# Overture



## Cypress (Dec 19, 2014)

Does every opera start with an overture? I recently acquired a CD set of Tosca and it goes right to vocals> I was surprised at that. 

The overture sets the tone for the opera to come, or so I believe. What is your favorite overture and why?


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Favourite? Oh my, it's hard to know where to begin.

What the heck, I'll go for this one. I Vespri Siciliani. There's a famous tune about halfway through which seems to epitomise Verdi's style, lively but full of underlying pathos.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

_Otello_ starts right off without a prologue or overture.
Then there is _Don Carlo_ where you "might" get the wonderful overture or not depending on whether or not the director decides to cut the Fontainbleau act. If so, then you'll get a fabulous and powerful overture (but then you trade in a wonderful scene that sets the stage).
As to my favorite, there are two. First the Prologue in _Mefistofele_ and then the Vorspiel in _Parsifal_.


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