# Most Deaths in an Opera



## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

"Well, what did you expect in an opera? A happy ending?"

Let's face it, there does seem to be some truth to what the carrot-loving rabbit so aptly observed in Chuck Jones' memorable cartoon. Most operas fall under two categories: comedies and tragedies. More than half of the operas we all know and love belong to the latter kind...unless you hold a rabid aversion to Bellini, Verdi and Puccini. In the case of a tragic opera, someone generally dies at the end of it. We've come to accept this as a normal, even a desirable outcome. And let's face it, it's much more dramatic that way. This usually happens through some unfortunate mistake, conspiracy, lovers' quarrel, or any combination of the above. But as is often the case, two or more people have kicked the bucket by the time the curtain falls. Some librettists, noticing the high dramatic appeal of outrageous body counts, have created scenes of vast carnage so that by the end of the third act, we can be certain that few tenors or sopranos (or even basses and baritones, in a few cases) will live to sing another day.
Now, let's test your opera knowledge a bit, shall we? Here's the question: *Which opera has the highest body count?* (not counting squirrels, stage hands, and over-zealous patrons)


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## Hoffmann (Jun 10, 2013)

One candidate would be Berlioz' _Les Troyens_ (the Trojans get wiped out by the Greeks after accepting the gift of the horse, and there is another battle later in the opera, as well.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Not on the scale of Les Troyens, but Dialogues des Carmélites ends with the protagonists being executed one by one to the swish swish of the guillotine.

Britten's Noye's Fludde starts with the cataclysmic flood that wipes out eveybody on Earth except the passengers on the ark.


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## Zabirilog (Mar 10, 2013)

Götterdämmerung?


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

For the amount of deaths in relation to the size of the cast Birtwistle's Punch & Judy must come close. Only Punch, the Fortune Teller, the Witch and Pretty Polly survive as Punch, in turn, throws the baby into the fire (admittedly not a 'character' as such), stabs Judy, the Doctor and the Lawyer to death, saws Choregos in half and then tricks the Hangman into killing himself.


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## Downbeat (Jul 10, 2013)

Another important statistic could be how long it takes somebody to die in an opera. Personally I don't mind this, as it gives the composer the chance to really exercise their musical versitility. I think Mozart struck the right balance between tradegy and comedy.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Celloman said:


> In the case of a tragic opera, someone generally dies at the end of it. We've come to accept this as a normal, *even a desirable outcome*.


haha, nice turn of phrase.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

I believe Verdi's Forces of Destiny comes to an end because there is no-one left alive to carry it on!


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

On a side note, I got my question read on Texaco Metropolitan Opera Quiz some years ago. I asked: "As a mystery novelist, I'm always intrigued by deaths in opera. Which deaths are the most realistic, which are the most unbelievable?" which garnered some funny comments and banter from the panel.

Most authentic was of course Tosca's boyfriend Mario who drops like a stone when he's shot by the fake-but-real firing squad. Mimi's death in Boheme was mentioned as one of the longest, and often inadvertently humorous, especially if the singer is, er, ample and is dying of consumption. Aida takes a heckuva long time to suffocate but maybe the tomb was expansive? And of course, Gilda does quite well, singing nicely about dad and mom after being eviscerated. Tough, being an operatic _femme fatale_.

Most deaths in an opera should be limited, I think, to actual characters and not the general unseen populace (as in the Flood). Carmelites is pretty good on the list, therefore, wiping out either quite a few female chorus members or plenty of docile supers.

Were it in accordance with the play, Hamlet would probably win out, but unfortunately the opera has a happy? ending. I couldn't abide the opera so I've really got no idea how many actually die in the opera, but in the play, omitting soldiers and such: Hamlet _pere_ (okay, before the start but hanging around to pester his wayward kid), Polonius, Ophelia, R&G, Claudius, Gertrude, Laertes, and of course Hamlet _fils_. That's 9, pretty good since all we've got left are Horatio and a few hangers-on. But as I said, I don't know how many die in the opera.

Some operas you'd think that would have more deaths are sparse, Rigoletto = 2 for example, a paltry score for such a nasty story. Heck, even Magic Flute gives you two, Queen of Night and Monostatos (plus the dragon of course, whom I kinda wish they'd kept around for the finale).


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

katdad said:


> but in the play, omitting soldiers and such: Hamlet _pere_ (okay, before the start but hanging around to pester his wayward kid), Polonius, Ophelia, R&G, Claudius, Gertrude, Laertes, and of course Hamlet _fils_.


I actually chuckled in spite of the serious mood when I saw it a couple of years ago; the way they staged it everybody dropped dead within two minutes. I think they passed the dagger around.


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

Like drinking the Kool-aid, right?


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## Adeodatus100 (May 27, 2013)

In Götterdämmerung, you've at least got Siegfried, Gunther, Brünnhilde and Hagen. If it's done to Wagner's instructions you also see the gods - Wotan, Fricka, Freia, Froh and Donner - engulfed in flames. Opera writer Denis Forman puts the body count in the entire Ring at fifteen.


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

Yeah, but considering how long the Ring lasts, most typical TV cop shows can beat that score. (ha ha)


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Lulu has a lot of violent deaths: Her first husband, Dr Goll, dies of a heart attack; her second, the Painter, cuts his own throat; she murders the third, Dr. Schön; her fourth, Alwa, is murdered by one of her clients; Lulu herself dies at the hands of Jack the Ripper and the woman who is in love with her dies as well.


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

mamascarlatti said:


> Lulu has a lot of violent deaths: Her first husband, Dr Goll, dies of a heart attack; her second, the Painter, cuts his own throat; she murders the third, Dr. Schön; her fourth, Alwa, is murdered by one of her clients; Lulu herself dies at the hands of Jack the Ripper and the woman who is in love with dies as well.


Perhaps Berg should have called it Barbe Blulu?


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