegin
Tosca
Turandot
Andrea Chenier
Norma


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Forced to say just one, I would go also with "Norma".

But my choice is not influenced by Ms. Callas. If she would have devoted herself to another business and never sang a note, I will feel the same about "Norma" (though Ms. Callas is my favorite in the role, indeed).


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

1) Attila
2) Norma
3) Beatrice di Tenda


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Well, there's the _Fidelio_ obsession (including the 1805 Urfassung). After that, my favorites would probably be Mozart's _Die_ _Zauberflöte_ and _La Clemenza di Tito_, and Verdi's _Rigoletto_.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

Florestan said:


> According to what I have on CD and DVD and have enjoyed:
> 
> Anna Bolena
> La Serva Padrona
> ...


I hope you have put _Les Troyens_ onto your Santa List ... even June is not too early for you to do so :lol:


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## ma7730 (Jun 8, 2015)

Top 11 for me (in no particular order):
Rigoletto
Don Pasquale
Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Falstaff
Le Nozze di Figaro
Don Carlo
Maria Stuarda
I Puritani
Giulio Cesare
Otello (Verdi's)
The Ring (specifically Götterdammerung, but there all great)


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Headphone Hermit said:


> I hope you have put _Les Troyens_ onto your Santa List ... even June is not too early for you to do so :lol:


 A quick look on Wikipedia without reading the synopsis, it looks like Les Troyens is a very exciting opera. May have to look into if futher. Meanwhile I have a DVD of Matrimonio Segreto in the mail and my wish list includes Guglielmo Tell.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

ma7730 said:


> Top 11 for me (in no particular order):
> Rigoletto
> Don Pasquale
> Il Barbiere di Siviglia
> ...


Excellent choice and welcome to the forum!

:tiphat:


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## Camillorf (Jul 18, 2014)

_I Capuleti e i Montecchi_ is my absolute favourite, but I'll always have a soft spot for _Il Barbiere di Siviglia_ which was the opera that made me love opera.


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## expat (Mar 17, 2013)

Götterdämmerung. Difficult to move on.


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## ma7730 (Jun 8, 2015)

My favorites, as of now are (in no particular order):
Falstaff
Don Pasquale
Ring Cycle (particularly Götterdammerung)
Rigoletto
Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Otello (Verdi's)
I Puritani


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## tenorino (May 12, 2015)

Hmm, difficult to choose one... I have a bit of a quartet going on.

Nope, I can't choose between _Arabella_, _Les dialogues des carmélites_, _Eugene Onegin_ and _Die Entführung aus dem Serail_.


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## ma7730 (Jun 8, 2015)

sospiro said:


> Excellent choice and welcome to the forum!
> 
> :tiphat:


Thanks, it's a pleasure to be here!


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## ma7730 (Jun 8, 2015)

ma7730 said:


> My favorites, as of now are (in no particular order):
> Falstaff
> Don Pasquale
> Ring Cycle (particularly Götterdammerung)
> ...


These are my _most_ favorite, and the list at the top is somewhat broader, and my top 11 favorites.


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## Troy (Apr 23, 2015)

I love Aida, for me it's one of the most perfect of operas. The tense intimate drama against the bombast of the big chorus numbers, have always amazed me. The psychology of it all is portrayed perfectly by the music.


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## BelCantoGuy (Jul 20, 2015)

My favorite opera is La Traviata. Verdi of course.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Ah, the old impossible choice time again. On a desert island and only one opera allowed. For repeated listening and the possibility of hearing something new each time it would have to be Die Frau Ohne Schatten. For sheer indulgence La Boheme. For life - Parsifal.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

BelCantoGuy said:


> My favorite opera is La Traviata. Verdi of course.


Mine also, from beginning till end , _sensational_ :tiphat:


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## sonolucia (Jul 25, 2015)

Hi everyone! My favourites are...

1. La Boheme
This is the first opera I fell in love, and shall love until the end. Just never get bored.

2. Don Carlo
This is the opera that taught me the beauty of male lower parts.

3. Cavalleria Rusticana
That emotion flooding through the entire opera. (I don't enjoy Pagliacci, though.)

4. Don Pasquale
That silly story appaled me first, but I love it. That beautiful arias of Ernesto!

5. Lucia di Lammermour
This is pretty new on my list, but the opera is a true beauty.


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

> 2. Don Carlo
> This is the opera that taught me the beauty of male lower parts.




:lol:

(Sorry, I'm awful. I love Don Carlo too... but for loftier reasons...)


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## sonolucia (Jul 25, 2015)

Happy to meet another person love Don Carlo!  Of course it's never the reason per se... Before Don Carlos, I was not much interested in the male parts other than tenors, since it was at the beginning, even though I am still at... Forgive my silly babblings.


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

Someone needs to find me an opera that will make me care about tenors!


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Favorite opera? Too many favorites. Lately I've fallen in love with Haas' _Bluthaus_.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

graziesignore said:


> Someone needs to find me an opera that will make me care about tenors!


I am not a big fan of tenors, but just love the tenor, Aquiles Machado, in this opera (also available as soundtrack on CD but the DVD is well worth it):








Image link showing Aquiles in the opera.


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

Parsifal when I'm feeling solemn, Meistersinger when I'm feeling chipper.


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## Enformedepoire (Jul 29, 2013)

I've thought long and hard about this, narrowing down to not just those operas that I most enjoy, but those that have made a truly indelible impact on me. In other words, I think these operas are pretty dang good!

1. Purcell - Dido and Aeneas
2. Mozart - Don Giovanni
3. Berlioz - Les Troyens
4. Wagner - Parsifal
5. Janàček - The Cunning Little Vixen
6. Busoni - Doktor Faust
7. Berg - Lulu
8. Schoenberg - Moses und Aron
9. Britten - Death in Venice
10. Glass - Einstein on the Beach
11. Feldman - Neither
12. Birtwistle - The Mask of Orpheus

Ok, here are some for pure fun:
Haydn - L'incontro improvviso
Schubert - Fierrabras
Weber - Euryanthe
Rossini - Ermione
Rossini - Otello
Donizetti - Don Pasquale
Wagner - Die Meistersinger
MacFarren - Robin Hood
Strauss - Die Frau ohne Schatten
Puccini - La Fanciulla del West


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## Enformedepoire (Jul 29, 2013)

brotagonist said:


> Wagner Parsifal
> Berg Lulu
> Berg Wozzeck
> Busoni Doktor Faust
> ...


I'm a huge fan of this post - particularly the inclusion of Doktor Faust...


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Cenerntola, Turandot, Orphée aux enfers, Rigoletto, Traviata, Nabucco and many others


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

hpowders said:


> Benjamin Britten, Peter Grimes.


I admit: I am not a great opera fan. I attend opera when I get the chance, and I occasionally listen to it on my own initiative.

But I am not particularly attracted to it.

Nevertheless, *Peter Grimes* may have changed that. I only heard it for the first time earlier this year. It was the first opera that affected me. For reasons both pertinent to the narrative, to the music, and as always, to my current emotional state -- the work has connected with me.

I am bounded to the thing.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

graziesignore said:


> When I mentioned Don Carlo I said "more for the story than the music," and I was acknowledging that there are no famous popular arias in it, for being such a big opera (though there is at least one important aria, Ella giammai m'amo). However, it has many splendid musical moments that I love.


Tu che le vanita is a famous popular aria.
Don Carlo is one of my favourite operas.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Avey said:


> I admit: I am not a great opera fan. I attend opera when I get the chance, and I occasionally listen to it on my own initiative.
> 
> But I am not particularly attracted to it.
> 
> ...


I agree, it's a wonderful opera. Have you seen it live?


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Don Carlo
(close second tie: Otello/Mefistofele)


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Currently Maria Stuarda (Donizetti) is my favorite opera and I have 10 CD sets and 5 DVD sets!


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Avey said:


> I admit: I am not a great opera fan. I attend opera when I get the chance, and I occasionally listen to it on my own initiative.
> 
> But I am not particularly attracted to it.
> 
> ...


Same with me. The misunderstood loner/bloke. I can relate and have seen it at the Met multiple times. His "Pliades" aria is one of the most beautiful, haunting things I have ever heard.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> Don Carlo


I second this, stunning score :tiphat:


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

In first place:
_Les Huguenots _ (Meyerbeer)
Historical epic drama that is both hugely entertaining AND a powerful treatment of religious bigotry and fanaticism. The music is amazing - superb ensembles, beautiful bel canto arias and choruses, unusual but effective harmonies and instrumentation. Hit after hit: the Blessing of the Swords, the Act IV love duet, the grand trio in Act V, "O beau pays", "Plus blanche que la blanche hermine", the Marcel/Valentine duet, and the finales to Acts I, II and III. And what a wealth of moods and tones! It starts almost as a comedy (with serious undertones), becomes a pastoral celebration of the voice, and moves swiftly through three acts to end in tragedy.

_Le Prophète_
_Vasco da Gama_
_La Juive_ (Halévy)
_Benvenuto Cellini_ (Berlioz)
_Les Troyens_
_Boris Godunov_ (Mussorgsky)
_Don Carlos_ (Verdi)
_Don Giovanni_ (Mozart)
_Les contes d'Hoffmann_ (Offenbach)
_Faust_ (Gounod)
_L'italiana in Algeri_ (a placeholder for every Rossini opera!)
_Lohengrin_ (Wagner)

Special mentions:
The first two acts of _Turandot_
I've just heard Mercadante's _Orazi e Curiazi_; tuneful, monumental ensembles, dramatic. I haven't listened to it with the libretto yet, but what I've heard is really first rate.


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