# Some Cool Off-Beat Operas For Those Who Already Know The Most Popular Ones



## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

If you're already familiar with the most popular operas by Verdi,Puccini, Rossini, Donizetti, 
Wagner, Richard Strauss and other composers, here are some great obscure operas you should find fascinating:

Gheorghe Enescu: Oedipe . There's more to this great Romanian composer than the Romanian rhapsody. Oedipe(oedipus) is a powerful and haunting setting of the famous Greek myth.
It's a strange, brooding opera,slow-moving but unforgettable. EMI recording, conductor 
Larence Foster with the Monte Carlo orchestra, Jose Van Dam as Oedipe.

Leos Janacek: The Excursions of Mr Broucek (pronounced Bro-check).

This is is a real oddball opera by Janacek,better known for his great operas Jenufa and Katya Kabanova . It's the weird but delightful story of a landlord in Prague who loves to drink beer at a tavern, and in a drunken stupor he dreams that he's on the moon and the people he knows are weird moon people ! He gets into the craziest situations, and then wakes up all of a sudden.
In the second half of this strange opera, Mr. Broucek dreams that he's gone back to the 15th century during the Hussite wars, and is about to be burned at the stake for cowardice, and then he wakes up and realizes it was all a dream ! Janacek's music is filled with fantasy and wild orchestral colors. 
DG recording conducted by Jiri Belohlavek, or Supraphon recording conducted by Frantisek Jilek.


Albert Roussel: Padmavati. This is a fantastically colorful and exotic story of India during the Moghul conquest in the middle ages. The beautiful Rani Padmavati ,married to the Maharajah
of the Indian city of Chitoor, is lusted after by the wicked Moghul emperor Alauddin .
He demands that she be given over to him, or his Moghul army will destroy the entire city and all its inhabitants. But Padmavati refuses to yield, and kills her husband so that she will have to 
ascend the funeral pyre. By the time the Sultan and his troops have broken into the Hindu temple where she is hiding, she is cinders ! 
Composer Roussel had actually visited India previously for a time, and his brilliant and highly original music captures the Indian local color much more authentically than such pseudo-indian operas as Delibe's Lakme (famous from the TV commercials).

EMI recording with Michel Plasson and the Toulouse orchestra with Marilyn Horne,Nicolai Gedda and Jose Van Dam.

Carl Nielsen: Maskarade. Denmark's greatest composer wrote the Danish national opera, 
premiered in 1907. It's a delightful comedy about the popular Copenhagen masquerade balls in the 18th century . A pompous ,prudish killjoy Dansih father who disapproves of his son attending those wicked masquerade balls wants him to marry a girl of his choice whom he hasn't even met yet. The young man meets a girl at the ball and falls in love with her, only to find that she is the girl her fathers wants him to marry ! Lots of comic intrigue and mistaken identities. Great fun, and the music is merry and melodious . 

Decca recording with Ulf Schirmer conducting the Danish Radio orchestra, with Bo Skovhus and Aage Haugland. Plus a DVD from the Royal Danish opera. 

Antonin Dvorak: The Devil And Kate . This is the comic counterpart to Dvorak's tragic fairy tale Rusalka, famous for the "O lovely moon" aria. 
It's the zany story of an assistant devil to Lucifer,Marbuel, not at all a sinister character but comically wimpy, who has been sent to earth to determine if a wicked princess who has been oppressing her subjects should be dispatched to hell. 
Marbuel gets involved with an overweight ,talkative and obnoxious girl called Katya(Kate) , whom he meets at a village tavern .Nobody wants to dance with her, so she says she would dance even with the devil if she could ! So Marbuel appears in disguse and asks her and the villagers about the wicked princess.
Marbuel takes Kate to hell by trickery,and she's furious and torments him by refusing to get off his back,amusing the devils.
Hell is depicted as a fun place, and the devils are just a bunch of good old boys who like to sit around drinking,playing cards and singing !
But everything works out in the end. The princess is warned that she is about to be brought to hell, and releases the peasants from forced labor, and when Marbuel comes to get her, Kate frightsns him off ! Dvorak's music is sparkling and witty, and you'll love it !

Supraphon recording conducted by Jiri Pinkas.


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## David58117 (Nov 5, 2009)

Is Langgaards "Antikrist" any good? I'm an opera beginner, but it seems interesting. I'm also curious about Bergs Wozzeck but I'm still exploring the popular stuff right now.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

David58117 said:


> Is Langgaards "Antikrist" any good? I'm an opera beginner, but it seems interesting. I'm also curious about Bergs Wozzeck but I'm still exploring the popular stuff right now.


Can't comment on 'Antikrist' but I find Wozzeck heartbreaking.






It's supposed to be one of Simon Keenlyside's favourites.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

I have the recording of "Antikrist", and it's really interesting, but it seems more like an
oratorio to me. It has virtually no action.
Wozzeck is one of the greatest 20th century operas, but a very grim work.
It's also atonal, but not 12-tone. Berg's second opera Lulu is 12 tone, and a very weird and kinky story. 
There are several excellent performances of Wozzeck on CD ,conducted by Christoph von Dohnanyi on Decca, Claudio Abbado on DG, Karl Boehm also on DG, the version I got to know it on, Daniel Barenboim on Teldec, and Leif Segerstam on Naxos, plus several DVDs.
arkivmusic.com has just about the widest selection of classical CDs and DVDs on the internet.
Don't miss this terrific website.


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

David58117 said:


> Is Langgaards "Antikrist" any good? I'm an opera beginner, but it seems interesting. I'm also curious about Bergs Wozzeck but I'm still exploring the popular stuff right now.


I agree with Superhorn's comments that "Antikrist" is somewhere between an opera and an oratorio, but since it's meant to be staged I suppose that technically it must be considered an opera. Anyway, it has some very, very good Richard Strauss-like sounding music. Unfortunately the libretto is incomprehensible to me, although that could partly be because of the Eurotrash production I have on dvd.


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## David58117 (Nov 5, 2009)

Thanks for the info about the operas, I think I'll postpone Antikrist for now but try to pick up Wozzeck. I have a lot to listen to though, I've been trying to steal time away from family so I can finish Don Giovanni. I've been really blown away by that one, so I'm planning to go through Mozarts other biggies next...are the others as good as Don Giovanni!?! 

Also,...how would Wagners' Die Meistersingers rate in comparison to his others? I really wasn't too impressed by it (Barenboim), so I'm hoping his more serious operas would be more interesting (musically/story) to me. I have Bohms ring cycle on order, and then found a used cheap copy of Barenboims Tristan...also a Puccini definitive collection box will be here soon...thank God for tax returns!


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

David58117 said:


> Thanks for the info about the operas, I think I'll postpone Antikrist for now but try to pick up Wozzeck. I have a lot to listen to though, I've been trying to steal time away from family so I can finish Don Giovanni. I've been really blown away by that one, so I'm planning to go through Mozarts other biggies next...are the others as good as Don Giovanni!?!


I'm also trying to 'find' Mozart opera. There's still nothing which hits the spot like Verdi I'm afraid.



David58117 said:


> Also,...how would Wagners' Die Meistersingers rate in comparison to his others? I really wasn't too impressed by it (Barenboim), so I'm hoping his more serious operas would be more interesting (musically/story) to me. I have Bohms ring cycle on order, and then found a used cheap copy of Barenboims Tristan...also a Puccini definitive collection box will be here soon...thank God for tax returns!


Cash poor but spiritually rich like me!!


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

If one likes contemporary and haunting music, then he has to see (hear) Die Teufel von Loudun by Penderecki.

Also there is quite unusual opera by Szymanowski titled Król Roger (King Roger)


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

David58117 said:


> I have a lot to listen to though, I've been trying to steal time away from family so I can finish Don Giovanni. I've been really blown away by that one, so I'm planning to go through Mozarts other biggies next...are the others as good as Don Giovanni!?!


Try Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan Tutte and Die Zauberflote next. If you like those as much as Don Giovanni (and there's no reason why you shouldn't) go for Idomeneo, Die Entfuhrung aus dem Sarail and La Clemenza di Tito after that. They are his other 'mature' operas and his best except for the earlier mentionned 'big four.' It's also a good idea to invest in opera DVD's since opera is also a visual medium.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

I love Die Meistersinger,just as I love all his operas. It's his only comedy, and Wagner at his most light-hearted,although VERY long. I haven't heard the Barenboim recording, but try the ones with Eugen Jochum conducting with Fischer-Dieskau as Sachs on DG, or with 
Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting on EMI ,or Herbert von Karajan conducting also on EMI,
or Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago symphony on Decca.
All are excellent. The Ring is very,very long and involved, but not the least bit boring if you concentrate on it. You should definitely get the DVD with James Levine conducting at the Metropolitan opera, which comes with English subtitles,like most opera DVDs. 
Der Fliegende Hollander(The flying Dutchman) is Wagner's first maure opera and mercifully short,only about 2 and a half hours long. I recommend the DG recording with the late 
Giuseppe Sinopoli conducting. It's sopoky but sweeping. 
In order to avoid getting tired, you might listen to one act at a time, and give yourslef a break inbetween.
 Wagner isn't easy listening or viewing, but it definitely repays the effort to get to know his operas! There are plenty of DVDs of live performances too. Check classicstoday.com for
realiable reviews of these and all kinds of opera and classical CD and DVD reviews.


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## TWhite (Feb 23, 2010)

There's also an exceptionally well-done Video of "Meistersinger" that I have from Bayreuth conducted by Horst Stein and featuring Bernd Wicki as Sachs, Hermann Prey as Beckmesser and Siegfried Jerusalem as Walther. The staging and direction are by Wolfgang Wagner, so it's quite 'traditional', but I find it very satisfying. "Meistersinger" is probably my favorite Wagner opera. 

I also have a recording featuring Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Sachs and Placido Domingo as Walther, conducted by Eugen Jochum that I like very much. Domingo does one of the most rapturous "Prize Songs" I've ever heard (though Jerusalem in the above-mentioned video runs a very close second). 

And I'll join in on Berg's "Wozzek"--it's an incredibly intense opera, and once you get use to Berg's musical language, it's breathtaking. 

And might I add a personal favorite of mine: Erich Wolfgang Korngold's "Die Tote Stadt", a really amazingly mature and beautiful work for a composer in his 'twenties. It's Viennese Post-Romanticism at its most voluptuously beautiful. 

Tom


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## Sebastien Melmoth (Apr 14, 2010)

Off-beat opera?
Undoubtedly Schönberg's Von Heute auf Morgen (From Day to Day).

http://www.amazon.com/Schoenberg-Wi...2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1271288215&sr=1-2-spell


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## cw4257 (Apr 15, 2010)

Has anyone heard of Puccini's less famous "La Rondine"? Picked up an unloved CD copy in a secondhand shop 10+ years ago, didn't know what to expect, and it became my favourite! IMO I prefer this to his other famous operas such as Madame Butterfly or Tosca. That's just me.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

cw4257 said:


> Has anyone heard of Puccini's less famous "La Rondine"? Picked up an unloved CD copy in a secondhand shop 10+ years ago, didn't know what to expect, and it became my favourite! IMO I prefer this to his other famous operas such as Madame Butterfly or Tosca. That's just me.


Yes I've watched this version:










on Met player with Gheorgiu and Alagna when they were still together. It's charming, but i wouldn't put it on my favourites list.


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## Sebastien Melmoth (Apr 14, 2010)

Viktor Ullmann wrote a chamber opera *Fall of Antichrist*
http://www.amazon.com/Fall-Antichri...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1272022891&sr=1-1

Don't know FoA, but Ullmann's *Kaiser of Atlantis* is certainly an oddity
http://www.amazon.com/Viktor-Ullman...=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1272022977&sr=1-5

Adore Berg's two operas *Wozzeck* and *Lulu* (Boulez' Wozzeck is fine, but prefer Abbado's)
http://www.amazon.com/Alban-Berg-Gr...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1272023129&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.com/Berg-Stratas-...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1272023215&sr=1-2

Schönberg's *Moses und Aron*
http://www.amazon.com/Schoenberg-Mo...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1272023289&sr=1-1

Really enjoy several of Strauss' operas:
http://www.amazon.com/Capriccio-Ric...=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1272023367&sr=1-4

http://www.amazon.com/R-Strauss-Fra...=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1272023430&sr=1-5

http://www.amazon.com/R-Strauss-Ari...=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1272023495&sr=1-5


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

superhorn said:


> If you're already familiar with the most popular operas by Verdi,Puccini, Rossini, Donizetti,
> Wagner, Richard Strauss and other composers, here are some great obscure operas you should find fascinating:
> 
> Gheorghe Enescu: Oedipe . There's more to this great Romanian composer than the Romanian rhapsody. Oedipe(oedipus) is a powerful and haunting setting of the famous Greek myth.
> ...


Wow, pretty interesting. I'll try some of these relatively soon.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Heck, I started with the off-beat operas!

I second Oedipe. It's one of the single most haunting musical experience I've ever had. Monumental piece of work!

Also, the operas by Per Norgard are wonderful. I've heard two of them so far, both very different from each other. *Siddharta* is the composer's interpretation of the story of the Buddha, and it employs some haunting music as well. Unbelievably beautiful, you'd be surprised that it's almost entirely serial (though none of it is twelve-tone; I think I've made a nice riddle here...).

The other is *Nuit des Hommes* (Night of Man) and it is downright disturbing. About the first World War, it is a chamber opera to the extreme; the "orchestra" consists of string quartet, electronics, and percussion, but it can by no stretch of the imagination be accused of lacking color. The opera itself is absolutely crazy and practically without a plot; the "libretto" comprising entirely of a series of poems by Guillaume Apollinaire, details a couple (the only two singers throughout) going through the ringer as far as war is concerned: the man (Wilhelm) transforms into a nameless soldier in the trenches, while his wife becomes a war correspondent, eventually becoming so engrossed in the inhumanity of war that it becomes equivalent to sexual pleasure. At the end of the opera, the two realize that nothing can ever be the same for them again, even though the war itself might be over. If this isn't an offbeat opera, I don't know what "offbeat" means.

And then, of course, I can mention my longtime favorite opera. It's by Benjamin Britten, and it's called *Curlew River*. It's not technically called an opera, but it really is (Britten called it a church parable). The instrumentation consists of only seven or eight instruments (viola, chamber organ, tuned percussion, double bass, flute and some other things), and the handful of singers are all men, in the tradition of the Japanese Noh drama. Basically, the story is a Christian-inflected retelling of Sumidagawa, a popular Japanese fable of which Britten attended a life-changing performance in Japan in the '50s. This is one of those wonderfully offbeat operas in which everything is heartbreakingly beautiful in the most unconventional ways possible; there are sections in which, for example, the instruments and voices go off into free improvised polyphony for a certain amount of time and single melodic lines are inflected by different voices and instruments singing and playing the same line slightly off the beat. These two examples figure into a wonderfully realized climax (much in a similar manner as the same composer's War Requiem). It's really a great piece of work.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Two that I have ordered but haven't seen yet and may qualify as off-beat are King Roger and Le Grand Macabre.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Erwin Schulhof- _Flammen_: _from Amazon.com_- Flammen is the most purely erotic opera you'll ever hear. The story is a heavily symbolic take on the Don Juan legend. The Don is actually cursed to go through life seducing women whether he wants to or not. Women can't resist him, and he can't stop himself. Even Death (a woman, of course) spends the whole opera chasing after him, though she can never claim him. For just as he reaches the height of boredom and self-disgust, he shoots himself in the head and comes back to life, young and virile, to begin the cycle all over again. Schulhoff was just one of many talented Jewish composers murdered by the Nazis whose music is now being rediscovered, and this is his masterpiece. It's a magnificent achievement, superbly performed and recorded. --David Hurwitz
http://www.amazon.com/Schulhoff-Flammen-Erwin/dp/B000004277/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I27T84CIDZNW3T&colid=1JPMS2WSB1UYP

Rodion Schedrin-_ Enchanted Wanderer_- _Following works by Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky, for its fourth release Valery Gergiev s Mariinsky label turns to music by one of Russia s greatest living composers. Shchedrin s concert opera The Enchanted Wanderer was premiered in New York in 2002, but did not receive its Russian premiere until 2007. However it has rapidly entered the Mariinsky Theatre s repertory both in St. Petersburg and on tour. Based on a story by the 19th-century Russian author Nikolai Leskov, the opera is steeped in Russian folklore and beliefs. The release also features four fragments from Shchedrin s 1955 ballet score The Little Humpbacked Horse and his 1963 concerto for orchestra entitled Naughty Limericks. _
http://www.amazon.com/Enchanted-Wanderer-Hybr-Shchedrin/dp/B0038ZGLR0/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2I5H6HF9O9N8D&colid=1JPMS2WSB1UYP

Albert Lortzing- _Der Wildschutz_ 
http://www.amazon.com/Wildschutz-Lortzing/dp/B000PKG5CW/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3A3VQVYE8LYKS&colid=1JPMS2WSB1UYP
Hermann Prey and Fritz Wunderlich are enough to sell me on this one.

Howard Hanson- _Merry Mount_
http://www.amazon.com/Howard-Hanson-Merry-Barry-Johnson/dp/B000OQDRZA/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2OA3LTH6BFVCW&colid=1JPMS2WSB1UYP

Delius- _A Village Romeo and Juliet _(I greatly enjoy this one)
http://www.amazon.com/Delius-Village-Juliet-Benjamin-Luxon/dp/B00006YX76/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1285547332&sr=1-1

Berthold Goldschmidt- _Der Gewaltige Hahnrei_- The plot is typically pathological. A man catches his wife cheating and "punishes her" by forcing the repentant woman to repeat her sin over and over. The performance, like most in this series dedicated to music banned by the Nazis, is excellent. --David Hurwitz
http://www.amazon.com/Gewaltige-Hahnrei-Mediterranean-Songs/dp/B00000422Y/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I29NML480SH3FF&colid=1JPMS2WSB1UYP

Pascal Dusapin- _Perelà, Uomo di Fumo_ A marvelous contemporary opera.
http://www.amazon.com/Pascal-Dusapin-Perel%C3%A0-Uomo-Fumo/dp/B0007DAXUC/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1OJY3QTUNJL4R&colid=1JPMS2WSB1UYP

Daniel Catan- _Rappaccini's Daughter_ and _Florencia in the Amazon_- Two lushly gorgeous operas by the contemporary Latin-American composer.
http://www.amazon.com/Rappaccinis-Daughter-Obsidian-Butterfly-Catan/dp/B00006RHPU/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1285547841&sr=1-2
http://www.amazon.com/Florencia-Amazon-searchable-Daniel-Catan/dp/B00007IG3O/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1285547841&sr=1-1

Osvaldo Golijov- _Ainadamar_- A powerful meditation upon the death of Federico Garcia-Lorca by the brilliant contemporary composer, Osvaldo Golijov. In his usual manner, Golijov blurs elements of his multicultural musical heritage: Latin-American, Spanish, Middle-Eastern, Hebrew.
http://www.amazon.com/Osvaldo-Golijov-Ainadamar/dp/B000F2CANS/ref=sr_1_5?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1285548031&sr=1-5


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## Rangstrom (Sep 24, 2010)

Cherubini Lodoiska. Another rescue opera, but with a lighter tone at times. The Muti/La Scala recording makes a strong case (in the origianl French).

John Corigliano Ghosts of Versailles. An opera that cries out for a DVD release. The Lyric Opera production was a hoot. I enjoyed all the pokes (subtle or otherwise) Corigliano took at Grand Opera mannerisms; not that I have anything against Grand Opera in all its glory.

Michael Tippett The Midsummer Marriage. You've probably heard the Ritual Dances, it is worth it to step up to the whole opera. Tippet wrote the libretto which is over the top at times. As with Wagner, you sometimes wish he had the help of a good editor. The excellent Colin Davis performance is now on Lyrita Cd, I haven't heard it but the sound on the original LPs was very good


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Rangstrom said:


> John Corigliano Ghosts of Versailles. An opera that cries out for a DVD release.


The good news - the Met production is on DVD.

The bad news - it's part of a box set at US$300 a pop.


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## Rangstrom (Sep 24, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> The good news - the Met production is on DVD.
> 
> The bad news - it's part of a box set at US$300 a pop.


Ouch. I'll wait for a separate release.


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

Two of the most important 'unsung' 20th-century operas (Berg's _Wozzeck_ and Szymanowski's _King Roger_) have already been mentioned, but no opera lover should miss Shostakovich's masterpiece _The Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk_. When that nice Mr Stalin heard it in 1936 it got poor old Shostakovich into all sorts of trouble. This opera is one of the finest things Shostakovich wrote and is especially staggering when one realises he was well under 30 when he wrote it. It has a great plot of deception, murder, betrayal and retribution coupled with some of the composer's most powerful music.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Delicious Manager said:


> Two of the most important 'unsung' 20th-century operas (Berg's _Wozzeck_ and Szymanowski's _King Roger_) have already been mentioned, but no opera lover should miss Shostakovich's masterpiece _The Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk_. When that nice Mr Stalin heard it in 1936 it got poor old Shostakovich into all sorts of trouble. This opera is one of the finest things Shostakovich wrote and is especially staggering when one realises he was well under 30 when he wrote it. It has a great plot of deception, murder, betrayal and retribution coupled with some of the composer's most powerful music.


I agree; it's a great opera, very powerful. The last several minutes give me chills every time I hear it, especially Rostropovich's recording. Every time I hear the "scream" from any other recording, it only reinforces how utterly blood-curdling that shriek was in Slava's CDs.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Delicious Manager;114327...no opera lover should miss Shostakovich's masterpiece [I said:


> The Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk[/I]. When that nice Mr Stalin heard it in 1936 it got poor old Shostakovich into all sorts of trouble. This opera is one of the finest things Shostakovich wrote and is especially staggering when one realises he was well under 30 when he wrote it. It has a great plot of deception, murder, betrayal and retribution coupled with some of the composer's most powerful music.


Great. This is on my unwatched list and it looks as if I'm in for a treat.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Great. This is on my unwatched list and it looks as if I'm in for a treat.


Yay, I have it in my streaming site. I'll be watching it soon, for free.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Talking about off-beat operas, there is a whole universe of an operatic subgenre that remains mostly unexplored outside of Spain and a few Latin-American countries and the Philippines: zarzuelas. And that includes me. I've seen only one zarzuela so far: Torrobas' _Maria Fernanda. _I very much liked it. I also have a DVD of Plácido Domingo and a Spanish soprano (forgot her name) singing arias from Zarzuelas - I liked most of the tracks, and a CD with some additional arias. That's about all in terms of my exposure.

The fact that I liked _Maria Fernanda _(I mean, not an astounding masterpiece, but very enjoyable) encourages me to try others.

Is anybody here knowledgeable in zarzuelas to make recommendations?

Here is a YouTube of my Anna singing an aria from a zarzuela, very charming in spite of her atrocious accent when singing in Spanish (the lyrics are actually not in standard Spanish but rather rich in regionalisms).






Here is another one, with lovely Elina Garanca

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=9BkvPeA0PqM&feature=related


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

mamascarlatti said:


> Great. This is on my unwatched list and it looks as if I'm in for a treat.





World Violist said:


> I agree; it's a great opera, very powerful. The last several minutes give me chills every time I hear it, especially Rostropovich's recording. Every time I hear the "scream" from any other recording, it only reinforces how utterly blood-curdling that shriek was in Slava's CDs.


Make sure you get the original verison of the opera - not the revised 1964 version which goes under the title _Katerina Izmailova_, which is a slightly revised and watered-down of the orginal 1934 opera (to appease the Communist cronies).


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

From the modern era I think the Thomas Ades opera 'Powder Her Face' is worth investigating. The music, written for relatively small forces, is modern-sounding but certainly not 'difficult' and the story (based on the fall from grace of the late Duchess of Argyll) is both interesting and unconvoluted.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

From the modern era I think the Thomas Ades opera 'Powder Her Face' is worth investigating. The music, written for relatively small forces, is modern-sounding but certainly not 'difficult' and the story (based on the fall from grace of the late Duchess of Argyll) is both interesting and unconvoluted.

How can you not be intrigued with an opera that actually includes the only operatic depiction of a blow job!

Actually, by coincidence I'm currently listening to Ades more recent opera, _The Tempest_, right now.


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

How can you not be intrigued with an opera that actually includes the only operatic depiction of a blow job!
QUOTE]


True, but at least it was literally over in a 'flash'! Not quite as funny as Shostakovich's trombone glissando effect in 'Lady Macbeth', though...


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)




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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

Aramis said:


>


I have this opera on DVD. I like the music, but I find the libretto incomprehensible.


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

Some cool CD recordings I have of lesser known operas that in my opinion deserve to be heard.....


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

> I have this opera on DVD. I like the music, but I find the libretto incomprehensible.


You can read interpretation of this libretto in description of video I posted:



> Antichrist" (Perdition) is a philosophical-religious opera about the decline and (spiritual) fall of western civilization. It is an "atmospheric fantasia over our time", pillorying the modern lifestyle and mentality and warning against all-pervasive egoism and materialism at the expense of the spiritual values of existence. The message of the opera is that society and culture are digging their own grave but that the individual human being can find hope by becoming aware of the state of the world and opening up towards the divine.
> 
> In his depiction of the horrific trends of his time Langgaard uses the vast forces of the romantic symphony orchestra - at full blast. There is a twin effect in function here in that this highly expressive and powerful music has great beauty, while at the same time ushering in decline and disintegration. That is why it is so fitted to describe the period of the early 20th century with its juxtaposed mixture of truth and falseness, beauty and decadence.


Another one that I've found elsewhere was that general massage is that our society and culture dig it's own grave but the individual can change his fate by turning to proper values and bla bla bla. Edit: uh, it's not another one, it's the same that I've just posted. Can't recall what the other one was about.

Or you still can adopt metalhead attitude and instead of understanding anything just enjoy the fact that libretto and music is dark and mysterious cool choirs kick *** and 666 \m/ \m/ \m/


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

And DVD's...


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

Aramis said:


> You can read interpretation of this libretto in description of video I posted:
> 
> Another one that I've found elsewhere was that general massage is that our society and culture dig it's own grave but the individual can change his fate by turning to proper values and bla bla bla. Edit: uh, it's not another one, it's the same that I've just posted. Can't recall what the other one was about.
> 
> Or you still can adopt metalhead attitude and instead of understanding anything just enjoy the fact that libretto and music is dark and mysterious cool choirs kick *** and 666 \m/ \m/ \m/


I should try it again one of these days. There is among the bonus material on the DVD scene by scene commentary about what it all means. I probably should watch that first before the opera proper. I must say though that the production itself is very confusing also. I doubt if it's anywhere near what Langgaard had in mind.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Delicious Manager said:


> Two of the most important 'unsung' 20th-century operas (Berg's _Wozzeck_ and Szymanowski's _King Roger_) have already been mentioned, but no opera lover should miss Shostakovich's masterpiece _The Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk_. When that nice Mr Stalin heard it in 1936 it got poor old Shostakovich into all sorts of trouble. This opera is one of the finest things Shostakovich wrote and is especially staggering when one realises he was well under 30 when he wrote it. It has a great plot of deception, murder, betrayal and retribution coupled with some of the composer's most powerful music.


I've just finished it.
It's outstanding.
I'm stunned.
I posted about it in the Current Watching thread. My post is kind of annoying because I was so blown away that I couldn't stop praising it.
_The Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District_ is one of the best operas I've ever seen.


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## Keikobad (Jul 9, 2010)

*PHF - Adès*

"How can you not be intrigued with an opera that actually includes the only operatic depiction of a blow job!" - StLukesguildOhio

Intrigued, perhaps; sufficiently so as to respond predictably to all the media hype and to purchase the recording. That's what I did years ago: but the enjoyment of the blow job (as in life, itself) is all about its anticipation. The actual act is over soon enough and, in this instance, we are left facing the rest of this un-listenable work by Adès. Not only a great disappointment, but an excruciatingly painful one, as well.

Not worth the investment of either money or time as far as I am concerned. For a number of years, I'd been using the CD case as a coaster on my living room coffee table until one day I was able to foist it off onto some unsuspecting Innocent who, like you, was intrigued by the idea of an operatic blowjob. I hope it eventually found a better, more caring home than the one I had provided for it.


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

To be honest, K, I was genuinely unaware that the incident in question had made Ades' Powder Her Face such a cause celebre - I would have thought it rather tame for our enlightened times. I thought it was cleverly dealt with in the work itself and I never felt the need to either have a hur-hur moment or think that it was some gratuitous cheap shot. I just happen to like Ades' works so buying Powder Her Face after hearing some of his shorter works was a natural choice for me and I've never regretted doing so. As regards it being unlistenable, well, I suppose if I can digest Berg's Lulu in one sitting then Powder Her Face was never likely to hit a wall. It's a pity you didn't like it but there we are - I appreciate your opinion.

Kind regards, SCH.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Does anybody know this? It's said to be the first great opera of the 21st century. I have it on my Netflix queue, will get to it eventually.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Almaviva said:


> Does anybody know this? It's said to be the first great opera of the 21st century. I have it on my Netflix queue, will get to it eventually.


I don't have it yet, but I've seen bits of it and it's certainly a marvelous opera from what I've seen. What struck me so about the Youtube clips I've watched is how time is utterly suspended _immediately_ upon the start of the clip; there's always a bit of a jolt when the clip's 2-4 minutes run out and it just stops. I never want it to. The music is gorgeous, and the three soloists are absolutely entrancing, with remarkably pure-toned singing and heart-rending facial expressions/acting in general (particularly Monica Groop as Pelerin; I could watch her in this role forever and be very moved the whole time).


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Rangstrom said:


> Cherubini Lodoiska. Another rescue opera, but with a lighter tone at times. The Muti/La Scala recording makes a strong case (in the origianl French).


I have it on CD. Great opera and includes a sword fight.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

jhar26 said:


> And DVD's...


This is a good opera. I have a different DVD which I thoroughly enjoyed:


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Rossini's Mose en Egitto and Ricciardo e Zoraide are excellent.


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