# MET OPERA top 20



## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

from face book HD met opera........ "Here are the 20 top finishers in the Met Opera Live in HD Fans poll, based on votes by 162 members. Each opera is followed by its rank, if any, in the BBC poll of 172 singers in (), followed by the opera that had that position in the BBC list in [].
20. Cosi Fan Tutte (-) [Die Walküre]
19. Turandot (-) [Giulio Cesare]
18. Lucia di Lammermoor (-) [Falstaff]
17. Norma (-) [L'Orfeo]
16. Die Zauberflöte (-) [Die Meistersinger]
15. Carmen (-) [Don Carlos]
14. Rigoletto (-) [Jenůfa]
13. Otello (9) [Eugene Onegin]
12. Eugene Onegin (13) [La Traviata]
11. Der Rosenkavalier (3) [Pelléas et Mélisande]
10. Parsifal (-) [Tristan und Isolde]
9. Tristan und Isolde (10) [Otello]
8. Die Meistersinger (16) [Don Giovanni]
7. Der Ring (-) [L'incoronazione di Poppea]
6. La Bohème (2) [Tosca]
5. Don Carlos (15) [Peter Grimes]
4. Tosca (6) [Wozzeck]
3. Le nozze di Figaro (1) [Der Rosenkavalier]
2. Don Giovanni (8) [La Bohème]
1. La Traviata (12) [Le nozze di Figaro]
There were five ties, all resolved chronologically: Figaro/Tosca, Tristan/Parsifal, Onegin/Otello, Rigoletto/Carmen, Zauberflöte/Norma. There is a substantial ambiguity in the matter of the Ring-- apparently the BBC poll didn't allow votes for the Ring as a whole, and some voters weren't sure what to do about it. If all votes for portions of the Ring were counted as Ring votes, the Ring would be in fourth place, tied with Figaro and Tosca. (I couldn't count as a valid vote the gentleman who simply voted for Der Ring-- that's either four operas or one, not three!) Traviata and Don Giovanni were clear winners, well ahead of the competition.
Nearest runners-up, in order from 21 on: Aida, Butterfly, Barber, Troyens, Falstaff (18), Die Frau, Poppea (7), Salome.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I've seen a list similar to this before. Except for Butterfly being so low down the list, that sounds about right. 
My _Mefistofele_ will never make it but it's #1 with me.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Why's _Turandot_ so low? Zeffirelli's production is extraordinary. It may not be what China is today, but it's the China one imagines.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

The poll wasn't specifically about productions at the Met. Though, now that you mention it, every opera on that list has been included in at least one Live in HD season since 2010-11:

20. Cosi Fan Tutte 2013-14*
19. Turandot 2015-16
18. Lucia di Lammermoor 2010-11
17. Norma - 2017-18
16. Die Zauberflöte 2017-18
15. Carmen 2014-15
14. Rigoletto 2012-13
13. Otello 2015-16
12. Eugene Onegin 2016-17
11. Der Rosenkavalier 2016-17
10. Parsifal 2012-13
9. Tristan und Isolde 2016-17
8. Die Meistersinger 2014-15
7. Der Ring 2010-11 & 2011-12
6. La Bohème 2013-14*
5. Don Carlos 2010-11
4. Tosca 2013-14*
3. Le nozze di Figaro 2014-15
2. Don Giovanni 2016-17
1. La Traviata 2016-17

I have only listed the last season the opera was seen. I marked an asterisk by the three operas that are still to come in this season. And it should be noted that in 2010-11 the Met did _Don Carlo_, though I believe this poll counted both as the same.

Of course this doesn't mean that everyone in the group was thinking of what they saw from the Met, or only thought of operas that have been done at the Met. And I would expect the results from polls like this to coincide with what the Met - and other companies - promote/produce/stream. They want people to buy tickets, so they do a lot of popular operas.

Only five of the operas in the BBC poll have not seen Live in HD broadcasts: _L'Orfeo_, _Jenůfa_, _Pelléas et Mélisande_, _L'incoronazione di Poppea_, and _Wozzeck_.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

It should also be noted that on the top 200 recommended operas done here, _Turandot_ was 29th. Voting was different, of course, and the focus may have been different, but the lists are similar. That top 20:



> 1. Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
> 2. Mozart: Don Giovanni
> 3. Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
> 4. Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro
> ...


7, 8, and 9 are the only ones that have not had a Live in HD. These operas are also in the top 20 for the BBC poll of singers.

The five operas on the Met Live in HD group's list that were not in the top 20 of the talkclassical list were all in the top 30:
19. Turandot - talkclassical 29
18. Lucia di Lammermoor - talkclassical 25
17. Norma - talkclassical 24
12. Eugene Onegin - talkclassical 30
4. Tosca - talkclassical 27


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