# Top 100 moments in opera according to Australia's ABC



## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

An interesting list. Opinions?


The Pearl Fishers - *Bizet* - Au fond du temple saint (In the depths of the temple)
Nabucco - *Verdi* - "Va, pensiero (Chorus of the Hebrew slaves)"
Lakmé - *Delibes* - Sous le dôme épais (Flower Duet)
Così fan tutte - *Mozart* - Soave sia il vento (Act I trio)
Dido and Aeneas - *Purcell* - "Thy hand, Belinda...When I am laid in earth (Dido's Lament)"
Madame Butterfly - *Puccini* - Un bel dì (One fine day)
Tristan and Isolde - *Wagner* - Liebestod
Rigoletto - *Verdi* - Bella figlia dell'amore (Act III quartet)
Orfeo ed Euridice - *Gluck* - Che faro senza Euridice
Der Rosenkavalier - *R. Strauss* - Hab' mir's gelobt (Act III trio and finale)
Rusalka - *Dvorák* - Song to the Moon
Turandot - *Puccini* - Nessun dorma
Norma - *Bellini* - Casta diva
La bohème - *Puccini* - O soave fanciulla
La bohème - *Puccini* - Che gelida manina
Madame Butterfly - *Puccini* - Vogliatemi bene (Act I love duet)
Lucia di Lammermoor - *Donizetti* - Mad Scene (Act III)
The Magic Flute - *Mozart* - Der Hölle Rache (Queen of the Night aria)
Madame Butterfly - *Puccini* - The Humming Chorus
Gianni Schicchi - *Puccini* - O mio babbino caro
Faust - *Gounod* - Alerte! Alerte!...Anges purs
Tosca - *Puccini* - E lucevan le stelle
Cavalleria rusticana - *Mascagni* - Intermezzo
Fidelio - *Beethoven* - Mir ist so wunderbar (Act I quartet)
Carmen - *Bizet* - L'amour est un oiseau rebelle (Habanera)
Don Giovanni - *Mozart* - "Don Giovanni, a cenar teco (Act II: The statue comes to dinner)"
Samson and Delilah - *Saint-Saëns* - Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix (Act II: Delilah's aria)
Aida - *Verdi* - Gloria all Egitto (Triumphal March)
The Marriage of Figaro - *Mozart* - "Pace, pace...Gente, gente, all'armi (Act IV finale)"
La Wally - *Catalani* - Ebben? Ne andrò lontana
Lucia di Lammermoor - *Donizetti* - Chi mi frena (Act II sextet)
Tosca - *Puccini* - Vissi d'arte
Tosca - *Puccini* - "Tre sbirri, una carrozza...Te Deum (Act I)"
The Marriage of Figaro - *Mozart* - Dove sono I bei momenti (Act III)
Der Rosenkavalier - *Strauss* - Mir ist die Ehre widerfahren (Presentation of the Rose)
Don Giovanni - *Mozart* - La ci darem la mano
Cavalleria rusticana - *Mascagni* - Easter Hymn
Rinaldo - *Handel* - Lascia ch'io pianga
The Magic Flute - *Mozart* - Pa-pa-pa-Papagena
Die Walküre - *Wagner* - Leb wohl (Wotan's Farewell)
Pagliacci - *Leoncavallo* - Vesti la giubba (On with the Play)
Tannhäuser - *Wagner* - Der Gnade heil (Pilgrims' Chorus)
Hansel and Gretel - *Humperdinck* - When Night Comes Softly Creeping... Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep
Beatrice di Tenda - *Bellini* - Angel of Peace
Die tote Stadt - *Korngold* - "Glück, das mir verblieb (Marietta's Song)"
The Pearl Fishers - *Bizet* - Je crois entendre encore (Act I romance)
Xerxes - *Handel* - Ombra mai fù
La traviata - *Verdi* - "Libiamo, ne' lieti calici (Brindisi)"
Madame Butterfly - *Puccini* - "Tu, tu piccolo Iddio (Death of Butterfly)"
The Marriage of Figaro - *Mozart* - Voi che sapete
The Coronation of Poppea - *Monteverdi* - Pur ti miro
Thaïs - *Massenet* - Meditation
Zaide - *Mozart* - Ruhe sanft
La bohème - *Puccini* - Sono andati? (Death of Mimì)
Eugene Onegin - *Tchaikovsky* - "Puskai pogibnu ya, no pryezhde (Letter Scene)"
The Elixir of Love - *Donizetti* - Una furtiva lagrima
The Marriage of Figaro - *Mozart* - Porgi Amor
The Tales of Hoffmann - *Offenbach* - Nuit d'amour (Barcarolle)
Fidelio - *Beethoven* - O welche Lust (Prisoners' chorus)
The Mastersingers of Nuremberg - *Wagner* - Morgenlich leuchtend in rosigem Schein (Walther's Prize Song)
The Magic Flute - *Mozart* - O Isis und Osiris
Porgy and Bess - *Gershwin* - Summertime
The Daughter of the Regiment - *Donizetti* - Ah! Mes amis...Pour mon âme
Die Walküre - *Wagner* - Ho-jo-to-ho (The Ride of the Valkyries)
Carmen - *Bizet* - La fleur que tu m'avais jetée (Flower Song)
La bohème - *Puccini* - Quando m'en vo' soletta (Musetta's Waltz)
Götterdämmerung - *Wagner* - Siegfried's Funeral Music (Act III)
La traviata - *Verdi* - Madamigella Valéry... Pura siccome un angelo ...Dite alla giovine (Act II Scene 5)
The Merry Widow - *Lehár* - "Es lebt' eine Vilja, ein Waldmägdelein (Vilia Song)"
Andrea Chénier - *Giordano* - La mamma morta
Lakmé - *Delibes* - Où va la jeune Indoue (Bell Song)
Götterdämmerung - *Wagner* - Immolation of Brünnhilde
Aida - *Verdi* - "O terra, addio (Act IV final duet)"
Eugene Onegin - *Tchaikovsky* - Kuda vy udalilis (Lensky's aria)
Carmen - *Bizet* - "Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre (Toreador's Song)"
La traviata - *Verdi* - Prelude
Otello - *Verdi* - Già nella notte densa (Love duet)
Julius Caesar - *Handel* - Va tacito e nascosto
The Magic Flute - *Mozart* - "O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn"
Salome - *R. Strauss* - "Ich habe deinen Mund geküsst, Jokanaan (Final scene)"
Don Giovanni - *Mozart* - Madamina! Il catalogo e questo (Catalogue Aria)
I puritani - *Bellini* - "A te, o cara"
Orphée et Eurydice - *Gluck* - Dance of the Blessed Spirits
The Marriage of Figaro - *Mozart* - Overture
The Trojans - *Berlioz* - Nuit d'ivresse (Act IV love duet)
The Marriage of Figaro - *Mozart* - Sull'aria (Letter Duet)
Jocelyn - *Godard* - Berceuse
Don Giovanni - *Mozart* - Deh vieni alla finestra (Serenade)
Madame Butterfly - *Puccini* - Spira sul mare (Act I: Entrance of Butterfly)
The Barber of Seville - *Rossini* - Largo al factotum
La traviata - *Verdi* - "Parigi, o cara (Final duet)"
The Magic Flute - *Mozart* - Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön
The Marriage of Figaro - *Mozart* - "Esci, omai, garzon malnato (Act II finale)"
Otello - *Verdi* - Piangea cantando (Willow Song)
The Force of Destiny - *Verdi* - La Vergine degli angeli (Act II: Hymn)
Casanova - *J. Strauss II* - "O Madonna, auf uns sieh (Nuns' Chorus)"
The Abduction from the Seraglio - *Mozart* - O wie will ich triumphieren (Osmin's Aria)
The Magic Flute - *Mozart* - Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja (Birdcatcher's Aria)
Parsifal - *Wagner* - Prelude
The Bohemian Girl - *Balfe* - I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

I'm completely biased, but I'd take all the ones from Marriage of Figaro and put them top of the list, followed by everything else. To me Figaro is the most perfect opera ever written, and considering how many great operas there are, that's saying something.

Interesting that "Se vuol ballare" and "Non più andrai" are absent from this list.

Totally agree with Rusalka and the trio in Cosi.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Even though I love "Au fond du temple saint" I thought it was a little weird that it ended up in first place. This survey from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in collaboration with Opera Australia got 10,000 people voting.

I think number 3 is sort of a local bias. It was one of the hallmark songs of Dame Joan Sutherland so naturally the Australian public voted more for it. It's a good duet but not in the top 3 in my opinion.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I'm pleased this made it - and a bit surprised:

Julius Caesar - Handel - Va tacito e nascosto


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Surprised that Ach Ich Fuhl's isn't on there. Such a sad, moving aria and I'd definitely put it ahead of Pa-pa-pa and Dies Bildnis


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Special moments or not, listeners would decide for themselves. But I think the list certainly shows mainly popular moments (which many are indeed special moments too, for me).


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

We had a list like this a couple of weeks ago and I'll say the same now as I said then. This list is meaningless. It says more about the playlists of the broadcasting company concerned than is does about any of the music. I would put a LOT of money on a very close correlation between the pieces that the ABC actually broadcast and the works chosen for the list. I bet there aren't many (if any) that the ABC didn't submit to the airwaves.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Delicious Manager said:


> This list is meaningless.


No survey with 10,000 voters is meaningless. It means that these 10,000 people have these preferences. How the preferences came to be, doesn't cancel the fact that these are their preferences.

Say, a politician gets elected to office with 30 million votes. You say - "it's meaningless because that's the guy who got the most campaign ads, he was more on the airwaves than the competition" - well, he got the office. It's not meaningless.

All that I'm saying is that the list is interesting. If popularity and diffusion were the only yard sticks here, you'd expect stuff like _La donna è mobile_ and _Largo al Factotum_ to be much higher and you'd see _Au fond du temple saint_ way lower.

I'm not saying that I agree with the list - nobody will ever agree with such lists entirely since everybody will have his/her own favorites.

All that I said is that the list is interesting.


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## Herkku (Apr 18, 2010)

At first, I read the list quickly through and wondered, if it was really ordered by the best coming first and so on. And what was meant by a "moment"? The ouverture of Parsifal??? I had to listen to some Korngold and then I decided that I don't care... I mean, I like almost everything in the list, but what is really the use of these lists?


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Herkku said:


> At first, I read the list quickly through and wondered, if it was really ordered by the best coming first and so on. And what was meant by a "moment"? The ouverture of Parsifal??? I had to listen to some Korngold and then I decided that I don't care... I mean, I like almost everything in the list, but what is really the use of these lists?


I guess they said "moments" because they couldn't say arias since they have duos, intermezzi, preludes, etc.
I guess the use of this list for the ABC corporation was to sell CDs.
The use of it for us here is to talk about it and start a conversation.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Almaviva said:


> No survey with 10,000 voters is meaningless.


I heard _that_, Jackson. ))

I admire the scope of projects like this. As always, it's easy to bring up "opera moments" that we might have preferred... perhaps a little more difficult to think about an equal number to jettison. However, the most surprising result on this list is the complete shut-out of _Il Trovatore_. Considering 'Trovatore' has the Anvil Chorus and "Stride la vampa" one right after the other (and "Di quella pira" in the following act) it's still a surprise to me.

A hypothesis I put forth previously may help explain this. I believe the generalist Classical Music enthusiast who doesn't have a specialty-interest in opera is more likely to enjoy memorable operatic music while forgiving a weak opera 'book.' Alternatively, people more specifically enthused by opera (e.g.: the sort of people who would generally be more attracted to responding to a survey on 'top opera moments') are more likely to hold the drama against the music, so to speak. I don't have a better explanation as to why 'Trovatore' slips through the cracks here.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Chi_townPhilly said:


> I heard _that_, Jackson. ))
> 
> I admire the scope of projects like this. As always, it's easy to bring up "opera moments" that we might have preferred... perhaps a little more difficult to think about an equal number to jettison. However, the most surprising result on this list is the complete shut-out of _Il Trovatore_. Considering 'Trovatore' has the Anvil Chorus and "Stride la vampa" one right after the other (and "Di quella pira" in the following act) it's still a surprise to me.
> 
> A hypothesis I put forth previously may help explain this. I believe the generalist Classical Music enthusiast who doesn't have a specialty-interest in opera is more likely to enjoy memorable operatic music while forgiving a weak opera 'book.' Alternatively, people more specifically enthused by opera (e.g.: the sort of people who would generally be more attracted to responding to a survey on 'top opera moments') are more likely to hold the drama against the music, so to speak. I don't have a better explanation as to why 'Trovatore' slips through the cracks here.


It is strange. Il Trovatore moments were probably in the next segment that didn't break the barrier of top 100. I'm not sure if it is the problem with the libretto. Opera lovers still love Il Trovatore even with its libretto (how does a mother tosses the wrong baby in the fire???). Maybe it is rarely staged in Australia for some reason? I mean, not even the Anvil Chorus not making it? Another weird absence is Rigoletto's La Donna è Mobile, one of the most popular arias of all time. It is clear to me that popularity wasn't the yardstick for the voters.


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## Dulcamara (Sep 22, 2010)

Olias said:


> I'm completely biased, but I'd take all the ones from Marriage of Figaro and put them top of the list, followed by everything else. To me Figaro is the most perfect opera ever written, and considering how many great operas there are, that's saying something.
> 
> Interesting that "Se vuol ballare" and "Non più andrai" are absent from this list.
> 
> Totally agree with Rusalka and the trio in Cosi.


Were I to make such a list, "Se vuol ballare" and "Non più andrai" would be up there, higher perhaps than many other moments from Marriage of Figaro that were actually on the list. In fact, perhaps that whole opera could be considered one long "moment." Of course, then we'd be getting into the "best opera" lists, I suppose.

I can see why one would dismiss such lists as ultimately, the list with the deepest meaning is the one that with only one listener's preferences (those of the individual listmaker, of course). But like Almaviva said, this kind of thing is interesting. It's fun to see what others think. It's especially useful to folk like me that are less knowledgeable about such things and seek recommendations. One should expect such lists to be the ultimate source of knowledge, but surveys are fun.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

I've been doing a playlist of these 100 moments, in this order, on my iPod. I have 78 on it, 22 more to go.

Long process, I'll pause now to go to the swimming pool - with my iPod - (I'm enjoying the good life at my sister's home in Brazil for the holidays)


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> I've been doing a playlist of these 100 moments, in this order, on my iPod. I have 78 on it, 22 more to go.
> 
> Long process, I'll pause now to go to the swimming pool - with my iPod - (I'm enjoying the good life at my sister's home in Brazil for the holidays)


I am so jealous

http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/358?


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## Herkku (Apr 18, 2010)

That's what we call winter here in Finland, though at the moment there is more snow in Helsinki than in Lapland, which is unusual.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Herkku said:


> That's what we call winter here in Finland, though at the moment there is more snow in Helsinki than in Lapland, which is unusual.


I don't really mind the cold but I just wish our country didn't grind to a halt each time there are a few inches of snow.


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## Herkku (Apr 18, 2010)

Well, we are certainly better equipped to handle situations like this, but there are limits. The air traffic goes on if there is not an actual snowstorm going on, but people have to shovel loads of snow to find their cars...


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Almaviva said:


> An interesting list. Opinions?
> 
> 100 The Bohemian Girl - *Balfe* - I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls


Nice this one made the list. I just discovered it and ordered a CD set.


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## Annied (Apr 27, 2017)

Lots of my favourites on there, but no "Si vendetta" from Rigoletto? That whole section, from "Ah piangi fanciulla" absolutely blew my socks off when I first heard it. (I can still remember it was the Sutherland, Pavarotti, Milnes recording to which I was listening.) I'd just discovered opera at the time and it only about the 3rd or 4th full one I'd tried. It had a lot to do with why I persevered. 

(Glad to see "Anges pures" from Faust made it, the Te Kanawa, Araiza recording was the second full opera I tried and that was another epiphany.)


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

sospiro said:


> I am so jealous
> 
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/358?


Dadgum Ann, hail at the end of July? Methinks you need to find some warmer climes.

:tiphat:

Kind regards,

George


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Annied said:


> Lots of my favourites on there, but no "Si vendetta" from Rigoletto? That whole section, from "Ah piangi fanciulla" absolutely blew my socks off when I first heard it. (I can still remember it was the Sutherland, Pavarotti, Milnes recording to which I was listening.) I'd just discovered opera at the time and it only about the 3rd or 4th full one I'd tried. It had a lot to do with why I persevered.
> 
> (Glad to see "Anges pures" from Faust made it, the Te Kanawa, Araiza recording was the second full opera I tried and that was another epiphany.)


One of my favorite passages to sing too, as a high baritone I can knock the socks off of this one. Alas, not many capable Gildas around these parts ... or anyone who wants to hire a 68-year-old baritone.

:tiphat:

Kind regards,

George


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## Annied (Apr 27, 2017)

Barelytenor said:


> One of my favorite passages to sing too, as a high baritone I can knock the socks off of this one. Alas, not many capable Gildas around these parts ... or anyone who wants to hire a 68-year-old baritone.
> 
> :tiphat:
> 
> ...


I wish I could sing. There were very good singers on both sides of my family, but I somehow missed out. I'm right there with the "no", "no!" interjections though; I may have the wrong gender and the wrong pitch, but my timing is spot on.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I'm more fascinated that not one "special moment" on my own list is on the OP's list.
I won't name them all but here are a few:

1. Final scene in Verdi's _Otello_.
2. King Philip's "Ella giamma m'mo and the Grand Inquisitor scene from _Don Carlo_ by Verdi.
3. The duel scene including "kuda kuda' sung by Lensky in _Eugene Onegin _by Tchaikovsky.
4. The Poker scene in Puccini's _Fanciulla del West_.
5. The last scene in Poulenc's _Dialogues des Carmelites_
6. Tosca's stabbing of Scarpia in Puccini's _Tosca_
7. The last 5 minutes of Puccini's _La Boheme_
8. Madga Sorel's "To this we've come" from Menotti's _The Consul_
9. "Rachel" aria from Halevy's _La Juive_ (as done by Neil Shicoff)
10. _Madama Butterfly_'s death scene by Puccini


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## Star (May 27, 2017)

This his a list of great moments not great operas. I mean, no-one in their right mind would rate the Pearl Fishers as a great opera but it happens to contain one of the greatest and most beautiful of all duets. But opera is more than great moments. It is how the dramatic force builds. I note there is nothing from Falstaff even though it is one of the greatest ever operas. Why? Falstaff contains no great moments - it is one great whole!


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Annied said:


> I wish I could sing. There were very good singers on both sides of my family, but I somehow missed out. I'm right there with the "no", "no!" interjections though; I may have the wrong gender and the wrong pitch, but my timing is spot on.


Interjections are extremely important, and best when ... powerfully interjected! I am sure you are a master of them.

:tiphat:

Kind regards,

George


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

nina foresti said:


> I'm more fascinated that not one "special moment" on my own list is on the OP's list.
> I won't name them all but here are a few:
> 
> 1. Final scene in Verdi's _Otello_.
> ...


Do I hear the sound of a TC members' top 100 alternative pieces survey winging its way towards us? 

I agree the ABC survey's choices were rather conventional / what Sutherland sang at the Sydney Opera House - but it was the first time I'd heard a lot of the pieces, back in 2006. Certainly the first time I remember hearing the end of _Salome_, Siegfried's Trauermarsch, and Boris's monologue. It turned me from someone who enjoyed the operas I'd heard (mostly Rossini, Mozart, the _Flying Dutchman_, and _Straszny dwór_) into someone who raided music libraries. While the countdown was being broadcast, I was watching an opera a night.


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

_Straszny dwór. _ Now there's an opera you don't hear every day ... how did you come to chance upon that one?

:tiphat:

Kind regards,

George


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Barelytenor said:


> _Straszny dwór. _ Now there's an opera you don't hear every day ... how did you come to chance upon that one?
> 
> :tiphat:
> 
> ...


Polish friends gave my parents a highlights CD. And it's still one of my favourite operas.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

SimonTemplar said:


> Polish friends gave my parents a highlights CD. And it's still one of my favourite operas.


There was a video of it up online about a year ago. I watched it. Wonderful opera!


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