# What are your 5 favorite operas?



## Itullian

i'm thinking on mine, go ahead please.


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## Dodecaplex

Giovanni
Le noza de figaro
Meistersinger something something
Berg lulu
Idomoneo


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## rsmithor

*My Fav Five...*

1. Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen 








2. Berg Lulu (Opera in English)








3. Bellini Norma








4. Handel Julius Caesar (Opera in English)








5. Brecht/Weill (English 1976 Public Theater Revival)


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## rsmithor

*My fav Plus one...*

6. Duke Bluebeard's Castle (English Live)


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## Bardamu

I'm a novice but so far my top 5 ( in sparse order ) would look like:

Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Cavalleria Rusticana
Turandot
Norma
Aida or L'elisir d'amore ( can't decide at the moment, probably the former )

Off-topic,yesterday I've relistened to the first half of Eugene Onegin and I'm must say I was quite impressed.


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## Dins

*Top 5 in random order*
La Traviata (The only one i have not seen a fantastic performance of on DVD or live. Just on the strength of the music)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg (A fantastic performance at the Gothenburg opera put it here)
Eugene Onegin (Same as for the meistersinger)
La Fille du Regiment (I watched this on MET player with Dessay and Juan Diego Florez)
Tosca (This one as well because of an Gothenburg opera performance)

*Just outside top 5*
Die Zauberflöte, Porgy & Bess, Fidelio, Turandot, The Cunning Little Vixen, Aniara, Madama Butterfly, Sour Angelica

But this list is of course bound to change.  A fantastic performance live or on DVD can easily push an opera into this top 5.


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## NightHawk

Der Rosenkavalier - RStrauss
The Marriage of Figaro - Mozart
Julius Caesar - Handel
Medea - Charpentier 
Orfeo - Monteverdi
(listed from most recent - not ranked)


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## Olias

#1 - Marriage of Figaro
#2 - Barber of Seville
#3 - Cosi Fan Tutte
#4 - Elixir of Love
#5 - Don Giovanni

Obviously I gravitate towards Mozart and Bel Canto.


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## Vesteralen

The Magic Flute
L'Orfeo
Maskarade
The Daughter of the Regiment
Carmen/Barber of Seville (tie)

(I don't know many operas - I usually turn on the DVDs and fast forward to check through the sets after the first couple of minutes.)


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## mamascarlatti

Billy Budd
Giulio Cesare
Don Giovanni
Don Carlos
Carmen
The Ring

Simply can't manage just five.


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## kv466

I truly can not say as I know so little about it but from the few that I've head, it's nice to see Mama above siting two of my favorites (DG and Carmen) and I feel this is a thread I could learn much from. In my inexpert opinion, I can also add Olias' and Dode's choices as well.


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## MAuer

My top five, in order of preference:
- Fidelio (Beethoven)
- Die Zauberflöte (Mozart)
- Rigoletto (Verdi)
- Il Trovatore (Verdi)
- La Clemenza di Tito (Mozart)


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## Itullian

mamascarlatti said:


> Billy Budd
> Giulio Cesare
> Don Giovanni
> Don Carlos
> Carmen
> The Ring
> 
> Simply can't manage just five.


that's ok, it's a tough one. 1 or 2 more squeezed in is ok.


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## Chi_townPhilly

Itullian said:


> *What are your 5 favorite operas?*


_*here!*_He's the best, you know!


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## emiellucifuge

1. Tristan und Isolde
2. La Traviata
3. Der Rosenkavalier
4. Don Giovanni
5. Der Ring


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## mamascarlatti

Dins said:


> But this list is of course bound to change.  A fantastic performance live or on DVD can easily push an opera into this top 5.


Then you NEED this. Trust me on this.


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## quack

Poulenc - Dialogues des carmélites
Wagner - Das Rheingold
Bellini - La Sonnambula
Puccini - Tosca
Béla Bartók - Bluebeard's Castle

Are a few...


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## CountessAdele

This is hard, my list keeps changing with each new opera I find.  My tentative list would be:

Rigoletto

Les Contes d'Hoffmann

Lucia di Lammermoor

Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Le Comte Ory


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## poconoron

I am a Mozart opera fan all the way:

1. Don Giovanni
2, Figaro
3. Cosi fan tutte
4. Magic Flute
5. Clemenza di Tito


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## Itullian

CountessAdele said:


> This is hard, my list keeps changing with each new opera I find.  My tentative list would be:
> 
> Rigoletto
> 
> Les Contes d'Hoffmann
> 
> Lucia di Lammermoor
> 
> Il Barbiere di Siviglia
> 
> Le Comte Ory


wow, with the exception of Ory, almost exactly mine, now i just have to figure out how to get my Wagners in there. all your choices blow me away with their continuous melodic inventiveness. one unbelievable melody after the next. amazing. William Tell and L'Italliana in Algeri are like too.


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## Vaneyes

Figaro, Pagliacci, Tosca, Giovanni, Flute.


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## Couchie

1. Tristan und Isolde
2. The Ring
3. Parsifal
4. Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg
5. Tannhauser


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## sospiro

1. Simon Boccanegra (Verdi)
2. Mefistofele (Boito)
3. Boris Godunov (Mussorgsky)
4. Macbeth (Verdi)
5. Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti)

No. 1 will always be Simon but the ranking of the others changes all the time


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## brianwalker

1. Parsifal
2. Meistersinger
3. Otello
4. Zauberflote 
5. Aida


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## Dins

mamascarlatti said:


> Then you NEED this. Trust me on this.


I watched what I could find of this DVD on youtube. Well.... now it is on order...


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## mamascarlatti

Dins said:


> I watched what I could find of this DVD on youtube. Well.... now it is on order...


I'm delighted. The YouTubes are fine but the whole is greater than the parts, and you get some real character development throughout (particularly Sesto's emotional journey).


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## Desiree

My Top 5:

1. (Verdi) Nabucco








2. (Puccini) Turandot









3. (Mozart) Die Zauberflote








4. (Puccini) La Fanciulla del West








5. (Tchaikovsky) Pikovaya Dama


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## sospiro

Desiree said:


> My Top 5:
> 
> 1. (Verdi) Nabucco
> 
> 2. (Puccini) Turandot
> 
> 3. (Mozart) Die Zauberflote
> 
> 4. (Puccini) La Fanciulla del West
> 
> 5. (Tchaikovsky) Pikovaya Dama


:tiphat:

That's a really interesting list Desiree! In between my current _Boris Godunov_ obsession I'm listening to Nabucco.

Can you recommend a good Nabucco DVD?


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## mamascarlatti

Desiree said:


> My Top 5:
> 
> 4. (Puccini) La Fanciulla del West
> View attachment 3167
> 
> 
> 5. (Tchaikovsky) Pikovaya Dama


On another day these might be in my top 5.


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## joen_cph

- The Ring
- Magic Flute
- Abduction from the Seraglio
- Busoni Dr. Faust
- Mussorgsky Boris Gudonov

Probably; Parsifal, Lucia de Lammermoor (!), Der Freischütz, King Roger, Monteverdi´s L´Orfeo and some Rameaus are among my favourites too, and I´m probably about to be fascinated by Andrea Chenier I think.


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## Desiree

sospiro said:


> :tiphat:
> 
> Can you recommend a good Nabucco DVD?


Oh... In a heartbeat, I would strongly recommend the La Scala production with Ghena Dimitrova and Renato Bruson conducted by Maestro Muti. There's another DVD with the Dimitrova/Bruson tandem in the Arena di Verona but while it was good vocally, the awful, tacky costumes made it difficult to watch, I ended up laughing out loud for that reason alone!

Fortunately, there are a lot of Nabucco DVDs to choose from. I like the La Scala production because: I think it is the vocally superior version. Bruson owned the role: as proud conqueror in the first half then as old, helpless, father in the next. Dimitrova is so confident as Abigaille, I think she can sing it in her sleep with the right temperament, a secure range, accurate pitch, a crisp legato, and high fidelity to the music as it was written. She can sing awfully high, then low in those crazy two octave drops Verdi wrote and whip out those pianissimos out of nowhere. While it can be said that she is of the stand and deliver type of performer, one cannot expect Dimitrova to be running and jumping all over the set with big gestures and generous facial expressions (like recent exponents of the role). Her "minimalist" portrayal of the role sends the viewers the message that her Abigaille is cold, calculating, manipulative and ruthless. Which I think is logical since she sings "Anchio dischiuso" with such tenderness then explodes into imperiousness in her duets with Bruson. The role of Abigaille is always the deal-maker in a Nabucco performance for me. Yes, it's a very difficult role but one can be more lenient or forgiving when watching in an opera house - avoiding to even entertain the thought of comparing singers, and just enjoy the performance. Becaria and Pierroti as Ismaele and Fenena, respectively, were also good in the supporting roles. The orchestra under Maestro Muti's baton is in excellent form. I always felt there was a deep sentimentality between the La Scala orchestra and Verdi's music that it resonates so beautifully. The set and the costumes are a bit conservative and the predominant colors are blues and grays. I thought the direction was a little boring because of it as there were no real sets for the actors to use or go around, well except for that staircase in the first act.

Just my two cents.


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## StlukesguildOhio

*1. Wagner- Tristan und Isolde
2. Mozart- Le Nozze di Figaro
3. Verdi- La Traviata
4. Mozart- Don Giovanni
5. Richard Strauss- Salome*

and another 5:

*6. Wagner- Der Ring das Nibelungens
7. Mozart- Die Zauberflöte
8. Bizet- Carmen
9. Wagner- Parsifal
10. Mozart- Cosi fan tutte*


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## sospiro

Desiree said:


> Oh... In a heartbeat, I would strongly recommend the La Scala production with Ghena Dimitrova and Renato Bruson conducted by Maestro Muti.


Thanks. This one?


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## moody

L'Elisir d'Amore Donizetti
Il Barbiere di Siviglia Rossini
Le Nozze di Figaro Mozart
Un Ballo in Maschera Verdi
Otello Verdi


In Reserve.
Falstaff Verdi
Don Carlos Verdi
Carmen Bizet
Zar und Zimmerman Lortzing
Der Barbier von Bagdad Cornelius


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## joen_cph

moody said:


> L'Elisir d'Amore Donizetti
> Il Barbiere di Siviglia Rossini
> Le Nozze di Figaro Mozart
> Un Ballo in Maschera Verdi
> Otello Verdi
> 
> In Reserve.
> Falstaff Verdi
> Don Carlos Verdi
> Carmen Bizet
> Zar und Zimmerman Lortzing
> Der Barbier von Bagdad Cornelius


I´m a bit curious about the "L´Elisir" being on your list ?


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## moody

joen_cph said:


> I´m a bit curious about the "L´Elisir" being on your list ?


What would you like to know?


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## Desiree

Yes, that one.


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## CameraEye

It depends on my mood. Rigoletto for sure and perhaps Tosca, Il Trovatore, La Boheme and Otello.


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## peeknocker

1. My absolute favorite is Anton Rubinstein's "The Demon," especially with Georg Ots in the title role.

The rest are in no particular order and represent my favorites of the past year or so.

2. Eduard Napravnik's "Dubrovsky"
3. Paul Hindemith's "Mathis der Maler"
4. Gaetano Donizetti's "Maria di Rohan"
5. Alfredo Catalani's "Loreley"
6. Giuseppe Verdi's "Don Carlos" (original, unabridged French version)
7. Georg Frideric Handel's "Julius Caesar in Egypt"
8. Carl Nielsen's "Saul and David"
9. Leos Janacek's "House of the Dead" 
10. Alexander Serov's "Judith"


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## sospiro

peeknocker said:


> 1. My absolute favorite is Anton Rubinstein's "The Demon," especially with Georg Ots in the title role.
> 
> The rest are in no particular order and represent my favorites of the past year or so.
> 
> 2. Eduard Napravnik's "Dubrovsky"
> 3. Paul Hindemith's "Mathis der Maler"
> 4. Gaetano Donizetti's "Maria di Rohan"
> 5. Alfredo Catalani's "Loreley"
> 6. Giuseppe Verdi's "Don Carlos" (original, unabridged French version)
> 7. Georg Frideric Handel's "Julius Caesar in Egypt"
> 8. Carl Nielsen's "Saul and David"
> 9. Leos Janacek's "House of the Dead"
> 10. Alexander Serov's "Judith"


Interesting choices.

Welcome to the forum peeknocker :tiphat:


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## Desiree

peeknocker said:


> 1. My absolute favorite is Anton Rubinstein's "The Demon," especially with Georg Ots in the title role.


I like demons coupled with great music! :devil:


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## moody

peeknocker said:


> 1. My absolute favorite is Anton Rubinstein's "The Demon," especially with Georg Ots in the title role.
> 
> The rest are in no particular order and represent my favorites of the past year or so.
> 
> 2. Eduard Napravnik's "Dubrovsky"
> 3. Paul Hindemith's "Mathis der Maler"
> 4. Gaetano Donizetti's "Maria di Rohan"
> 5. Alfredo Catalani's "Loreley"
> 6. Giuseppe Verdi's "Don Carlos" (original, unabridged French version)
> 7. Georg Frideric Handel's "Julius Caesar in Egypt"
> 8. Carl Nielsen's "Saul and David"
> 9. Leos Janacek's "House of the Dead"
> 10. Alexander Serov's "Judith"


I was not aware that there was a recording of the great Estonian in the title roll of "The Demon", or is this your dream casting?


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

So much to choose from!

Let's say,
*Ligeti*: Le Grand Macabre
Britten: Albert Herring
Brett Dean: Bliss
Stockhausen: Donnerstag aus Licht
Handel: Giulio Cesare


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## peeknocker

Thank you!


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## bassClef

1. Rusalka
2. erm....


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## crmoorhead

So far:

1. Das Rheingold
2. La Traviata
3. Bluebeard's Castle
4. Fidelio
5. Dido and Aeneas

Can't include the rest of the Ring just yet since I have only listened to/watched Die Valkerie so far and enjoyed it less than Das Rheingold just because I haven't got to grips with such a long work so far. Asides from these five, I probably have only listened to 10 other operas anyway.


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## myaskovsky2002

This is too difficult for me. Just 5? No way. I prefer to say what operas I dislike: Fidelio, Traviata....Just those two, I guess.

Martin, annoyed


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## Badinerie

Right now....If I have to...


Strauss, Salome (Im listening to it right now, I would normally say Electra.)
Bellini, Norma
Puccini, Tosca
Bartok, Duke Bluebeard's Castle
Ravel, L'enfant et les sortilèges

Tommorow...? Who knows!


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## suffolkcoastal

In no particular order:

Robert Ward: The Crucible
Copland: The Tender Land
Puccini: Turandot
Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin
Britten: Peter Grimes


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## obwan

in Alphabetical order:

La Boheme
Don Giovanni
Ernani
Faust

Those are the 4 (that I have seen) that are clearly above the rest. 
Very nearly making the list are:
Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Lucia di Lammermoore, Jenufa, William Tell, Rigoletto.


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## tgtr0660

Boris Godunov
Prince Igor
Die Zauberflöte
Le Nozze di Figaro
Don Giovanni
Carmen
The Ring

Damn I love too many of them but I'm certain about the first few...


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## PetrB

rsmithor said:


> 6. Duke Bluebeard's Castle (English Live)
> View attachment 3084


The horror that you would have it sung in English!


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## Yashin

I would have to say:

1. Die tote stadt - Korngold
2. Ring cycle -Wagner. Push me and i will say Das Rheingold
3. Kata Kabanova - Janacek
4. Don Giovanni - Mozart
5. La Boheme - Puccini

These are probably what i listen/watch most on a daily basis.


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## rsmithor

BBC's "Music Magazine" monthly CD give-a-way... and it's still a "Gem"

LOL... and I mean gently laughing... i still have 4 versions of Bluebeard's Castle in Hungarian... I enjoy them each for there differents... but this cost $1-- a buck... and as if by magic this CD went to the top of the pile. It's all in the details... You get that real sense of atmosphere emanating through the whole concert... (it so reminded me of my childhood, sitting in the dark, in front of the radio, listening to some weekly serial broadcast of CBS Radio Mystery Theater... it was spooky) From the opening prologue voiced in Hungarian and English... to that first note of the orchestra, you know this Bluebeard's in good hands with fine pacing from the conductor, and near flawless singing from the principles. These voices ARE those characters, with the right tone, and weight... all fused together with note perfect playing from the orchestra... Yes, it's not voiced in Hungarian, a minor quibble... LOL... A BBC's "Music Magazine" monthly CD give-a-way gem... and available on the cheap at Amazon.com...








http://www.amazon.com/Duke-Bluebeards-Castle-Bela-Bartok/dp/B000BK30BU/ref=sr_1_11?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1330847361&sr=1-11


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## tgtr0660

I would never hear an opera translated to another language. The closest I've come is Haydn's The Creation oratorio sung in English but then again this version is almost official. Mozart's version of Handel's Messiah doesn't really qualify


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## Jeremy Marchant

1. Tippett _The midsummer marriage_
I can't sequence the others, but they would be 
Bartok _Bluebeard's castle_
Debussy _Pelleas et Melisande_
Ravel _L'enfant et les sortileges_


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## sospiro

I love reading about other people's favourites. So different from mine & some operas I've never even heard of. :tiphat:

And thank goodness for that!


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## MAuer

tgtr0660 said:


> I would never hear an opera translated to another language. The closest I've come is Haydn's The Creation oratorio sung in English but then again this version is almost official. Mozart's version of Handel's Messiah doesn't really qualify


I'm pretty much a purist where languages are concerned, as well. I don't want to hear _Messiah_ sung in German, or _Die __Schöpfung_ or _Die Jahreszeiten _sung in English.


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## Il_Penseroso

bassClef said:


> 1. Rusalka
> 2. erm....


Which Rusalka? Dargomyzhsky's or Dvorak's ?



myaskovsky2002 said:


> This is too difficult for me. Just 5? No way.


Me too. Anyway, *Boris Godunov* would be my number one.


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## GrosseFugue

Lots of great operas mentioned. But really surprised Berlioz's Le Troyens didn't make the list.
I confess I've only heard and seen highlights. But I am dying to see it in its entirety live! Oh, before
I die please!

Here's my list:

1. Der Ring (if only one then it'd be Gotterdammerung)
2. Tristan und Isolde
3. Fidelio
4. Guilio Cesare (Daniel De Niese rocks the house!)
5. Le Troyens

Lucia Di Lammermoor _almost_ made it (love the mad scene!):


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Updated list of my favourite operas:

1. Britten: Albert Herring
2. Britten: Peter Grimes
3. Britten: A Midsummer Night's Dream
4. Britten: The Turn of the Screw
5.*Ligeti:* Le Grand Macabre

But if I wasn't allowed to include any Britten it might go something like this:

1. *Ligeti:* Le Grand Macabre
2. Brett Dean: Bliss
3. Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
4. Donizetti: La Fille du Regiment
5. Handel: Giulio Cesare


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## AndyS

Not sure of the order:

Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
Puccini: Turandot
Puccini: Tosca
Strauss: Elektra

Aida, la Traviata and Otello all bubbling under


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## Dster

no of particular order:

I Puritani
Il Travatore
Don Carlos
Aida
La Boheme


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## sospiro

Dster said:


> no of particular order:
> 
> I Puritani
> Il Travatore
> Don Carlos
> Aida
> La Boheme


Good to see _I Puritani_ on someone's list. It's my favourite Bellini by miles.

One of the most beautiful bass arias ever.


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## Itullian

Meisterdudes
William do Tell
Hoffman's Tails
Magic Flute, not Ian's
Faust
Lohengrin, Lucia, L'Italiana, Rigoletto, Falstaff

i know,i know, but i'm the thread starter, so there..............


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## PetrB

Berg ~ Lulu

Bartok ~ Bluebeard's Castle

Prokofiev ~ The Gambler

Stravinsky ~ Le Rossignol / The Rakes Progress [add: Renard, if it counts...]

Rameau ~ La Guirlande (about one hour long, soprano and tenor only.)

I still cannot decide on my favorite Mozart Opera.

Add: looking at others mentioned, I am merely most strongly seconding Poulenc ~ Dialogues des Carmélites, and ?perhaps adding? Monteverdi "L'incoronazione di Poppea."


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

PetrB said:


> Berg ~ Lulu
> 
> Bartok ~ Bluebeard's Castle
> 
> Prokofiev ~ The Gambler
> 
> Stravinsky ~ Le Rossignol / The Rakes Progress
> 
> Rameau ~ La Guirlande (about one hour long, soprano an tenor only.)
> 
> I still cannot decide on my favorite Mozart Opera.


Nice list. But I recommend that your favourite Mozart opera should be Le Nozze di Figaro.


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## Stargazer

Here are my favorites, I haven't listened to a ton of operas though.

1. Handel - Rinaldo
2. Verdi - La Traviata
3. Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier
4. Monteverdi - L'Orfeo
5. Purcell - Dido and Aeneas


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## PetrB

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Nice list. But I recommend that your favourite Mozart opera should be Le Nozze di Figaro.


But would you give up Cosi fan Tutti??? -- another kind of great fun...




or ______?

I think I already named over five, not that I care, in fact because I do not care whether it is 'just five.' Silly limits of another sort of 'poll' question. I did not run it up to include a large group of operas by Rossini, which the original official 'poll' in this forum seemed to allow.

Besides, I've overlooked Monteverdi's "Poppea" which I would like to add right now.

(And the uneven but still great and spectacular Moussorgsky ~ Boris Godunov.)

I'd like to 'define' Stravinsky ~ "Renard" as a chamber opera, too, because I think it is wonderful piece, as well as having a deep affection for the piece which has not worn out over decades


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Does anyone here really like Britten's operas?


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## MattExcell

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Does anyone here really like Britten's operas?


Haven't got round to him yet - any suggestions where to start? Albert Herring?


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

MattExcell said:


> Haven't got round to him yet - any suggestions where to start? Albert Herring?


Albert Herring is a fantastic one. Also Peter Grimes.


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## violadude

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Does anyone here really like Britten's operas?


ME  But I haven't heard all of them. Only Death in Venice and Turn of the Screw.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

violadude said:


> ME  But I haven't heard all of them. Only Death in Venice and Turn of the Screw.


Death in Venice would be my no. 6 (after the *Ligeti*), but you should really go see a performance of Albert Herring. It is my all time favourite opera!


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## mamascarlatti

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Does anyone here really like Britten's operas?


Ooh yes, I've only started listening in the last year, but Billy Budd shot straight to my top ten, and I also love Peter Grimes and Turn of the Screw, and I like Gloriana and Owen Wingrave. I'll definitely give Albert Herring a whirl next.


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## GrosseFugue

mamascarlatti said:


> Ooh yes, I've only started listening in the last year, but Billy Budd shot straight to my top ten, and I also love Peter Grimes and Turn of the Screw, and I like Gloriana and Owen Wingrave. I'll definitely give Albert Herring a whirl next.


Is that the new Glyndebourne production of Billy Budd you like you so much? I hear it's phenomenal, and tempted to get it, though the price is pretty steep.

I had never heard the opera, till I saw clips of that version and thought it looked really good.

Anybody else want to chime in on it?

And speaking of Operas -- curious to know if anyone here's heard Mark-Anthony Turnage's racy "Anna Nicole" or wild "Jerry Springer: the Opera." Or what about Thomas Ades's "Powder Her Face?" It's just that I noticed the conspicuous absence of any works written in the last 15 years. Are they just not very good???


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

^Ah yes I know "Powder Her Face." Adès is a great composer.


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## mamascarlatti

GrosseFugue said:


> Is that the new Glyndebourne production of Billy Budd you like you so much? I hear it's phenomenal, and tempted to get it, though the price is pretty steep.


Yes, I love that production, I'd highly recommend it, but I also enjoy the old ENO version with Tom Allen, and a CD version with Nathan Gunn. It's just a fantastic opera, such evocative music, and a gripping story.



> And speaking of Operas -- curious to know if anyone here's heard Mark-Anthony Turnage's racy "Anna Nicole" or wild "Jerry Springer: the Opera." Or what about Thomas Ades's "Powder Her Face?" It's just that I noticed the conspicuous absence of any works written in the last 15 years. Are they just not very good???


I've got Anna Nicole, and my enjoyment of it is largely to do with Eva Maria Westbroek's whole-hearted incarnation of the title role. The music is fun but I'm not sure how long it will endure.


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## moody

mamascarlatti said:


> Ooh yes, I've only started listening in the last year, but Billy Budd shot straight to my top ten, and I also love Peter Grimes and Turn of the Screw, and I like Gloriana and Owen Wingrave. I'll definitely give Albert Herring a whirl next.


They are refurbishing "Gloriana" for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee this year so you might well see it on television soon.


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## mamascarlatti

moody said:


> They are refurbishing "Gloriana" for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee


I've seen part of it in this interesting DVD










- partly Gloriana and partly a film about opera. Loved it, planning to watch the proper Gloriana next:












> ...this year so you might well see it on television soon.


The chance of an opera being shown on New Zealand television are roughly equivalent to the chances of a humpback whale attending a cocktail party in a Dior dress and Louboutin shoes.


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## Prodromides

1. Aarre Merikanto's JUHA (completed 1922 - premiered 1963)










2. LA NOCHE TRISTE by Jean Prodromides (my new member username - namesake)


















3. George Enescu's OEDIPE










4. Paavo Heininen's THE DAMASK DRUM










5. Karl-Birger Blomdahl's opera-in-space ANIARA


----------



## sospiro

Prodromides said:


> 1. Aarre Merikanto's JUHA (completed 1922 - premiered 1963)
> 
> 2. LA NOCHE TRISTE by Jean Prodromides (my new member username - namesake)
> 
> 3. George Enescu's OEDIPE
> 
> 4. Paavo Heininen's THE DAMASK DRUM
> 
> 5. Karl-Birger Blomdahl's opera-in-space ANIARA


Hi Prodromides & welcome to the forum.

What a fabulous list; I confess I've not heard of any of them but the list has intrigued me & I may explore further.


----------



## Prodromides

sospiro said:


> Hi Prodromides & welcome to the forum.
> 
> What a fabulous list; I confess I've not heard of any of them but the list has intrigued me & I may explore further.


Thanks very much for the welcome. I have to get accustomed to how this site inserts images & videos, etc.
Please forgive my initial clumsiness!

Be warned, sospiro, that my tastes are 20th century - so I am not the typical opera lover of Verdi or Puccini, etc.

My collection is mostly from early 1990s forward (I started collecting classical music in 1993 with CDs), with my tastes running all throughout the 20th century.

If something's written before WW 1, though, it's usually outside of my realm of interest.

There is no shortage, however, of modern opera (which saw a boom in late-1980s/early 1990s CD albums), and I had to leave off 5 other candidates to arrive at the 5 that I posted above.

... maybe when there is a top 10 opera list the forum will be inflicted with my other 5!


----------



## Bardamu

Prodromides said:


> 2. LA NOCHE TRISTE by Jean Prodromides (my new member username - namesake)


Ciao Prodromides,
are there any samples online ?

Could only find some about OSTs he composed for movies (that I liked very much).


----------



## sospiro

Prodromides said:


> Be warned, sospiro, that my tastes are 20th century - so I am not the typical opera lover of Verdi or Puccini, etc.
> 
> My collection is mostly from early 1990s forward (I started collecting classical music in 1993 with CDs), with my tastes running all throughout the 20th century.


There's no need to apologise for your taste. If everybody liked the same thing there would be no music. I'm going to dabble in what for me is modern. _The Lighthouse_ by Peter Maxwell Davies, who I think is still alive, is on at ROH in October & I'm going to try & get tickets. The story on which the opera is based intrigues me. I'm really excited to be seeing David Wilson-Johnson tomorrow in St Matthew Passion. He sang in the opera's première in 1980 & I've never heard anyone live who has also sang at a première before!


----------



## Guest

Five favorites:
1. Mozart - Die Zauberflote
2. Mozart - La Nozze di Figaro
3. Beethoven - Fidelio
4. Mozart - Don Giovanni
5. Mozart - Cosi fan tutte


----------



## Prodromides

Bardamu said:


> Ciao Prodromides,
> are there any samples online ?
> 
> Could only find some about OSTs he composed for movies (that I liked very much).


Ciao Bardamu!

Alas - you've got me there - I'm unaware of any sound file samples online, so sorry I can't help you out that way.

Actually, the Ades CD which I bought in Tower Records around 1994/'95 has become an out-of-print collector's item, it appears, with secondary market values sometimes exceeding $55 in places like Amazon or EBay.

If you don't mind me offering a written description, allow me to briefly state that LA NOCHE TRISTE by Prodromides is textural and dodecaphonic. It contains a soundscape not unlike 1960s-style Penderecki, with _col legno_ string effects and much pitched percussion. NOCHE does not utilize the leitmotif approach but, rather, relies upon changes in aural climate via timbre & rhythm.

Actually, it is through film scores that I knew of Prodromides first. He scored several Roger Vadim pieces, such as "Et Mourier De Plaisir" & "Histoires Extraordinaires" plus his outstanding composition for Andrzej Wajda's "Danton" is one of my favorite soundtrack albums. If interested, here's a brief summary (in French) of his output (cir. 1999 or 2000?):

http://www.academie-des-beaux-arts.fr/membres/actuel/musique/Prodromides/fiche.htm

Another link with cinema is the fact that the libretto for LA NOCHE TRISTE is by Jean Gruault, who collaborated with French director Alain Resnais on multiple occasions...

[glad you like J.P.'s soundtracks, by the way!]


----------



## Prodromides

sospiro said:


> There's no need to apologise for your taste. If everybody liked the same thing there would be no music. I'm going to dabble in what for me is modern. _The Lighthouse_ by Peter Maxwell Davies, who I think is still alive, is on at ROH in October & I'm going to try & get tickets. The story on which the opera is based intrigues me. I'm really excited to be seeing David Wilson-Johnson tomorrow in St Matthew Passion. He sang in the opera's première in 1980 & I've never heard anyone live who has also sang at a première before!


Hello there, sospiro (Annie):

Yes indeed Peter Maxwell Davies is still with us. Don't have any of his operas, though. Let's see ... I own 3 operas by Harrison Birtwistle, and one by Richard Rodney Bennett. Not sure if there's any by Nicholas Maw. All these guys are of the same generation of British composers. They're all good in their own ways, but my collection favors Bennett and Birtwistle over Maxwell Davies. Hope you will like _The Lighthouse_ if and when you get to see/hear it!


----------



## sospiro

Prodromides said:


> Hello there, sospiro (Annie):
> 
> Yes indeed Peter Maxwell Davies is still with us. Don't have any of his operas, though. Let's see ... I own 3 operas by Harrison Birtwistle, and one by Richard Rodney Bennett. Not sure if there's any by Nicholas Maw. All these guys are of the same generation of British composers. They're all good in their own ways, but my collection favors Bennett and Birtwistle over Maxwell Davies. Hope you will like _The Lighthouse_ if and when you get to see/hear it!


_The Minotaur_ is on next season as well. Might try & see that.

PS Have just remembered I've got _The Refuge_ by Christopher Theofanidis. I was lucky to meet & talk to Sue Elliott (who helped with the project when she was at HGO) while I was in Seattle in January for _Attila_. She let me have a copy of the original libretto & the revised libretto; the final version was slightly different.


----------



## mamascarlatti

The MInotaur is great Annie, I can recommend it too. My favourite recent opera.


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Here's a list of more than five of my favourite operas (other than Britten)

*Ligeti*: Le Grand Macabre
Brett Dean: Bliss
Handel: Giulio Cesare
Adès: The Tempest, Powder her Face
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Tannhauser, Lohengrin, Fliegende Hollander
Berg: Lulu, Wozzeck
Adams: Nixon in China, Doctor Atomic
Glass: Akhnaten, Satyagraha, Einstein on the Beach, Kepler, Corvo Branco, Waiting for the Barbarians
Donizetti: La Fille du Regiment
Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, Cosi fan Tutte
Schoenberg: Erwartung
Monteverdi: L'Orfeo
Reich: The Cave
Alan John: How to Kill Your Husband
Puccini: La Boheme, The Girl of the Golden West, Madama Butterfly, Turandot
Strauss: Capriccio, Salome, Der Rosenkavalier
Verdi: Macbeth, La Traviata, Falstaff
Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress
Bizet: Carmen
Vivaldi: Ottone in Villa

What else is there let me think.............


----------



## Crudblud

uno: *Olivier Messiaen* - _St. François d'Assise_
deux: *Frank Zappa* - _Civilization Phaze III_
hognominity: *Richard Strauss* - _Salome_
chunky (norwich): *Richard Wagner* - _Das Rheingold_
dzumenihakamisorino: *Georges Bizet* - _Carmen_

Please note that this list is totally inaccurate, due in part (read: entirely) to me having spent absolutely no time thinking about it.


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde

N


Crudblud said:


> uno: *Olivier Messiaen* - _St. François d'Assise_
> deux: *Frank Zappa* - _Civilization Phaze III_
> hognominity: *Richard Strauss* - _Salome_
> chunky (norwich): *Richard Wagner* - _Das Rheingold_
> dzumenihakamisorino: *Georges Bizet* - _Carmen_
> 
> Please note that this list is totally inaccurate, due in part (read: entirely) to me having spent absolutely no time thinking about it.


Looks pretty good to me.


----------



## Crudblud

Well, St. François is definitely in the right place, but I just threw it together after that.


----------



## mamascarlatti

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Death in Venice would be my no. 6 (after the *Ligeti*), but you should really go see a performance of Albert Herring. It is my all time favourite opera!


Watching Albert Herring right now. You're right, it's great, funny and bitter-sweet, and the music varied and attractive. How they managed to take a very French, RC Maupassant story (I love Maupassant) and slot it into it an English village with attendant CofE straight-lacedness is amazing. Of course I'll never see it live, Britten doesn't feature much in the bums-on- seats productions we get in NZ (although I have heard we might get Billy Budd in 2013).


----------



## SteveQuixote

Der Ring des Nibelungen
Don Carlo
Il Ritorno d'Ulisse
Le Nozze di Figaro
The Cunning Little Vixen

I'm sure it would be different tomorrow...


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde

NEW LIST:

1. Trsitan und Isolde
2. Le Grand Macabre
3. Albert Herring
4. Nixon in China
5. Bliss


----------



## guythegreg

I'm so disappointed you like Nixon in China. It was so CARTOONY! Kissinger running around like a frat boy in heat lol ... couldn't take it.

So many people love Tristan und Isolde, though, that I've decided it must be me, and I must work on it.


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde

guythegreg said:


> I'm so disappointed you like Nixon in China. It was so CARTOONY! Kissinger running around like a frat boy in heat lol ... couldn't take it.
> 
> So many people love Tristan und Isolde, though, that I've decided it must be me, and I must work on it.


I like Mao Zedong.


----------



## bellini

1 Norma
2 Salome
3 Lucrezia Borgia
4 Tosca
5 Maria Stuarda


----------



## Aksel

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I like Mao Zedong.


I rather like his wife.


----------



## powerbooks

Aksel said:


> I rather like his wife.


She used be be a very lovely and attractive actress, so I don't blame you.


----------



## powerbooks

I need 5+1 to make my list more comfortable to myself.

La Boheme
Le Nozze di Figaro
Aida
Meistersinger
Norma
Der Rosenkavalier


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## Aksel

powerbooks said:


> She used be be a very lovely and attractive actress, so I don't blame you.


I meant his wife as in this:






In real life, maybe not so much.


----------



## mamascarlatti

Aksel said:


> I meant his wife as in this:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In real life, maybe not so much.


Kathleen Kim


----------



## Aksel

mamascarlatti said:


> Kathleen Kim


I want the woman to scream me to sleep every night. SUCH a great singer!


----------



## arts

Madama Butterfly
Don Giovanni 
La Traviata
Carmen
La Boheme

I am going to watch "The Italian girl in Algiers" for the first time.


----------



## Sonata

Hard to say as I've really only dipped my feet into the waters so far

1) *Don Giovanni*: I'm not even finished with it yet, but CONSISTENT melody all the way through. I can't get over it!
2) *Suor Angelica*: I like the compactness of it to be honest. More importantly, the story moves me deeply, and it has my favorite aria, Senza mama.
3) *Cosi Fan Tutte*: based only on a single listen of a highlights disc; but that one listen was sublime.
4) *Rusalka*: this opera got me into Dvorak. 
5) *Madama Butterfly OR Marriage of Figaro*: I've seen Butterfly, but not Figaro. I intend to shortly, and that may sort out the 5 spot 

Worthy of mention: I like the plot of Tosca, and enjoyed the first half hour, but haven't had time to get back to it. I have an album of Turandot highlights and Lakme, which I enjoy.


----------



## mamascarlatti

Sonata said:


> Worthy of mention: I like the plot of Tosca, and enjoyed the first half hour, but haven't had time to get back to it. I have an album of Turandot highlights and Lakme, which I enjoy.


Tosca has the best second act in the whole of opera. And here is a wonderful interpretation of it:


----------



## Hesoos

1. Rigoletto 
2. Aida 
3. Macbeth
4. The Valkyrie 
5. Les troyens


----------



## iwys

1. Tristan und Isolde
2. Eugene Onegin
3. Tosca
4. Rigoletto
5. Madama Butterfly

I guess, like most opera fans, I'm just a sucker for tragic endings.


----------



## mamascarlatti

iwys said:


> I guess, like most opera fans, I'm just a sucker for tragic endings.


That's a good thing, at least you have plenty of choice!


----------



## tamerlano

Don Giovanni
Tristan und Isolde
Don Carlo
Elektra
Samson et Dalila


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

I want to see "The Devils of Loudon" I think I would enjoy it.


----------



## AlainB

I definitely have more favourites and it's hard to choose a top 5, but if I really had to, it'd be the following:

1. Tosca
2. Andrea Chénier
3. Rigoletto
4. Pagliacci
5. L'elisir d'amore


----------



## AlainB

Also, on the note of Tosca, here's a wonderful ~2 hours long Tosca, by Sherrill Milnes (*<3*), Plácido Domingo and Raina Kabaivanska.


----------



## Sonata

I look forward to checking out both Toscas, thanks!


----------



## SnowMaiden

1) La Traviata 
2) Lucia di Lammermoor
3) Die Zauberflöte
4) Lakmé
5) ll barbiere di Siviglia


----------



## mamascarlatti

SnowMaiden said:


> 1) La Traviata
> 2) Lucia di Lammermoor
> 3) Die Zauberflöte
> 4) Lakmé
> 5) ll barbiere di Siviglia


'

Ha ha when you said elsewhere you loved coloratura arias you weren't joking!

Welcome to the Opera forum.


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## SnowMaiden

I was absolutely serious. It's not so long I'm in love with opera but I like intricate vocal pieces... Thank you!


----------



## Xavier

_Pelleas et Melisande

Falstaff

The Ring of the Nibelung

Moses and Aron

Palestrina_


----------



## Eschbeg

In no particular order:
_
Turandot
Les mamelles de Tirésias
Les pêcheurs des perles
Le nozze di Figaro
Porgy and Bess_


----------



## Xavier

Eschbeg said:


> In no particular order:
> _
> Turandot
> Les mamelles de Tirésias
> Les pêcheurs des perles
> Le nozze di Figaro
> Porgy and Bess_


You need to get out more my friend!


----------



## sospiro

Xavier said:


> _Pelleas et Melisande
> 
> Falstaff
> 
> The Ring of the Nibelung
> 
> Moses and Aron
> 
> Palestrina_


:tiphat:

Great list! It shows how diverse tastes can be.


----------



## Eschbeg

Xavier said:


> You need to get out more my friend!


Why do you say that?


----------



## mamascarlatti

Eschbeg said:


> Why do you say that?


Yes, I'm puzzled too.


----------



## Xavier

Eschbeg said:


> Why do you say that?


Because with the exception of _Le Nozze_ they are all either minor works or not terribly subtle (musically speaking)

I mean 'Turandot' is fine but it is sort of _a mess_ of an opera. If we are talking Puccini 'La Fanciulla del West' would get my first vote.

Poulenc's Les mamelles de Tirésias, Bizet's Les pêcheurs des perles and Gershwin's Porgy and Bess? Meh. I mean are these pieces anywhere near as rewarding and inexhaustible as 'Falstaff'?

Furthermore any opera shortlist that doesn't include 'Pelleas et Melisande' is extremely problematic since it is perhaps the most sophisticated of all operas. I'd say it is finer even than anything Wagner wrote if only because the text and the music work so effortlessly.

I could go on but I'll stop here.



(By the way thanks for your helpful comment on the Delius thread yesterday!)


----------



## Eschbeg

Xavier said:


> they are all either minor works or not terribly subtle (musically speaking)


Sounds like I got the perfect balance, then! After all, I wouldn't want to stray into dinosaur territory...



Xavier said:


> Poulenc's Les mamelles de Tirésias, Bizet's Les pêcheurs des perles and Gershwin's Porgy and Bess? Meh. I mean are these pieces anywhere near as rewarding and inexhaustible as 'Falstaff'?


Yes.



Xavier said:


> Furthermore any opera shortlist that doesn't include 'Pelleas et Melisande' is extremely problematic


I don't mind leaving off the list the one opera which, more than any other, was deliberately written in defiance of every single convention of opera. (Which is not to say I dislike the work.)



Xavier said:


> (By the way thanks for your helpful comment on the Delius thread yesterday!)


You're very welcome. It's a topic of great interest to me, as Debussy is one of my favorite composers (omissions from my list of favorite operas notwithstanding).


----------



## Xavier

Eschbeg said:


> I don't mind leaving off the list the one opera [Pelleas et Melisande] which, more than any other, was deliberately written in defiance of every single convention of opera.


Hmm... I think Nono's _Prometeo_ best fits that description.


----------



## Xavier

sospiro said:


> :tiphat:
> 
> Great list! It shows how diverse tastes can be.


Thanks Sospiro. And it's good to see another 'Falstaffian' on the board. :tiphat:


----------



## Eschbeg

Xavier said:


> Hmm... I think Nono's _Prometeo_ best fits that description.


Arguably. But I think _Pelléas_ at least raises the expectation that it might be a traditional opera. I don't think anyone has that illusion about _Promoteo_, given its place in history, its composer, its scoring, its "libretto" (which isn't quite the right word), etc.


----------



## Rinaldino

Così fan tutte
Capriccio 
Falstaff 
Wozzeck
Orpheus and Eurydice


----------



## Arsakes

I'm not a fan of opera ... I can't stand the cry of women! Choral works are preferable. 

So my 5:

- Der Fliegende Holländer (Wagner)
- Manfred (Schumann)
- Tristan & Isolde (Wagner)
- Wiener Blut (J.Strauss II)
- Rusalka (Dvorak)

I guess I may like these after I listen to them:

- Aida
- The Ring
- and other possible works.


----------



## mamascarlatti

Arsakes said:


> I'm not a fan of opera ... I can't stand the cry of women! Choral works are preferable.


Better try Billy Budd then, wonderful choruses and no women guaranteed.


----------



## Ramako

I'm not an opera buff, but I would choose

Don Giovanni
Marriage of Figaro
Carmen
Madame Butterfly

Only four, but none of the others I have seen struck me very strongly, or negatively (won't say which).


----------



## Morgante

Don Giovanni, Mozart
Così fan tutte, Mozart
Turandot, Puccini
Orfeo ed Euridice, Gluck
Madama Butterfly, Puccini


----------



## Poppin' Fresh

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Tristan und Isolde
Die Zauberflöte
Les contes d'Hoffmann
La bohème


----------



## Glissando

My five, as of right now, would be:

Salome 
Madama Butterfly
Tristan und Isolde
Rigoletto
Tosca


----------



## Bellinilover

Limiting it to the top five...

1. La Cenerentola (Rossini)
2. Rigoletto (Verdi)
3. Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Offenbach)
4. Fidelio (Beethoven)
5. Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti)


----------



## brotagonist

Berg: _Wozzeck_ and _Lulu_ (tied, perhaps _Wozzeck_ is first choice)
Hindemith: _Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen_, _Das Nusch-Nuschi_ and _Sancta Susanna_ (a triptych; I find it difficult to see them as separate entities)
Ligeti: _Le grand macabre_
Wagner: _Parsifal_
Bartók: _Herzog Blaubart's Burg_


----------



## Celloman

This list may change any time, but here goes...

(not ranked)
1. Peter Grimes
2. Dialogues of the Carmelites
3. La Traviata
4. Tristan and Isolde
5. Salome


----------



## Zabirilog

5. Parsifal








4. Die Zauberflöte








3. Tosca








2. Die Entführung aus dem Serail








1. Der Ring des Nibelungen


----------



## schigolch

As of July, 2013, I'd say: Norma, Otello, Die Tote Stadt, Lulu, Dialogues des Carmélites


----------



## aisia

1. Tristan and Isolde
2. Die Walkure
3. Gotterdammerung
4. Rhinegold
5. Parsifal

Excluding Wagner: 

6. Figaro
(Siegfried)
8. Don Giovanni
9. Fidelio
(Die Meistersinger)
(Tannhauser)
12. Cosi
(Dutchman)
14. Barber of Seville


----------



## Enformedepoire

Chronologically:

1. Così fan tutte - Mozart
2. Les Troyens - Berlioz
3. Parsifal - Wagner
4. Death in Venice - Britten
5. Neither - Feldman

(Doktor Faust - Busoni, Otello - Rossini, King Priam - Tippett)


----------



## guythegreg

Bellinilover said:


> Limiting it to the top five...
> 
> 1. La Cenerentola (Rossini)
> 2. Rigoletto (Verdi)
> 3. Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Offenbach)
> 4. Fidelio (Beethoven)
> 5. Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti)


Let me get this straight - there is NO BELLINI in your top five? Do I have that right? :lol:

The problem with a question like this is that favorite means so many different things. Or maybe I should say, there are so many different KINDS of favorites ... hmm.

Il Pirata
Norma
Sonnambula
I Puritani
Cosi fan tutte


----------



## Hoffmann

Reading through the favorites just on this page (page 10 as of this writing), most of which I agree with, it's clear just how restrictive 'top 5' really is.

I'm not sure how to do it. Let's see (not necessarily in order, and as of today)

1. Der Ring des Nibelungen (I know, some would say this is cheating)
2. Norma
3. Le Nozze Di Figaro
4. Die Tote Stadt
5. Lohengrin


----------



## Sonata

Cosi Fan Tutte
Don Giovanni
Sour Angelica
Madama Butterfly
La Traviata

Honorable mentions to: Turandot, Rusalka, Il Re Pastore


----------



## jhar26

-Le Nozze di Figaro
-Don Giovanni
-Der Rosenkavalier
-Cosi Fan Tutte
-Die Zauberflote


----------



## deggial

Sonata said:


> Il Re Pastore


it's lovely, isn't it?

if you were to twist my arm, these would be it:

I Capuleti e i Montecchi
Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail
La Clemenza di Tito
Alcina
Ariadne auf Naxos


----------



## svstats

Haven't seen everything yet so this list will change. 

1. Onegin (The reason I became an opera fanatic)
2. Die Meistersinger (My first foray into Wagner and a blast for me)
3. La Boheme (Just terrific)
4. Tosca (Love it)
5. Don Giovanni (First (and only so far) time at the Met for me).


----------



## Notung

-The Ring
-Parsifal
-Tristan und Isolde
-Meistersinger
-Turandot

Biased toward Wagner? Quite.


----------



## Itullian

Meistersinger
Der Ring
Lohengrin
Tristan
Parsifal


----------



## realdealblues

In no particular order, the Opera's I most listen too are probably:

Don Giovanni
The Marriage Of Figaro
The Ring (I'm counting 4 as 1)
Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg
La Boheme

At least right now. I've got some new ones I will be exploring soon.


----------



## TrevBus

WOW!!! 5? OK but a lot more I like but will list the 5 I listen to the most.
Rusalka
The Barber of Seville
Rigoletto
The Tender Land
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg

Oh what the H....... Here is another
Don Carlos


----------



## TrevBus

Sorry, just can't let lt stand at 6. So, here are 8 more.

***Side note: That's Dvorak's Rusalka***

Orphee aux Enfers Offenbach
Samson & Dalila Saint-Saens
Ariadne auf Naxos R. Strauss
Cavalleria Rusticana Mascagni
Werther Massenet
Don Quichotte Massenet
Der Fliegende Hollander Wagner
Cosi Fan Tutte Mozart


----------



## Seattleoperafan

Tristan
The Ring ( minus Rheingold)
Aida
Elektra
Il Trovatore


----------



## Mahlerian

Tristan and Isolde
Wozzeck
The Marriage of Figaro
Don Giovanni
L'Orfeo (Monteverdi)


----------



## Pip

Meistersinger
Don Carlo (5 Acts in Italian)
Götterdämmerung
Parsifal
Falstaff


----------



## mchriste

1. Don Giovanni
2. Les Contes d'Hoffmann
3. Rigoletto
4. Tannhäuser
5. Lucia di Lammermoor

... but having to pick only five is hard, even though I only know maybe 40 operas so far!


----------



## Revenant

Don Giovanni
Rheingold
Otello (Verdi, not Rossini) 
Simon Boccanegra
La Forza del Destino


----------



## Peterinch

In random order:
The Ring
Boris Godunov
Khovanshchina
Les Troyens
Die Frau Ohne Schatten


----------



## LouisMasterMusic

If order isn't a requirement here, then here I go (although I do actually start with my favourite!)

1) Turandot - Fantastic spectacle and powerful use of characterization

2) Nabucco - same sort of reason why I love Turandot

3) La Boheme - full of beautiful melodies 

4) The Magic Flute - A most "majestic" comedy (if such a thing can be said about comic opera)

5) Die Fledermaus - although an operetta, musically it's up there with the great Italian operas in terms of unstoppable melodies

If I must have a top-five, those are what they are. Otherwise, I just listen to certain operas because I like them, and soon afterwards, start discovering others in my collection.

Is there anything you would recommend that I haven't mentioned that are good follow-ups?


----------



## MAuer

LouisMasterMusic said:


> If order isn't a requirement here, then here I go (although I do actually start with my favourite!)
> 
> 1) Turandot - Fantastic spectacle and powerful use of characterization
> 
> 2) Nabucco - same sort of reason why I love Turandot
> 
> 3) La Boheme - full of beautiful melodies
> 
> 4) The Magic Flute - A most "majestic" comedy (if such a thing can be said about comic opera)
> 
> 5) Die Fledermaus - although an operetta, musically it's up there with the great Italian operas in terms of unstoppable melodies
> 
> If I must have a top-five, those are what they are. Otherwise, I just listen to certain operas because I like them, and soon afterwards, start discovering others in my collection.
> 
> Is there anything you would recommend that I haven't mentioned that are good follow-ups?


Given the reasons you enjoy _Turandot _and _Nabucco_, you may also like _Aida_. I also think Mozart's _La Clemenza di Tito _is full of beautiful melodies, even if the plot may seem rather strained with the too-good-to-be-true Emperor.


----------



## Xavier

Falstaff

Pelleas et Melisande

Capriccio

Siegfried

Doktor Faust


----------



## Xavier

Xavier said:


> *Falstaff
> 
> Pelleas et Melisande
> 
> Capriccio
> 
> Siegfried
> 
> Doktor Faust*


You have very good taste!


----------



## deggial

MAuer said:


> Given the reasons you enjoy _Turandot _and _Nabucco_, you may also like _Aida_. I also think Mozart's _La Clemenza di Tito _is full of beautiful melodies, even if the plot may seem rather strained with the too-good-to-be-true Emperor.


of course he should try Clemenza, it's the Flute's fraternal twin after all. La Boheme calls to mind La Traviata *cough*cough* (which is coming to ROH this Spring with La Damrau, btw).


----------



## LouisMasterMusic

Thanks, I'll try Aida as well. I need some help with Falstaff though. Regarding La Clemenza di Tito, you might think this is mad, but the only Mozart opera I really like is The Magic Flute. I have Aida on DVD already from The Metropolitan Opera with Aprile Milo in the title role, Placido Domingo as Radames, and Dolora Zajick as Amneris. Its Sonja Frisell's production.

Anything else you think I should discover, based on my listings of Turandot and Nabucco?


----------



## deggial

LouisMasterMusic said:


> Anything else you think I should discover, based on my listings of Turandot and Nabucco?


based on Nabucco, try I Puritani or Norma (or anything by Bellini).


----------



## LouisMasterMusic

Please advise which DVD is the best, and has modern sound.


----------



## gellio

1. The Ring
2. The Marriage of the Opera
3. Don Giovanni
4. The Magic Flute
5. Tristan and Isolde


----------



## sospiro

gellio said:


> 1. The Ring
> 2. *The Marriage of the Opera*
> 3. Don Giovanni
> 4. The Magic Flute
> 5. Tristan and Isolde




New one on me ..........


----------



## Aramis

sospiro said:


> New one on me ..........


It's just a smart way to state: "I believe that character of Figaro is so iconic that words "Figaro" and "Opera" became synonyms!"


----------



## gellio

Aramis said:


> It's just a smart way to state: "I believe that character of Figaro is so iconic that words "Figaro" and "Opera" became synonyms!"


Exactly. Haha. That was quite a typo on my part.


----------



## deggial

LouisMasterMusic said:


> Please advise which DVD is the best, and has modern sound.


never saw your post, sorry. As to what is best, that's hard to say, tastes differ. What do you mean by modern sound? After 1950?


----------



## Revenant

Some changes lately in my list:

1. Don Giovanni
2. Walkure
3. Rheingold
4. Otello (Verdi, not Rossini )
5. Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria

A sixth would be Simon Boccanegra.


----------



## Couac Addict

*The Breasts of Tiresias*
Therese is tired of being a woman and becomes a man when her breasts turn into balloons and float away. That's just the opening scene! If you were tossing up between this and another Don Giovanni, you're patting yourself on the back right now.
In the second act, a guy is rebelling against the anti-childbirth laws by giving birth to over 40,000 babies in a single day. 
*
The Marksman *
Three glorious acts filled to the brim with shooting contests. Max must prove his marksmanship if he wants to win his bride...so he shoots an eagle with magic bullet. Then some deer get shot....then a fox. This is a great opera if you love seeing animals getting blown away. Remember when you only had to worry about rain on your wedding day? Max accidentally shoots his bride.
Don't worry - the bridal wreath on her head stops the bullet like a bible in the shirt pocket of a cowboy.

*The Golden Cockerel*
Act 1. King is gifted a rooster.
Act 2. Rooster prevents full-scale war.
Act 3. King offends rooster. Rooster pecks King to death.
Obviously, _death by pecking_ isn't lively enough for opera. The last production that I witnessed had this massive fight scene and the samarai-rooster was armed to the beak with martial arts weaponry.

*Pagliacci* 
The thought of a clown opera is scary enough without the the clowns being murderous manic depressives.
*
Wednesday from Light.*
Trombone solos with a dancing camel. A string quartet flying in real helicopters. Musicians suspended from the ceiling.
All the things you wanted in an opera but Verdi failed to deliver.

People say that opera is being _dumbed down_. Not true, it was always dumb.


----------



## dgee

The Breasts of Tiresias is based on a surrealist play. It's quite fun musically with some great tunes although I've only heard it in an ancient recording with poor sound quality. BTW - it's a Poulenc. Probably not one on my favs tho


----------



## Tsaraslondon

Gosh this is hard. My first three were quite easy, but my other two will probably change on a daily basis. (I don't suppose I'm allowed a long list of 4th equals.)

1. *Norma* - though I despair of ever seeing it adequately performed, and, on record, nobody has yet challenged Callas's hegemony in the role.

2. *Les Troyens* - So good to see that this great opera is finally getting the recognition (and performances) it deserves.

3. *La Traviata* - Rarely fails, even in a not so great performance.

4. *Otello* - Arguably Verdi's greatest opera

5. *Der Rosenkavalier* - Admittedly I find some of comedy a bit heavy handed at times, but the rest of the music makes up for it,


----------



## rgz

Sorry, has to be 6 for me

1. Lucia di Lammermoor
2. Manon 
3. Nozze
4. La Boheme
5. Satyagraha
6. Tales of Hoffmann

Don't think anyone else has mentioned Satyagraha or Manon yet. The former I can understand as it's a bit more obscure than most choices, but Manon is fantastic!


----------



## rgz

LouisMasterMusic said:


> Please advise which DVD is the best, and has modern sound.


In the DVD subforum, there is a thread which lists recommended choices for all of the top 100 operas, of which both I Puritani and Norma find themselves included.


----------



## AClockworkOrange

At present, my five favourite operas in no particular order:
- Lulu
- Fidelio
- Macbeth
- Madama Butterfly
- Der Rosenkavalier 

That was harder than I thought...


----------



## sabrina

*Il Barbiere di Siviglia* is my number 1 for quite some time…To stick to Rossini, I like everything, but I'll also mention *La* *Cenerentola*.
I love Mozart: *Don Giovanni* and *Die Zauberflotte*. Like with Rossini, I love all Mozart!
Puccini: *Turandot*
I need to include Verdi as *Rigoletto* and *La Traviata* are among my first favourites.
And I love, love, love Offenbach's *Les Contes D'Hoffmann*
Sorry, but I couldn't stick to 5! If I think more I'll find other operas…but that's all up to now.

PS: I need to squeeze Norma somewhere among my first…brrr I need to stop thinking.


----------



## Don Fatale

*Falstaff* - Verdi's late great classic. Dazzling orchestration.

*Gotterdammerung* - If I can only have 5, better choose a long one! Prelude to Rhine Journey is the most impressive sequence in all music drama.

*Fidelio* - The most stirring and emotional work.

*Mefistofele* - My guilty pleasure. Robust and highly tuneful.

*I Puritani* - Representing golden era Italian opera.


----------



## Gizmo

At the moment:

Tosca
Gotterdammerung
Madama Butterfly
Carmen
Lucia di Lammermoor


----------



## gellio

So glad to see Fidelio getting some love.


----------



## quack

gellio said:


> So glad to see Fidelio getting some love.


It's my favourite Beethoven opera ;~)

Seriously if it didn't have dialogue, which I always hate, it would probably be in my top ten.


----------



## mamascarlatti

quack said:


> It's my favourite Beethoven opera ;~)
> 
> Seriously if it didn't have dialogue, which I always hate, it would probably be in my top ten.


Here you go. A performance with all the dialogue cut:


----------



## quack

Thanks! didn't know Rattle had even recorded it. I know Barenboim's recording is dialogue free as well.


----------



## GiulioCesare

1. Giulio Cesare
2. Giulio Cesare
3. Giulio Cesare
4. Giulio Cesare
5. Giulio Cesare


----------



## starthrower

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I want to see "The Devils of Loudon" I think I would enjoy it.


Available on DVD, but not CD. We need a re-issue of the Philips CD. DVD sounds like its in mono.





I'm just recently getting familiar with a few operas.

Boris Godunov
Pelleas Et Melisande
Lady Macbeth Of Metsenk
The Golden Cockerel
Prince Igor


----------



## quack

A proper release of Penderecki's _Paradise Lost_ would also be welcome


----------



## gellio

quack said:


> It's my favourite Beethoven opera ;~)
> 
> Seriously if it didn't have dialogue, which I always hate, it would probably be in my top ten.


That's the beauty of an iPod - I never include the dialogue or recitative.


----------



## Orfeo

Anton Rubinstein's "The Demon"
Alexander Dargomyzhsky's "Rusalka"
Mussorgsky's "Khovanschina"
Puccin's "The Girl of the Golden West"
Merikanto's "Juha"

Plus,
Tchaikovsky's "Mazeppa"
Shebalin's "The Taming of the Shrew"

I cheated, I know.


----------



## cihlomorka

At the moment:

Jenufa / Jeji pastorkyna
La Traviata
Tristan and Isolde
Turandot
Die Zauberflotte


----------



## HumphreyAppleby

dholling said:


> Puccin's "The Girl of the Golden West"


Welcome to the club! _Fanciulla_ gets so little love sometimes, which I just can't comprehend. It's the perfect grand opera: gorgeous love duet, huge, powerful orchestra, great choral scene (a high speed chase replacing the usual march!). But it's all completely through-composed, and has interesting characterizations and themes.

I just don't understand the criticisms of the plot and libretto. I was watching _Das Rheingold_ yesterday, and I was just stunned by how stilted the libretto is in comparison. The plot is no more ridiculous than the _Ring_, and is driven naturally by the characters, who are believable people. I totally get Minnie. Why is she so maligned by critics? Why???

Anyway... as regards the original question, which I think I answered a while back -I guess I'll see how much my tastes have changed in half a year- I think my favorites right now are:

1. _La fanciulla del west_
2. _Il tabarro_
3. _Tristan und Isolde_
4. _Turandot_
5. _Die tote Stadt_


----------



## Aramis

HumphreyAppleby said:


> I just don't understand the criticisms of the plot and libretto.


My issue is that it's adventurous opera from Puccini and the musical language goes almost impressionist which I find to be in huge dissonance with the subject. I associate the style with things more subtle, mysterious and here I get this fine introduction that makes me think of such followed by bunch of sweaty American mine workers bursting into lousy bar, yelling HELLOOO (the catchphrase of the whole opera) and screaming for whiskey. Of course, there are other things, but the whole wild west background just doesn't work for me.


----------



## HumphreyAppleby

Aramis said:


> My issue is that it's adventurous opera from Puccini and the musical language goes almost impressionist which I find to be in huge dissonance with the subject. I associate the style with things more subtle, mysterious and here I get this fine introduction that makes me think of such followed by bunch of sweaty American mine workers bursting into lousy bar, yelling HELLOOO (the catchphrase of the whole opera) and screaming for whiskey. Of course, there are other things, but the whole wild west background just doesn't work for me.


Sure, Puccini uses harmony and some orchestration that could be considered impressionist, but I don't think there's any trouble with mistaking the opera for one written by an Impressionist composer. Perhaps this isn't an issue for me because I was exposed to _La fanciulla del west_ first and Impressionist music second, but I find the aura of the opera to be very evocative of the huge, mythical landscape that he's trying to evoke. To me it feels "exotic" and powerful, not out of place at all. The way in which Debussy uses his harmony and the way Puccini adopted it couldn't be further apart. _Il tabarro_ is much more Impressionistic to me. The prelude is a superb evocation of the river, and the music flows throughout the whole opera.

Yeah, the whole "Hello, whisky" thing gets annoying after a while, but mostly goes away after the first half of Act I. The important sections of the libretto are very well written.


----------



## Jobis

I love La Fanciulla, it's certainly one of my favourites, and I think the juxtaposition of subject and the music was rather effective, it showed that even the everyday life of someone as unglamorous as a bandit or a miner or a saloon-owner has the potential to be romantic, mysterious and dramatic. Sure the 'hallo! Minnie!' bits aren't the most profound utterances to be heard on the stage, but neither are the constant 'hi ho's of Gotterdammerung.

I guess I'm just a fanboy, but hey I think the wild west is pretty darn cool. 

My current favourites:

L'incoronazione di Poppea
Lucia di Lammermoor
La Fanciulla del West
Tristan und Isolde
Saint Francois D'Assise

its really hard to pick five, I'm certain I missed out at least one.


----------



## deggial

Jobis said:


> someone as unglamorous as a bandit


all bandits all glamorous


----------



## HumphreyAppleby

Jobis said:


> It showed that even the everyday life of someone as unglamorous as a bandit or a miner or a saloon-owner has the potential to be romantic, mysterious and dramatic.


That pretty much sums up Puccini's artistic foundation. The only thing I would add is, Important. The people in Puccini's operas have value, as everybody does.


----------



## Rackon

This is hard! These are favorites of the moment, all of which I have loved for a long time, but which might get preference over another work by the same composer simply because I'm thrilled by a recent production or recording.

In no particular order:

Dido and Aeneas
L'Orfeo
Guilio Cesare
Le nozze di Figaro
Parsifal
The Ring
Don Carlo(s)
Werther
Die Frau ohne Schatten 
La Fanciulla del West
Billy Budd

Ok, I cheated. 

Depending on my mood, DG (or possibly Cosi) could replace Figaro - I love all three as well as Flute and consider them essential. Many times I listen to Manon or Otello more frequently than Werther or Don Carlo. I cannot be without Meistersinger, Tristan, Lohengrin or Tannheuser. Putting Billy Budd on the list meant leaving out Turn of the Screw. And I adore Poppea as much as Orfeo. I gotta love a Carmen or a Tosca with great leads. And some days only Rosenkavalier will do. There have to be at least 30+ operas I find essential for happiness (not all masterpieces either.)

However, there are obvious holes in the list, and I do intend to revisit the bel canto rep as well as Czeck/slavic /Russian works during the next few months. I also just got Written On Skin and I'm veryexcited by what I've heard so far.


----------



## DavidA

In no particular order:

Falstaff
Fidelio
Figaro
Cosi
Don Giovanni
Carmen
Zauberflote

I know that's more but I do love all of these.


----------



## DavidA

HumphreyAppleby said:


> Welcome to the club! _Fanciulla_ gets so little love sometimes, which I just can't comprehend. It's the perfect grand opera: gorgeous love duet, huge, powerful orchestra, great choral scene (a high speed chase replacing the usual march!). But it's all completely through-composed, and has interesting characterizations and themes.
> 
> I just don't understand the criticisms of the plot and libretto. I was watching _Das Rheingold_ yesterday, and I was just stunned by how stilted the libretto is in comparison. The plot is no more ridiculous than the _Ring_, and is driven naturally by the characters, who are believable people. I totally get Minnie. Why is she so maligned by critics? Why???
> 
> Anyway... as regards the original question, which I think I answered a while back -I guess I'll see how much my tastes have changed in half a year- I think my favorites right now are:
> 
> 1. _La fanciulla del west_
> 2. _Il tabarro_
> 3. _Tristan und Isolde_
> 4. _Turandot_
> 5. _Die tote Stadt_


I must confess I was disappointed when I heard Fanciulla as there appears little of the melodies that Puccini is famous for. I'll have to sort it out and hear it again sometime.


----------



## HumphreyAppleby

DavidA said:


> I must confess I was disappointed when I heard Fanciulla as there appears little of the melodies that Puccini is famous for. I'll have to sort it out and hear it again sometime.


The melody is there, it's just not quite so overt as it was in his previous operas. Once you get it, however, it's just as melodic as any other Puccini score. There's Jake Wallace's song at the beginning, which recurs throughout the opera. Then there's Rance's beautiful aria, which gives him more character in the first act than Scarpia ever had. There's a beautiful waltz melody that recurs as a kind of peaceful love motive for Johnson and Minnie., And there are two more melodies associated with Johnson and Minnie's love: the first is a falling melody that never attains climax and is first stated numerous times in the prelude. It also occurs as the climactic phrase in Johnson's aria Or son sei mesi (btw, this performance by di Stefano is out of this world). It is fulfilled in the finale. The second is the gorgeous melody that comes on the words Io non ti lascia piu, at 2:18. 



.

In the last act there is Ch'ella mi creda, as well as the lovely E anche tu lo vorrai Joe. There's also a redemption melody that occurs in both the Bible lesson and the finale that is based on the whole tone scale. The opera is full of beautiful melodies, you just have give it a few listens.

As long as I'm over doing it, I might as well tack the finale on here, because all of the melodies that came before recur and are woven into an ensemble.





_Fanciulla_ is, for me, the Puccini opera that gives the most after each new listen. This is perhaps because, in addition to the melodic music, there is quite a bit of gorgeous and powerful non-melodic music. The orchestration of this opera alone is worth giving a complete hearing, and was particularly admired and praised by Ravel and Webern.


----------



## Tsaraslondon

HumphreyAppleby said:


> The melody is there, it's just not quite so overt as it was in his previous operas. Once you get it, however, it's just as melodic as any other Puccini score. There's Jake Wallace's song at the beginning, which recurs throughout the opera. Then there's Rance's beautiful aria, which gives him more character in the first act than Scarpia ever had. There's a beautiful waltz melody that recurs as a kind of peaceful love motive for Johnson and Minnie., And there are two more melodies associated with Johnson and Minnie's love: the first is a falling melody that never attains climax and is first stated numerous times in the prelude. It also occurs as the climactic phrase in Johnson's aria Or son sei mesi (btw, this performance by di Stefano is out of this world). It is fulfilled in the finale. The second is the gorgeous melody that comes on the words Io non ti lascia piu, at 2:18.
> 
> 
> 
> .
> 
> In the last act there is Ch'ella mi creda, as well as the lovely E anche tu lo vorrai Joe. There's also a redemption melody that occurs in both the Bible lesson and the finale that is based on the whole tone scale. The opera is full of beautiful melodies, you just have give it a few listens. _Fanciulla_ is, for me, the Puccini opera that gives the most after each new listen. This is perhaps because, in addition to the melodic music, there is quite a bit of gorgeous and powerful non-melodic music. The orchestration of this opera alone is worth giving a complete hearing, and was particularly admired and praised by Ravel and Webern.


I tend to agree with you. Though I wouldn't necessarily state that *Faniculla* is my favourite Puccini opera, I too think it is full of melody. Like Verdi and Tchaikovsky, Puccini seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of melody to draw on. It is often stated, wrongly IMO, that Verdi's and Puccini's two comic operas are less melodic than their other works, when I always feel the reverse is true. There are so many melodies running through the scores, that they hardly have time to register, before we are off on some new one. Both operas repay being heard many, many times. If I find *Falstaff* a greater work, it is because there is more humanity in it. The comedy in *Gianni Schicchi* is much darker and a mite cruel, though Puccini's music is entirely apposite.


----------



## HumphreyAppleby

GregMitchell said:


> I tend to agree with you. Though I wouldn't necessarily state that *Faniculla* is my favourite Puccini opera, I too think it is full of melody. Like Verdi and Tchaikovsky, Puccini seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of melody to draw on.


So much so that he deliberately tried to to cut back on the amount of conspicuous melody in _Il trittico_. I don't think that he succeeded, but I can't say that I'm terribly distraught about that. He was an Italian through and through, and Italian music thrives on melody.

_Gianni Schicchi_ melody-less? That's hilarious. Though not as hilarious as the opera, of course. I think what the people who say that are missing is that the primary expression of humor in the opera isn't in the melody but in the rhythm, as is the Italian comedic tradition. That doesn't mean that there isn't a lot of melody.



GregMitchell said:


> Though I wouldn't necessarily state that Faniculla is my favourite Puccini opera, I too think it is full of melody.


Well, there's still time.  It only became my favorite about a year ago. Before that I was much more a fan of the early Puccini operas, _Boheme_ through _Butterfly_. Now I tend to favor the late ones, particularly _Fanciulla_, _Tabarro_, and _Turandot_.

And as for my five favorite operas, I keep changing my mind... _Thais_ has to be on there somewhere... Sheesh.


----------



## Rackon

rgz said:


> Sorry, has to be 6 for me
> 
> 1. Lucia di Lammermoor
> 2. Manon
> 3. Nozze
> 4. La Boheme
> 5. Satyagraha
> 6. Tales of Hoffmann
> 
> Don't think anyone else has mentioned Satyagraha or Manon yet. The former I can understand as it's a bit more obscure than most choices, but Manon is fantastic!


Manon is wonderful! I had Manon as an alternate: very hard for me to choose between Manon and Werther, but given equally superb performances of each, Werthet has a slight edge. Manon is a bit more forgiving though.


----------



## SixFootScowl

Fidelio is my favorite.


----------



## Rachmanijohn

1. Don Giovanni
2. Tristan und Isolde
3. Gotterdammerung
4. Cosi Fan Tutti
5. Carmen


----------



## TrevBus

Carmen, Der Fliegende Hollander, The Barber of Seville, Simon Boccanegra, Rigoletto. I will add a 6th: Werther.


----------



## hpowders

Peter Grimes
Cavalaria Rusticana
La Boheme
Gotterdammerung 
Die Meistersinger


----------



## clara s

Nabucco

Norma

La Boheme

Die Walkure

Macbeth


----------



## Donata

Le Nozze di Figaro

La Traviata

Der Rosenkavalier 

Tosca

Carmen


----------



## sabrina

Il Barbiere, Cenerentola, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflote, Rigoletto and one more, please Traviata!


----------



## messadivoce

La traviata
Rigoletto
I puritani
Don Pasquale
Il barbiere di Sivilgia


----------



## Nervous Gentleman

A list that is always changing:

Rubinstein - The Demon
Verdi - Il trovatore
Zandonai - I cavalieri di Ekebù
Balfe - The Rose of Castille
Gilbert & Sullivan - Trial by Jury


----------



## tahnak

The four of Der Ring Des Nibelungen
and Mozart's Die Zauberflote.


----------



## udscbt

Les Boréades
Le Nozze di Figaro
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Salome
Written on Skin


----------



## Sonata

Don Giovanni
Orphee et Euridice
Cosi Fan Tutte
Sour Angelica

5th: tie bw Lady Macbeth of Mtsenk and Ariadne au Naxos


----------



## Itullian

hpowders said:


> Peter Grimes
> Cavalaria Rusticana
> La Boheme
> Gotterdammerung
> Die Meistersinger


The last 2...

And ahaaaaaa, no Verdi, aye?


----------



## perempe

i've seen 27(!) in the season, which is my first. Parsifal & Mefistofele stand out from the rest.

Parsifal
Mefistofele
Bánk bán
Don Giovanni (i don't like Mozart operas, this is an exception.)
Simon Boccanegra (i can recommend the National Theatre of Szeged, i've seen their guest performance in Budapest)


----------



## Morimur

*
Saint François d'Assise
Licht: Die sieben Tage der Woche
Bluebeard's Castle
The Turn of the Screw
Wozzeck
*


----------



## Woodduck

Couac Addict said:


> *The Breasts of Tiresias*
> Therese is tired of being a woman and becomes a man when her breasts turn into balloons and float away. That's just the opening scene! If you were tossing up between this and another Don Giovanni, you're patting yourself on the back right now.
> In the second act, a guy is rebelling against the anti-childbirth laws by giving birth to over 40,000 babies in a single day.
> *
> The Marksman *
> Three glorious acts filled to the brim with shooting contests. Max must prove his marksmanship if he wants to win his bride...so he shoots an eagle with magic bullet. Then some deer get shot....then a fox. This is a great opera if you love seeing animals getting blown away. Remember when you only had to worry about rain on your wedding day? Max accidentally shoots his bride.
> Don't worry - the bridal wreath on her head stops the bullet like a bible in the shirt pocket of a cowboy.
> 
> *The Golden Cockerel*
> Act 1. King is gifted a rooster.
> Act 2. Rooster prevents full-scale war.
> Act 3. King offends rooster. Rooster pecks King to death.
> Obviously, _death by pecking_ isn't lively enough for opera. The last production that I witnessed had this massive fight scene and the samarai-rooster was armed to the beak with martial arts weaponry.
> 
> *Pagliacci*
> The thought of a clown opera is scary enough without the the clowns being murderous manic depressives.
> *
> Wednesday from Light.*
> Trombone solos with a dancing camel. A string quartet flying in real helicopters. Musicians suspended from the ceiling.
> All the things you wanted in an opera but Verdi failed to deliver.
> 
> People say that opera is being _dumbed down_. Not true, it was always dumb.


"If you want to make people laugh all you have to do is tell them the truth" [close paraphrase] - Anna Russell


----------



## Xavier

Oh dear... here we go again, ok:

Pelleas et Melisande

Falstaff

The Return of Ulysses To His Homeland

Mathis The Painter

The Woman Without A Shadow


----------



## Marschallin Blair

> Couac Addict: The Breasts of Tiresias
> Therese is tired of being a woman and becomes a man when her breasts turn into balloons and float away. That's just the opening scene! If you were tossing up between this and another Don Giovanni, you're patting yourself on the back right now.
> In the second act, a guy is rebelling against the anti-childbirth laws by giving birth to over 40,000 babies in a single day.
> 
> The Marksman
> Three glorious acts filled to the brim with shooting contests. Max must prove his marksmanship if he wants to win his bride...so he shoots an eagle with magic bullet. Then some deer get shot....then a fox. This is a great opera if you love seeing animals getting blown away. Remember when you only had to worry about rain on your wedding day? Max accidentally shoots his bride.
> Don't worry - the bridal wreath on her head stops the bullet like a bible in the shirt pocket of a cowboy.
> 
> The Golden Cockerel
> Act 1. King is gifted a rooster.
> Act 2. Rooster prevents full-scale war.
> Act 3. King offends rooster. Rooster pecks King to death.
> Obviously, death by pecking isn't lively enough for opera. The last production that I witnessed had this massive fight scene and the samarai-rooster was armed to the beak with martial arts weaponry.
> 
> Pagliacci
> The thought of a clown opera is scary enough without the the clowns being murderous manic depressives.
> 
> Wednesday from Light.
> Trombone solos with a dancing camel. A string quartet flying in real helicopters. Musicians suspended from the ceiling.
> All the things you wanted in an opera but Verdi failed to deliver.
> 
> People say that opera is being dumbed down. Not true, it was always dumb.





Woodduck said:


> "If you want to make people laugh all you have to do is tell them the truth" [close paraphrase] - Anna Russell


The_ Pagliacci __precis_ is my favorite. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.


----------



## Itullian

Marschallin Blair said:


> [/COLOR]
> 
> The_ Pagliacci __precis_ is my favorite. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.


I love that.............


----------



## Woodduck

Itullian, paesan, you're a swell ragazzo but a brutal taskmaster. Favorite _five__?_ _Funf__?_ _Cinque__?_ Gran Dio, that doesn't get me past _Parsifal_! But that's my spear-wound to bear. So, if I may leave, for the moment, our amnesiac bumpkin on the horniness of an Oedipal dilemma, here's where I'd go next:

_Tristan und Isolde_, but only if gloriously sung and conducted with as much warmth, gravity, and nocturnal poetry as passion - which means, approximately, never. Sigh. I guess I'll have to leave our pair of large, loud, Celtic teenagers wondering what was in that cordial, and move on to:

_Der Ring des Nibelungen_... But I'm stymied confronted with this four-headed beast! It just doesn't get along with the other animals.

So...

MY FIVE _OTHER_ FAVORITE OPERAS, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

Bluebeard's Castle
Otello
Les Troyens
Fidelio
Die Meistersinger
Der Freischutz
Norma (but only with Callas)
La Fanciulla del West
Lohengrin

Yeah, I can count. :devil:


----------



## Itullian

Woodduck said:


> Itullian, paesan, you're a swell ragazzo but a brutal taskmaster. Favorite _five__?_ _Funf__?_ _Cinque__?_ Gran Dio, that doesn't get me past _Parsifal_! But that's my spear-wound to bear. So if I may leave, for the moment, our amnesiac bumpkin to his Oedipal dilemma, here's where I'd go next:
> 
> _Tristan und Isolde_, but only if gloriously sung and conducted with as much warmth, gravity, and nocturnal poetry as passion - which means, approximately, never. Sigh. I guess I'll have to leave our pair of large, loud, Celtic teenagers wondering what was in that cordial, and move on to:
> 
> _Der Ring des Nibelungen_... But I'm stymied confronted with this four-headed beast! It just doesn't get along with the other animals.
> 
> So...
> 
> MY FIVE _OTHER_ FAVORITE OPERAS, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
> 
> Bluebeard's Castle
> Otello
> Les Troyens
> Fidelio
> Die Meistersinger
> Der Freischutz
> Norma (but only with Callas)
> La Fanciulla del West
> Lohengrin
> 
> Yeah, I can count.


Looks like 5 to me.


----------



## Xavier

Woodduck said:


> Itullian, paesan, you're a swell ragazzo but a brutal taskmaster. Favorite _five__?_ _Funf__?_ _Cinque__?_ Gran Dio, that doesn't get me past _Parsifal_! But that's my spear-wound to bear. So if I may leave, for the moment, our amnesiac bumpkin on the horniness of an Oedipal dilemma, here's where I'd go next:
> 
> _Tristan und Isolde_, but only if gloriously sung and conducted with as much warmth, gravity, and nocturnal poetry as passion - which means, approximately, never. Sigh. I guess I'll have to leave our pair of large, loud, Celtic teenagers wondering what was in that cordial, and move on to:
> 
> _Der Ring des Nibelungen_... But I'm stymied confronted with this four-headed beast! It just doesn't get along with the other animals.
> 
> So...
> 
> MY FIVE _OTHER_ FAVORITE OPERAS, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
> 
> Bluebeard's Castle
> Otello
> Les Troyens
> Fidelio
> Die Meistersinger
> Der Freischutz
> Norma (but only with Callas)
> La Fanciulla del West
> Lohengrin
> 
> Yeah, I can count.


No Pelleas, No Falstaff, nor anything by Monteverdi.... ?


----------



## Itullian

Xavier said:


> Oh dear... here we go again, ok:
> 
> Pelleas et Melisande
> 
> Falstaff
> 
> The Return of Ulysses To His Homeland
> 
> Mathis The Painter
> 
> The Woman Without A Shadow


No Wagner?


----------



## Woodduck

Xavier said:


> No Pelleas, No Falstaff, nor anything by Monteverdi.... ?


I was only allowed five.


----------



## Itullian

Woodduck said:


> I was only allowed five.


AWWWW, Go ahead please. List what you like


----------



## Woodduck

Itullian said:


> AWWWW, Go ahead please. List what you like


Well alrighty then!

MY NEXT FIVE, GIVE OR TAKE A FEW, FAVORITE OPERAS, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

Falstaff
Pelleas and Melisande
Peter Grimes
Turandot
L'Orfeo
Die Tote Stadt
Der Fliegende Hollander
Macbeth (only with Callas)
Tosca (only with Callas)
Anything with Callas

Happy now, Xavier?


----------



## Marschallin Blair

> Originally Posted by Itullian
> AWWWW, Go ahead please. List what you like
> 
> Woodduck: Well alrighty then!
> 
> MY NEXT FIVE, GIVE OR TAKE A FEW, FAVORITE OPERAS, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
> 
> Falstaff
> Pelleas and Melisande
> Peter Grimes
> Turandot
> L'Orfeo
> Die Tote Stadt
> Der Fliegende Hollander
> Macbeth (only with Callas)
> Tosca (only with Callas)
> Anything with Callas
> Happy now, Xavier?


Now I can undertand a fixation on an artist whose reputation claimed divinity and demanded idolatry. . . but_ La Fanciulla _making your top five?


----------



## Itullian

Marschallin Blair said:


> Now I can undertand a fixation on an artist whose reputation claimed divinity and demanded idolatry. . . but_ La Fanciulla _making your top five?


I don't get the Fanciulla thing either.
Where's the beef?


----------



## Marschallin Blair

Itullian said:


> I don't get the Fanciulla thing either.
> Where's the beef?


We're at the banquet table, but, 'right': Where's the beef? That centerpiece duck is daft.


----------



## Woodduck

Marschallin Blair said:


> Now I can undertand a fixation on an artist whose reputation claimed divinity and demanded idolatry. . . but_ La Fanciulla _making your top five?


No no no! You missed my _first_ list of five (plus)! Scroll back! My reputation is at stake! Scroll back!


----------



## Marschallin Blair

Woodduck said:


> No no no! You missed my _first_ list of five (plus)! Scroll back! My reputation is at stake! Scroll back!


_Tristan _and the_ Ring _tetraology- a copious overflowing of sex and high drama.

Okay, you're redeemed; even if I'm not. Ha. Ha. Ha. One would think I'd immediately and intuitively get it; as much as I give it.


----------



## Kilgore Trout

Claude Debussy, _Pelleas et Mélisande_
Brett Dean, _Bliss_
Peter Maxwell Davies, _Resurrection_
Nikolai Karetnikov, _Till eulenspiegel_
Samuel Barber, _Vanessa_


----------



## Woodduck

Marschallin Blair said:


> _Tristan _and the_ Ring _tetraology- a copious overflowing of sex and high drama.
> 
> Okay, you're redeemed; even if I'm not. Ha. Ha. Ha. One would think I'd immediately and intuitively get it; as much as I give it.


One would. :devil:

You're forgiven this time. :angel:


----------



## Marschallin Blair

> Originally Posted by Marschallin Blair
> Tristan and the Ring tetraology- a copious overflowing of sex and high drama.
> 
> Okay, you're redeemed; even if I'm not. Ha. Ha. Ha. One would think I'd immediately and intuitively get it; as much as I give it.
> One would.
> 
> You're forgiven this time.


You're too true to be good. . .huh? _;D_


----------



## Woodduck

Itullian said:


> I don't get the Fanciulla thing either.
> Where's the beef?


For the last word on _Fanciulla_, I must refer you to HumphreyAppleby, who has helped open my eyes to what an amazing opera it is. I've always liked it, even its corny aspects which inspire in me amused affection rather than embarrassment. But it is a fascinating, atmospheric, dramatic, original score, and with a great cast can be pretty powerful. My favorite recording is the underpraised EMI from 1959 with Birgit Nilsson, whose white lightning voice, in its absolute prime, is perfect for Minnie. Everyone else in the recording is great too.

I like Puccini much better when he isn't torturing empty-headed little girls to death.


----------



## Woodduck

Marschallin Blair said:


> You're too true to be good. . .huh? _;D_


Yes. And I will always be true to you.


----------



## Marschallin Blair

Woodduck said:


> For the last word on _Fanciulla_, I must refer you to HumphreyAppleby, who has helped open my eyes to what an amazing opera it is. I've always liked it, even its corny aspects which inspire in me amused affection rather than embarrassment. But it is a fascinating, atmospheric, dramatic, original score, and with a great cast can be pretty powerful. My favorite recording is the underpraised EMI from 1959 with Birgit Nilsson, whose white lightning voice, in its absolute prime, is perfect for Minnie. Everyone else in the recording is great too.
> 
> I like Puccini much better when he isn't torturing empty-headed little girls to death.


-- Thanks.

I have the Neblett/Mehta. I'll have to get better acquained with it. How's Nilsson's white-lightning voice when the men listen to Minnie's Bible teaching?


----------



## Marschallin Blair

Woodduck said:


> Yes. And I will always be true to you.


This wouldn't be the first time. . . would it?


----------



## Woodduck

Marschallin Blair said:


> This wouldn't be the first time. . . would it?


No. I have never been untrue to you.

(Incidentally, what _are_ we _talking_ about?)


----------



## Woodduck

Marschallin Blair said:


> -- Thanks.
> 
> I have the Neblett/Mehta. I'll have to get better acquained with it. How's Nilsson's white-lightning voice when the men listen to Minnie's Bible teaching?


Utterly intoxicating. :cheers:


----------



## Marschallin Blair

Woodduck said:


> Utterly intoxicating. :cheers:


White-lightning Nilsson and the Bible sermon-- "There Will Be Blood." Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.


----------



## Marschallin Blair

Woodduck said:


> No. I have never been untrue to you.
> 
> (Incidentally, what _are_ we _talking_ about?)


Well, I _thought_ about last Knight: Tristan, the Ring, the scene in the woods, the high drama. . . the blowout. But it could be all in my mind. I can't live without drama, real _or_ imaginary. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.


----------



## Signor Crescendo

sospiro said:


> Good to see _I Puritani_ on someone's list. It's my favourite Bellini by miles.
> 
> One of the most beautiful bass arias ever.


My favourite Bellini too. And it has the splendid duet Suoni la tromba, o intrepido!


----------



## Signor Crescendo

*In which our hero proves that his enthusiasm is greater than his mathematical ability*

(Limiting myself to only one per composer)

#1 Meyerbeer: _Les Huguenots_

...

Verdi: _Don Carlos_

Gounod: _Faust_

Wagner: _Lohengrin_ or _Die Meistersinger_

Mussorgsky: _Boris Godunov_

Rossini: would have to be _Guillaume Tell_. I wholeheartedly sympathise with the fellow who wrote "every note Rossini ever wrote": http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/220980-spotlight-rossinis-ciro-babilonia-gets-its-moment/. It's damn hard to pick out a single Rossini opera as being better than all the rest, because 1) he often recycled music, and 2) dramatically weak operas - _Otello_, _Bianca e Falliero_, _Ricciardo e Zoraide_ - have stunning numbers.

Mozart: _Don Giovanni_ (although the ending of _Clemenza di Tito_ is sublime, and it has "Se all'impero")

Berlioz: _Benvenuto Cellini_

Beethoven: _Fidelio_

Moniuszko: _Straszny dwór_

Offenbach: _Les contes d'Hoffmann_


----------



## sospiro

Signor Crescendo said:


> (Limiting myself to only one per composer)
> 
> #1 Meyerbeer: _Les Huguenots_
> 
> ...
> 
> Verdi: _Don Carlos_
> 
> Gounod: _Faust_
> 
> Wagner: _Lohengrin_ or _Die Meistersinger_
> 
> Mussorgsky: _Boris Godunov_
> 
> Rossini: would have to be _Guillaume Tell_. I wholeheartedly sympathise with the fellow who wrote "every note Rossini ever wrote": http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/220980-spotlight-rossinis-ciro-babilonia-gets-its-moment/. It's damn hard to pick out a single Rossini opera as being better than all the rest, because 1) he often recycled music, and 2) dramatically weak operas - _Otello_, _Bianca e Falliero_, _Ricciardo e Zoraide_ - have stunning numbers.
> 
> Mozart: _Don Giovanni_ (although the ending of _Clemenza di Tito_ is sublime, and it has "Se all'impero")
> 
> Berlioz: _Benvenuto Cellini_
> 
> Beethoven: _Fidelio_
> 
> Moniuszko: _Straszny dwór_
> 
> Offenbach: _Les contes d'Hoffmann_


Great list and welcome to the forum!

Nice to see _Straszny dwór_ there


----------



## Signor Crescendo

sospiro said:


> Great list and welcome to the forum!
> 
> Nice to see _Straszny dwór_ there


Thank you! Ah, Ten zegar stary, one of my favourite arias in the opera, and one of the most beautiful bass arias! _Straszny dwór_ was one of the first operas I heard (other than trying to listen to the Ring when I was six; it was about Norse mythology!); Polish friends gave a copy to my parents, and I loved it. It's a lovely warm score, that is both lively and exhilarating, but also with some melancholy. I remember being surprised in high school (before I knew much about opera or the operatic canon) that an opera enthusiast teacher had never heard of it. How did you come across it?


----------



## deggial

Signor Crescendo said:


> (although the ending of _Clemenza di Tito_ is sublime, and it has "Se all'impero")


:tiphat: the _eterni dei_ bit rocks - but so does the rest of the opera...


----------



## Signor Crescendo

deggial said:


> :tiphat: the _eterni dei_ bit rocks - but so does the rest of the opera...


That's the bit I'm thinking of! I've seen it twice - once live, and once Live in HD - and both times it's moved me enormously. I think it's because it's a very humane and civilised work, celebrating nobility and compassion; it's music from another and a better world. That's one of the things I like about German Enlightenment art: the optimism and belief in human potential. (_Nathan der Weise_ and _Fidelio_ have much the same power.)


----------



## deggial

word, mate, word. It's the dog's ********  it's good because it's got both the very good and the very bad of human nature. And some of Mozart's loveliest tunes - for good measure. Thank goodness Salieri was too busy that summer.


----------



## JCarmel

Here's my 5 and a half?!

Mozart...The Marriage of Figaro

Verdi.....Don Carlos

Bellini...I Puritani

Mozart...Don Giovanni

Puccini...Madama Butterfly

plus...as it's only a Masque and therefore only half-a-choice...Purcell's The Fairy Queen!


----------



## Littlesausage

From the Classical era, these are my favorite 5 operas:

Die Zauberflote.
Cosi fan Tutte
Don Giovanni
Die Enthfurung 
Idomeneo.

Romantic Italians:

Tosca.
Traviata.
Rigoletto.
Cavalleria Rusticana.
I Pagliacci.


----------



## sospiro

Signor Crescendo said:


> Thank you! Ah, Ten zegar stary, one of my favourite arias in the opera, and one of the most beautiful bass arias! _Straszny dwór_ was one of the first operas I heard (other than trying to listen to the Ring when I was six; it was about Norse mythology!); Polish friends gave a copy to my parents, and I loved it. It's a lovely warm score, that is both lively and exhilarating, but also with some melancholy. I remember being surprised in high school (before I knew much about opera or the operatic canon) that an opera enthusiast teacher had never heard of it. How did you come across it?


How fabulous that you tried to listen to the Ring when you were six! Did you get into Wagner eventually?

Aramis who is a Polish member of this forum recommended _Halka_ and _Straszny dwór_. It took me ages to get round to ordering them but when I did I fell in love with _Straszny dwór_ straight away. I do like _Halka_ but not as much as Haunted Manor.


----------



## cournot

My current list:

1. The Ring
2. Don Giovanni
3. Turandot
4. Cosi Fan Tutte
5. Marriage of Figaro


----------



## Sonata

cournot said:


> My current list:
> 
> 1. The Ring
> 2. Don Giovanni
> 3. Turandot
> 4. Cosi Fan Tutte
> 5. Marriage of Figaro


Excellent taste!


----------



## quercus robur

Monteverdi - Orfeo
Mozart - Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte
Wagner - Tristan und Isolde, Parsifal


----------



## Signor Crescendo

sospiro said:


> How fabulous that you tried to listen to the Ring when you were six! Did you get into Wagner eventually?


About fifteen years later! Properly, I mean. With the whole reading scores and criticism. (When I was in middle school, I'd put on the Flying Dutchman - I liked the overture and the 'Johoe! Hui!'s and the sailors' chorus. And I knew the plot of _Meistersinger_ from reading Edmund Crispin's _Swan Song_.)



> Aramis who is a Polish member of this forum recommended _Halka_ and _Straszny dwór_. It took me ages to get round to ordering them but when I did I fell in love with _Straszny dwór_ straight away. I do like _Halka_ but not as much as Haunted Manor.


You both have excellent taste! I heard _Halka_ a few years ago, but don't remember much about it - probably because it didn't have a libretto, and I don't speak Polish. I've just discovered that it's available on DVD; I'll have to track down a copy!


----------



## marcbusquet

Tosca
Ernani
Macbeth
Thais
La forza del destino
(all with Sherrill Milnes in the baritone character)


----------



## SixFootScowl

Florestan said:


> Fidelio is my favorite.


Add La Cenerentola to my list, Abbado with Frederica von Stade.


----------



## Marcel

Don Giovanni
Rigoletto
Faust
Traviatta
Lohengrin


----------



## amfortas

Die Walküre
Parsifal
Don Carlo
Le Nozze di Figaro
Eugene Onegin


----------



## Morimur

My word, doesn't anyone listen to contemporary music around here!


----------



## Divasin

As cournot states it can only be a current list..tomorrow I might be a different person!
1. The Ring
2. Falstaff
3. Cosi Fan Tutte
4. Otello
5. Ariadne aux Naxos


----------



## gellio

The Ring
The Marriage of Figaro
Don Giovanni
Fidelio
Meistersinger


----------



## Guest

Lope de Aguirre said:


> My word, doesn't anyone listen to contemporary music around here!


I find it somewhat difficult to compare contemporary opera with anything before. This is somewhat logical, as contemporary music has a way of defying all sorts of norms, but it's also somewhat illogical, since it's not exactly uniform from Monteverdi to Berg either. But hey, why not two lists? Oh, and speaking of Berg, I'm not sure where to put him:

Der Ring Des Nibelungen
Die Zauberflote
L'Orfeo
Pelleas Et Melisande
Otello

LICHT
Saint Francois D'Assise
The Mask Of Orpheus
L'Amour De Loin
Prometeo


----------



## Itullian

Lope de Aguirre said:


> My word, doesn't anyone listen to contemporary music around here!


Tried em, don't like em.


----------



## mamascarlatti

Tried 'em, liked some of 'em straight away, liked some of 'em after making quite an effort, not sure I'll ever like some of 'em but then look what happened with me and Wagner.


----------



## nina foresti

Don Carlo
Otello
Mefistofele
Madama Butterfly
Dialogues des Carmelites


----------



## deggial

Lope de Aguirre said:


> My word, doesn't anyone listen to contemporary music around here!


Rihanna, Miley, Taylor Swift...


----------



## Jobis

mamascarlatti said:


> Tried 'em, liked some of 'em straight away, liked some of 'em after making quite an effort, not sure I'll ever like some of 'em but then look what happened with me and Wagner.


I admire your persistence  many opera fans won't give anything more modern than Strauss or Puccini as much as a cursory glance. Second Viennese school? What's that? Never mind the 100 years that have elapsed in the opera world since then!


----------



## Morimur

deggial said:


> Rihanna, Miley, Taylor Swift...


Errr... No.
*******


----------



## Itullian

I have Francis of Assisi , Die Soldaten, Ankenaten, Wozzeck and Lulu.

So i have tried. Francis is interesting and I do like Messiaen otherwise.


----------



## Itullian

mamascarlatti said:


> Tried 'em, liked some of 'em straight away, liked some of 'em after making quite an effort, not sure I'll ever like some of 'em but then look what happened with me and Wagner.


What happened?


----------



## Sloe

Madama Butterfly
Iris
Lohengrin
The Flying Dutchman
Stiffelio

I would also place the Ring Cycle somewhere in top five but they are four operas and they belong together I always listen to them all at once and I think more operas deserves to be mentioned.
I don´t like to limit myself like that what if I like ten operas equally.


----------



## mamascarlatti

Itullian said:


> What happened?


I couldn't stand him and now I love him. Tristan is now one of my favourite operas but the first time I heard it it seemed like disorganised noise.


----------



## Cosmos

I haven't listened to many operas, but of the ones I have heard my favorites are

Strauss - Salome
Wagner - Das Rheingold and Die Valkure
Mozart - Die Zauberflote
Verdi - Macbeth


----------



## Itullian

mamascarlatti said:


> I couldn't stand him and now I love him. Tristan is now one of my favourite operas but the first time I heard it it seemed like disorganised noise.


It took me a while with Tristan as well. It's an amazing work.

It'll be interesting to see what Gergiev's recording is like, huh?


----------



## BalalaikaBoy

in no particular order
1) Attila
2) Norma
3) Semiramide
4) Rigoletto
5) Nabucco


----------



## starthrower

Prince Igor
Boris Godonov
Lady Macbeth of Mtsenk
The Love For Three Oranges
Lulu


----------



## SixFootScowl

My list now updated and in no particular order of preference:

Fidelio (Beethoven)
La Cenerentola (Rossini)
La Sonnambula (Bellini)
Martha (Flotow)
La Serva Padrona (Pergolesi)


----------



## Ian Moore

My most favourite is Alban Berg's 'Wozzeck' and my second is his 'Lulu'. Third comes the craziness that is Stockhausen's 'Aus licht'. Fourth is Wagner's "Ring cycle". Fifth - there are too many to mention that I like equally.


----------



## ArgumentativeOldGit

The three Fs - _Figaro_, _Fidelio_ and _Falstaff_ - immediately come to mind. Throw in _Boris Godunov_ and one of the Janáček operas - _The Cunning Little Vixen_, say - and that's a fair list of five. But that leaves out far too many!


----------



## BaronScarpia

La bohème
Così fan tutte
Giulio Cesare
Otello (Verdi)
...and something by Strauss. Probably Arabella or Capriccio.


----------



## Blue Miasma

I've only been listening to Opera for about a month so my knowledge is quite small but my favourite 5 so far are (in alphabetical order) :

Die Zauberflöte 
La Traviata 
Le Nozze di Figaro 
Madama Butterfly 
Tristan und Isolde 

Will be interesting to see what my top 5 will be a year from now


----------



## Camillorf

I'm still a novice, but so far my top 5 are:

Il barbiere di Siviglia
Le Nozze di Figaro
Don Giovanni
La Cenerentola
L'italiana in Algeri


----------



## Tsaraslondon

I checked out what I posted 5 years ago, and my choice hasn't changed, though there were plenty battling for those final positions. Verdi is my favourite opera composer, but my top two are not actually by Verdi. Here they are again, with their best recordings.

1.








2.








3.








4.








5.


----------



## D Smith

Impossible to pick just 5 so I’ll pick 5 composers (in alphabetical order):

Britten - Peter Grimes
Janacek - Jenůfa
Puccini - La Boehme
Strauss - Salome
Verdi - La Traviata


----------



## SixFootScowl

Updated list:
La Cenerentola (Abbado with von Stade)
La Fille du Regiment (with Mariella Devia)
Fidelio (Bernstein with Janowitz)
La Sonnambula (with Eva Mei)
Martha (by Flotow)


----------



## Chordalrock

Tristan und Isolde
Parsifal
Don Giovanni
Die Walkure
Das Rheingold

I never like complete operas though. It's just some acts or scenes that I find superb. Parsifal has probably the highest quality to quantity ratio of the operas I listed. Wagner was definitely going places in his last years.


----------



## Pimlicopiano

Rodelinda
Così fan tutte
Pelléas et Melisande
Parsifal
Peter Grimes

Trying to pick ones where music and drama are best combined. But there have been some terrible omissions made to get to that list.


----------



## Itullian

GregMitchell said:


> I checked out what I posted 5 years ago, and my choice hasn't changed, though there were plenty battling for those final positions. Verdi is my favourite opera composer, but my top two are not actually by Verdi. Here they are again, with their best recordings.
> 
> 1.
> View attachment 54186
> 
> 
> 2.
> View attachment 54187
> 
> 
> 3.
> View attachment 54188
> 
> 
> 4.
> View attachment 54189
> 
> 
> 5.
> View attachment 54190


Amazing, exactly the same as mine.


----------



## DavidA

Falstaff
Figaro
Giovanni
Cosi
Fidelio


----------



## DarkAngel

I have avoided this list for some reason, but I can pick 5 most often listened to and subsequently have the largest CD and video collection of.....no surprises

1) Il Trovatore
2) La Traviata
3) Marriage of Figaro
4) Tosca
5) MacBeth


----------



## brotagonist

Wozzeck
Lulu
Moses und Aron
Herzog Blaubarts Burg
Die Soldaten

Put this in the list, too:
Parsifal


----------



## SixFootScowl

Florestan said:


> Updated list:
> La Cenerentola (Abbado with von Stade)
> La Fille du Regiment (with Mariella Devia)
> Fidelio (Bernstein with Janowitz)
> La Sonnambula (with Eva Mei)
> Martha (by Flotow)


Gotta revise my list. Current top 5 (not in any particular order):

Rossini: Barbiere di Siviglia
Handel: Giulio Cesare in Egitto 
Beethoven: Fidelio
Wagner: Der Fliegende Hollander
Bellini: La Sonnambula


----------



## Meyerbeer Smith

1.	Les Huguenots (Meyerbeer)
2.	Benvenuto Cellini (Berlioz)
3.	The complete works of Rossini
4.	The complete works of Offenbach - _Les brigands_ as a placeholder
5.	Straszny dwór (Moniuszko)

I'll probably change my mind five minutes later!


----------



## Pugg

Verdi: La Traviata.
Verdi: Don Carlo/ Carlos.
Mozart: Cosi fan Tutte.
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor.
Massenet: Thais.


----------



## Azol

Verdi: Don Carlo
Rossini: Semiramide
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
Puccini: La Fanciulla del West
(still undecided on the 5th, very hard to choose between Meyerbeer, Mussorgsky and Donizetti)


----------



## Sonata

Verdi: Don Carlos
Verdi: La Traviata
Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte
Puccini: Suor Angelica
Wagner: Gotterdammerung, OR Dvorak Rusalka

Pugg: we share the same top 3 

I will add that my favorite list is a "favorite right now" list....I DO regret the lack of a Rossini. But in terms of COMPLETE opera these are the ones I enjoy most in their entirety at this moment. I'll look forward to re-doing this in 6-12 months and seeing where things stand


----------



## Lensky

1. Don Giovanni

2. Norma
3. Lohengrin
4. Don Carlo
5. Macbeth


----------



## Art Rock

1-4 Der Ring
5 Tosca


----------



## LouisMasterMusic

deggial said:


> never saw your post, sorry. As to what is best, that's hard to say, tastes differ. What do you mean by modern sound? After 1950?


I mean more recent productions, like from 2000 onwards. My player deals better with these types of DVDs. What's Die Tote Stadt like in terms of music? I think there's a Kasper Holten production. Woould like to get to know it at some point.

I just ordered Massenet (Werther, Thais and Manon) and Bizet's Carmen. That's sufficent for now.Check this out!

http://www.talkclassical.com/24009-what-opera-cd-dvd-114.html?highlight=#post1256761


----------



## Bettina

1. Mozart: Don Giovanni
2. Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
3. Bizet: Carmen
4. Wagner: Parsifal
5. Mozart: The Magic Flute


----------



## Minor Sixthist

Desiree said:


> My Top 5:
> 
> 1. (Verdi) Nabucco
> View attachment 3165
> 
> 
> 2. (Puccini) Turandot
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 3. (Mozart) Die Zauberflote
> View attachment 3166
> 
> 
> 4. (Puccini) La Fanciulla del West
> View attachment 3167
> 
> 
> 5. (Tchaikovsky) Pikovaya Dama


Nabucco: mastering the most warm and noble brass line in history in the first eight bars.
By the way, I love your avatar. Tigress is a beast.


----------



## Minor Sixthist

Bizet - L'arlesienne
Bizet - Carmen
Saint-Saens - Samson et Delilah
Wagner - Le Fliegende Hollander
Beethoven - Fidelio

safe to say I've got something for the French when it comes to music.


----------



## Hurrian

Wozzeck
Tristan & Isolde
Doktor Faust
Nixon in China
Le Rossignol


----------



## Woodduck

Bettina said:


> 1. Mozart: Don Giovanni
> 2. Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
> 3. Bizet: Carmen
> 4. Wagner: Parsifal
> 5. Mozart: The Magic Flute


If cranky old Nietzsche could see his healthy, Mediterranean pet Carmen sandwiched between Tristan's " insatiable and sweet craving for the secrets of night and death" and Parsifal's "dim, hieratic aromas, the cunning alliance of beauty and sickness," he would simply pflip aus.


----------



## Scopitone

Woodduck said:


> If cranky old Nietzsche could see his healthy, Mediterranean pet Carmen sandwiched between Tristan's " insatiable and sweet craving for the secrets of night and death" and Parsifal's "dim, hieratic aromas, the cunning alliance of beauty and sickness," he would simply pflip aus.


Are you saying he would ausfahrt noisily?


----------



## Woodduck

Scopitone said:


> Are you saying he would ausfahrt noisily?


Well, that too.


----------



## hpowders

Mascagni Cavalleria Rusticana

Verdi Simon Boccanegra

Mozart Marriage of Figaro

Verdi Il Trovatore

Wagner Götterdämmerung

Four Italians, one German. Yes. I am making a statement.


----------



## Woodduck

hpowders said:


> Mascagni Cavalleria Rusticana
> 
> Verdi Simon Boccanegra
> 
> Mozart Marriage of Figaro
> 
> Verdi Il Trovatore
> 
> Wagner Götterdämmerung
> 
> Four Italians, one German. Yes. I am making a statement.


That you prefer operas in which people are incinerated?


----------



## Itullian

hpowders said:


> Mascagni Cavalleria Rusticana
> 
> Verdi Simon Boccanegra
> 
> Mozart Marriage of Figaro
> 
> Verdi Il Trovatore
> 
> Wagner Götterdämmerung
> 
> Four Italians, one German. Yes. I am making a statement.


Mozart was Austrian


----------



## ma7730

These are my personal favorites

_Tristan und Isolde_
_Parsifal_
_Der Rosenkavalier_
_Falstaff_
_Le Nozze di Figaro_

Three German, two Italian. Not a statement.

Runners up:
_L'Heure Espagnol_
_Pelleas et Melisande_
_Die Frau ohne Schatten_


----------



## hpowders

Woodduck said:


> That you prefer operas in which people are incinerated?


Nope. The statement I was making is that Italian is the finest language ever created to be sung.

I could have left off Götterdämmerung and replaced it with Verdi's Macbeth (was debating it) making it 5 for 5 for Italian opera, but I wanted to impress the TC membership that I could spell Gött....er....you know!!


----------



## hpowders

Lensky said:


> 1. Don Giovanni
> 
> 2. Norma
> 3. Lohengrin
> 4. Don Carlo
> *5. Macbeth*


I was going to list Verdi's Macbeth, but limiting the choice to five operas, I simply ran out of room. 

If I did, it would have replaced the Wagner.


----------



## Bonetan

hpowders said:


> Nope. The statement I was making is that Italian is the finest language ever created to be sung.


Easiest maybe, but finest? I'm not so sure. I think others are easier to understand & more expressive.


----------



## mountmccabe

I will make an attempt, but only by exempting Wagner. I don't know how including his operas would change things and this makes for a more interesting list anyway.

Strauss: Elektra
Janáček: Jenůfa
Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin
Bartók: A kékszakállú herceg vára
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas


----------



## Itullian

Not counting Wagner which would take up all 5 choices............
In no particular order:

William Tell, Rossini
Lucia, Donizetti
Faust, Gounod
Tales of Hoffman, traditional version
Mefistofele, Boito

bonus pick  Un Giorno di Regno, Verdi


----------



## sacraselva

I haven't even listened to that many operas yet and my top 5 is very crowded already 
If we draw the line at five: 
Norma
Semiramide
Lucia di Lammermoor
Anna Bolena
Tosca
(Sorry Verdi for having left you out...)


----------



## vcoheda

impossible to list only five, so i will cheat.

* german: die frau ohne schatten, parsifal, die zauberflote, fidelio, der freishutz
* italian: aida, tosca, norma, lucia, barber of seville
* french: carmen, romeo et juliette, werther, pelleas et melisande, tales of hoffmann


----------



## Troy

No particular order.

Aida
Samson et Dalila
Cosi fan tutte
Boris Godunov
Elektra

Also MtMacabe kudos for the Hungarian I love that opera too but if I restrict myself to five.


----------



## philoctetes

Salome
Don Giovanni
Götterdämmerung
The Cunning Little Vixen
Rigoletto


----------



## Sloe

Iris
Don Carlo
Madama Butterfly
Götterdämmerung
Tristan und Isolde


----------



## angelo

- Rigoletto (Verdi): it (on two cassettes) was a present for my 14 birthday, and I still loves it 
- Il Pirata (Bellini): the best of opera: heroic, sweet, melodic
- Don Giovanni (Mozart): the whole universe in a opera

and then other operas, such as:
- Le Prophète (Meyerbeer): best harmonies
- Il Trovatore (Verdi): darness and rhythm


----------



## Pugg

angelo said:


> - Rigoletto (Verdi): it (on two cassettes) was a present for my 14 birthday, and I still loves it
> - Il Pirata (Bellini): the best of opera: heroic, sweet, melodic
> - Don Giovanni (Mozart): the whole universe in a opera
> 
> and then other operas, such as:
> - Le Prophète (Meyerbeer): best harmonies
> - Il Trovatore (Verdi): darness and rhythm


Nice bunch Angelo, welcome to TalkClassical also.


----------



## huntsman

This is nice and easy for me as an opera b(l)uff...

Carmen - with Julia Migenes-Johnson specifically. (Or Garanca at the very least!)
La Traviata - Netrebko, pls
La Boheme - Ditto
Tosca - La Divina
Die Zauberflote - didn't particularly enjoy the (local) production, but as I've only seen five in total, it comes in fifth!


----------



## Taplow

A mixed bag, but if I had to choose, here are those I get excited about:

A Midsummer Night's Dream (saw the amazing Christopher Alden production at the ENO)
Giulio Cesare in Egitto
Turandot
Die Frau Ohne Schatten
Der Ring des Nibelungen (does that count as one?)


----------



## Granate

Puccini: La bohème
Verdi: Don Carlo
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (or Suicidal Tristan )
Wagner: Tannhäuser (not made for earthling tenors)
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro (beats DZ because it makes a little more sense)


----------



## howlingfantods

All opera top 5:

Parsifal
Meistersinger
Gotterdammerung
Walkure
Siegfried

No Wagner top 5:

Otello
Rigoletto
Aida
Don Carlo
Trovatore

No Wagner or Verdi top 5:

Turandot
Fanciulla del West
Pelleas et Melisande
Boris Godunov
Cavalleria Rusticana


----------



## SixFootScowl

Florestan said:


> Gotta revise my list. Current top 5 (not in any particular order):
> 
> Rossini: Barbiere di Siviglia
> Handel: Giulio Cesare in Egitto
> Beethoven: Fidelio
> Wagner: Der Fliegende Hollander
> Bellini: La Sonnambula


Another update. Replacing Barber of Seville with Flotow's Martha.


----------



## Taplow

howlingfantods said:


> Turandot
> *Fanciulla del West*
> Pelleas et Melisande
> Boris Godunov
> Cavalleria Rusticana


It warms my heart to see Fanciulla getting some love around here.


----------



## Woodduck

Taplow said:


> It warms my heart to see Fanciulla getting some love around here.


I have the impression that it's gained a lot of fans recently among Puccini's works. Once you get past those spaghetti western ragazzi from the O-Che corral, you get one of Puccini's most evocative scores, plus a spunky heroine whom the composer doesn't torment till she offs herself out of sheer self-preservation. I'm generally indifferent to Puccini, and wouldn't cross the street to see_ Tosca_ unless Maria Callas came back from the dead to sing it, but I'm fascinated by _Fanciulla._


----------



## hpowders

Wagner Götterdämmerung

Britten Peter Grimes

Verdi Simon Boccanegra

Mascagni Cavalleria Rusticana

Britten Billy Budd


----------



## nina foresti

How did I miss this thread?
1. Mefistofele
2. Don Carlo
3. Otello
4. Madama Butterfly
5. Romeo et Juliette
Also Rans: Tosca/Eugene Onegin/Dialogues des Carmelites/The Consul/Rigoletto


----------



## scratchgolf

1. Parsifal
2. Nabucco
3. Figaro
4. Lohengrin (skipping 90% of Ortrud)
5. Norma


----------



## howlingfantods

Woodduck said:


> I have the impression that it's gained a lot of fans recently among Puccini's works. Once you get past those spaghetti western ragazzi from the O-Che corral, you get one of Puccini's most evocative scores, plus a spunky heroine whom the composer doesn't torment till she offs herself out of sheer self-preservation. I'm generally indifferent to Puccini, and wouldn't cross the street to see_ Tosca_ unless Maria Callas came back from the dead to sing it, but I'm fascinated by _Fanciulla._


it's a breathtakingly beautiful score, and I regard Fanciulla and Turandot on a completely different level than the rest of Puccini's work. It did take me a few listens to get over the incongruity of pairing that sophisticated score with the earthy subject matter though. I wonder if that's one of the reasons it's never achieved greater popularity.


----------



## Woodduck

howlingfantods said:


> it's a breathtakingly beautiful score, and I regard Fanciulla and Turandot on a completely different level than the rest of Puccini's work. It did take me a few listens to get over the incongruity of pairing that sophisticated score with the earthy subject matter though. I wonder if that's one of the reasons it's never achieved greater popularity.


I suspect three reasons: the subject matter, which is, to say the least, unique for an Italian opera, and the absence of extended arias and catchy tunes (there's really only that lovely waltz that Andrew LLoyd Webber pilfered). There's also the difficulty of the role of Minnie, which sopranos say is a killer and really needs a Turandot voice. I'm fond of Birgit Nilsson's old EMI recording; her gleaming valkyrie high notes work well for the part - she's more of an Annie Oakley than an Italiana in America - and the rest of the cast and conductor are excellent.


----------



## Amara

In no particular order:

Giulio Cesare
L'Elisir d'Amore
Der Rosenkavalier
Carmen
Eugene Onegin


----------



## David9

1. Don Giovanni
2. Der Rosenkavalier
3. Die Walkure
4. Elektra/Salome
5. Otello


----------



## rw181383

5. The Devils of Loudun
4. Die Walküre
3. Otello
2. Don Giovanni
1. Parsifal


----------



## Pugg

rw181383 said:


> 5. The Devils of Loudun
> 4. Die Walküre
> 3. Otello
> 2. Don Giovanni
> 1. Parsifal


Strange choice, but if you are happy....


----------



## rw181383

Pugg said:


> Strange choice, but if you are happy....


I was hooked the very first time I heard it. Troyanos is amazing!


----------



## Pugg

rw181383 said:


> I was hooked the very first time I heard it. Troyanos is amazing!


Do you mean this one?

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Arthaus+Musik/101279


----------



## rw181383

Pugg said:


> Do you mean this one?
> 
> I was referring to the cd that is unfortunately out of print, although some used copies pop up every now and then for a reasonable price:
> 
> http://https://www.amazon.com/Penderecki-Devils-Loudun-Die-Teufel/dp/B00000133P/ref=sr_1_54?ie=UTF8&qid=1503066167&sr=8-54&keywords=devils+of+loudun
> 
> There is a minor casting change between the two. I prefer the audio recording but the video is an excellent alternative. I believe the video was recorded shortly after the premiere in 1969 and the audio recording in 1971.
> 
> By the way, small fragments from the opera are used in William Friedkin's The Exorcist.


----------



## ICHTHUS

1. Turandot
2. Aida
3. Carmen
4. La Traviata
5. Madama Butterfly
(6. Lucia di Lammermour) Sorry, just had to add a number 6.


----------



## realdealblues

1. Don Giovanni
2. The Marriage Of Figaro
3. La Boheme
4. Der Ring Des Nibelungen
5. Varies...


----------



## Guest

I like to contribute with my favorite operas and I can't count some operas out.

1. Carmen
2. Boris Godunov
3. Don Giovanni
4. Cosi fan tutte
5. Freischütz
6. La Traviata
7. Le nozze di Figaro
8. Der Ring
9. Bluebeard
10.Faust ( Gounod)

If it must be only five

1.Carmen
2.Freischütz
3.Don Giovanni
4.Cosi fan Tutte
5.Le nozze di Figaro


----------



## The Conte

1) Der Ring des Nibelungen
2) Norma
3) La Traviata
4) Madama Butterfly
5) Iolanta

At least for the moment.


----------



## poconoron

Don Giovanni
Marriage of Figaro
Magic Flute
Cosi fan tutte
Carmen


----------



## mjohnh18

Not in any specific order:

Rigoletto
Madama Butterfly
La Traviata
Tristan und Isolde
Salome

A Random Favorite: Le Villi


----------



## Pugg

mjohnh18 said:


> Not in any specific order:
> 
> Rigoletto
> Madama Butterfly
> La Traviata
> Tristan und Isolde
> Salome
> 
> A Random Favorite: Le Villi


Nice choice, welcome to Talk Classical.


----------



## SixFootScowl

Currently and bold topping my list:

*Flotow: Martha
Mascagni: L'Amico Fritz*
Bellini: La Sonnambula
Donizetti: Maria Stuarda
Handel: Giulio Cesare


----------



## Pugg

Still, Don Carlo / La Traviata on top, closely followed by Norma and Lucia.


----------



## Sloe

Iris
Don Carlo
Madama Butterfly
Tristan und Isolde
I recently heard Herr Arnes Penningar by Gösta Nystroem on radio I will say that is my fifth favourite opera for now.


----------



## Barbebleu

In no particular order and only valid until midnight GMT on the 2nd October!

Der Rosenkavalier
La Boheme
Tannhauser
Gotterdammerung
Die Frau Ohne Schatten

Honourable mention - Othello


----------



## DonAlfonso

In no order
Le nozze di Figaro
Don Giovanni
Rigoletto
Midsummer Night's Dream
La Boheme


----------



## Rossiniano

In order of composition:

Don Giovanni
Semiramide
Norma
Lucia di Lammermoor
Turandot

Of course any bel canto opera I'm listening to at the moment can eliminate any of the middle three from the list. Plus I have been known to toss out _Turandot_ when listening to _Cavalleria Rusticana_! The Don is quite safe!


----------



## Pugg

Pugg said:


> Still, Don Carlo / La Traviata on top, closely followed by Norma and Lucia.


And a new number 3 : _Rossini/ Armida _
DVD Fleming, of course.


----------



## Barbebleu

Pugg said:


> And a new number 3 : _Rossini/ Armida _
> DVD Fleming, of course.


I would love to give a like here Pugg, but the Bel Canto repertoire has very little appeal for me. My bad.


----------



## Pugg

Barbebleu said:


> I would love to give a like here Pugg, but the Bel Canto repertoire has very little appeal for me. My bad.


No problem Barbebleu I can live with anyone's ( no pun intended) taste.


----------



## Amara

Giulio Cesare
Eugene Onegin
Der Rosenkavalier
L'Elisir d'Amore
Carmen


----------



## Johnmusic

"Il Trovatore"
"La Forza del Destino"
"La Boheme"
"Manon Lescaut" Puccini
"Salome"


----------



## SixFootScowl

Today:

Mascagni's L'amico Fritz D that's me :tiphat

Flotow's Martha

Donizetti's Anna Bolena, Roberto Devereux, and Maria Stuarda


----------



## Pugg

Don Carlo / La Traviata still on top, Armida / Carmen and La Forza today.


----------



## Op.123

La Traviata
Un Ballo in Maschera
Tristan und Isolde
Salome
Don Carlo


----------



## Johnmusic

La Traviata
Un Ballo in Maschera
Tristan und Isolde
Salome
Don Carlo 

Burroughs

That is a wonderful list. Regards-Johnmusic


----------



## Meyerbeer Smith

Half dozen best:

_Les Huguenots_
_Le prophète_
_Benvenuto Cellini_
_La juive_
_Straszny dwór_
_Boris Godunov_


----------



## Pugg

Don Carlo / La Traviata still on top, Armida , La Boheme and Madama Butterfly. today


----------



## josquindesprez

Duke Bluebeard's Castle (Bartók)
Orphée et Eurydice (Gluck)
Dialogues of the Carmelites (Poulenc)
Die Frau ohne Schatten (Strauss)
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner)

I don't listen to nearly as much opera as I used to, but I gave the Gluck a whirl yesterday and had the warm fuzzies all over again.


----------



## ArgumentativeOldGit

When our lad was growing up and beginning to take an interest in music (he’s a music student these days) I remember telling him, tongue only slightly in cheek, that the three greatest operas were the three Fs - Figaro, Fidelio, and Falstaff. I don’t think I was too far out, frankly. So, not picking more than one work from any single composer (otherwise the Top 5 would contain all three Mozart-da Ponte operas) I’ll stick to my three Fs, and add Handel’s “Giulio Cesare” and Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov”.


----------



## Sonata

As with everyone else, these lists are always evolving. I realized, listening to Aida last night, that I've taken it for granted. It deserves a place in my top 5. So:

1) Aida
2) Cosi Fan Tutte
3) Don Carlo
4) The Ring
5) La Traviata


----------



## Nocture In Blue

Parsifal
Das Walküre
Götterdämmerung
Tristan und Isolde
Wozzeck


----------



## SixFootScowl

Nocture In Blue said:


> Parsifal
> Das Walküre
> Götterdämmerung
> Tristan und Isolde
> Wozzeck


Heavy Wagner fan here! Nothing wrong with that! It seems you are not the first to pick Walkure and Gotterdammerung out of the Ring.


----------



## SixFootScowl

Martha (Flotow)
La Sonnambula
Fidelio
Flying Dutchman
L'amico Fritz (Mascagni)


----------



## les24preludes

Nocture In Blue said:


> Parsifal
> Das Walküre
> Götterdämmerung
> Tristan und Isolde
> Wozzeck


Parsifal
Götterdämmerung
Meistersinger
Cunning Little Vixen
Kat'a Kabanova


----------



## IgorS

Madama Butterfly
La Traviata
Il barbiere di Siviglia
Don Carlos
Il trovatore


----------



## Eva Yojimbo

1. Tristan und Isolde
2. Don Giovanni
3. Cosi fan tutte
4. Le nozze di Figaro
5. Otello

Honorable Mentions: Der Ring des Nibelungen, Parsifal, Die Zauberflote, Falstaff, Don Carlo(s), Tosca, Julius Caesar, Il Bariere di Siviglia, Les Troyens, Bluebeard's Castle, Carmen, Pelleas and Mellisande, Ariadne auf Naxos, L'Elisir D'Amore, Don Pasquale.


----------



## les24preludes

les24preludes said:


> Parsifal
> Götterdämmerung
> Meistersinger
> Cunning Little Vixen
> Kat'a Kabanova


Damn - five should be L'Enfant et les Sortileges if you can argue that it's an opera. Don't want to leave out Kat'a Kabanova and feel a bit guilty for leaving out Porgy and Bess, though I could argue that the songs are better rendered as jazz pieces.


----------



## GeorgeMcW

Tristan
Parsifal
Walküre
Götterdämmerung
A bit heavy on the Wagner here, so my fifth would be a toss up between:
Cosi, Jenufa, Salome or Wozzeck


----------



## Tsaraslondon

I've probably done this already, but it's a long thread to scroll through, and I've no doubt changed my mind anyway. Picking just 5 is SO difficult.

1. Les Troyens








2. Norma 






, but only if Callas is singing the title role.

3. La Traviata






Ditto

4. Don Carlo








5. Queen of Spades


----------



## DavidA

Very difficult choice to make

In no particular order:

Carmen
Cosi fan Tutte
Falstaff
Figaro
Don Giovanni
But The Flute comes in a close 6th


----------



## AClockworkOrange

As some have said, this is indeed difficult as it difficult to make the omissions. In no order, the five which have struck me the most and stayed with me at present:
- Der Rosenkavalier
- Elektra
- MacBeth
- La Boheme
- Rusalka


----------



## Josquin13

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte
Mozart: Don Giovanni
Wagner: Parsifal
Handel: Alcina

Honorable mention: L'Orfeo, Don Carlos, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, Cosi fan Tutte, Le nozze di Figaro, La Forza del Destino, Der Rosenkavalier, Samson et Dalilah, Turandot, Pelleas et Melisande, La Boheme, and La Traviata.


----------



## silentio

GregMitchell said:


> I've probably done this already, but it's a long thread to scroll through, and I've no doubt changed my mind anyway. Picking just 5 is SO difficult.
> 
> *5. Queen of Spades*


I am a bit surprised, Greg. What made you value Pique Dame so highly? I like Tchaikovsky and Russian opera in general but have not paid much attention to this work before.

At the moment, my favorites would be:

1) Parsifal (Knappertsbusch, 1964)
2) Così fan tutte (Bohm, 1962)
3) Don Carlo (Giulini, 1970)
4) Pelléas et Mélisande (Desormiere, 1942) 
5) Boris Godunov (Fedoseyev, 1978)


----------



## Guest

1. Götterdämmerung
2. Narcissus
3. Lost Highway
4. Luci mie traditrici
5. The Mask of Orpheus


----------



## Barbebleu

shirime said:


> 1. Götterdämmerung
> 2. Narcissus
> 3. Lost Highway
> 4. Luci mie traditrici
> 5. The Mask of Orpheus


Some of us are of a more reactionary nature and not au fait with the more esoteric side of opera. Composers please for 2 to 5 would be a help. I'm too lazy to google them!


----------



## Tsaraslondon

Barbebleu said:


> Some of us are of a more reactionary nature and not au fait with the more esoteric side of opera. Composers please for 2 to 5 would be a help. I'm too lazy to google them!


I know 5. Birtwistle, though I doubt I'd ever want to hear it again :devil:


----------



## Morton

The first four are in no particular order;

Der Ring des Nibelungen
Tristan
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Parsifal 
Le nozzle di Figaro


----------



## howlingfantods

Barbebleu said:


> Some of us are of a more reactionary nature and not au fait with the more esoteric side of opera. Composers please for 2 to 5 would be a help. I'm too lazy to google them!


I'm a little shook by the realization that someone bothered to adapt David Lynch's worst movie into an opera. What on earth?


----------



## Guest

Barbebleu said:


> Some of us are of a more reactionary nature and not au fait with the more esoteric side of opera. Composers please for 2 to 5 would be a help. I'm too lazy to google them!


Ah, that's fair. I'm probably a different kind of opera nut to the opera nuts on this site.....

Beat Furrer, Olga Neuwirth, Salvatore Sciarrino, Harrison Birtwistle


----------



## Guest

howlingfantods said:


> I'm a little shook by the realization that someone bothered to adapt David Lynch's worst movie into an opera. What on earth?


I wrote this about it, if you're interested.............



shirime said:


> A fantastic opera by *Olga Neuwirth* that blends acoustic and electronic music seamlessly to create a surreal musical backdrop alluding to the character Fred Madison's increasing sense of alienation to his own existence and a blur between reality and....unreality. _Lost Highway_ is a very creative adaptation of David Lynch's film of the same name and has been described as closer to an episodic reinvention than a shot-for-shot remake. I would say this is for the better as it stands alone as one of the most interesting and creative operas of the 21st century so far.


----------



## Guest

GregMitchell said:


> I know 5. Birtwistle, though I doubt I'd ever want to hear it again :devil:


That's a shame. I think it's his most compelling work.


----------



## Meyerbeer Smith

In no particular order, my top four:

_Benvenuto Cellini_ (Berlioz)
_Les Huguenots_ (Meyerbeer)
_Straszny dwór_ (Moniuszko)
_Boris Godunov_ (Moussorgski)


----------



## schigolch

shirime said:


> Ah, that's fair. I'm probably a different kind of opera nut to the opera nuts on this site.....
> 
> Beat Furrer, Olga Neuwirth, Salvatore Sciarrino, Harrison Birtwistle


Not at all, my friend. I'm very fond of these four composers myself, and I would say "Luci mie traditrici" is one of my top favorite operas.


----------



## Guest

schigolch said:


> Not at all, my friend. I'm very fond of these four composers myself, and I would say "Luci mie traditrici" is one of my top favorite operas.


Excellent to hear! Sciarrino's other operas are great too, I particularly enjoy _Da gela a gelo_. I am currently exploring Furrer's operas further. Lachenmann also wrote an opera that I haven't heard yet..............


----------



## Tsaraslondon

silentio said:


> I am a bit surprised, Greg. What made you value Pique Dame so highly? I like Tchaikovsky and Russian opera in general but have not paid much attention to this work before.


I really like *Eugene Onegin* too, and I found it hard to choose between the two. My three favourite composers are Berlioz, Verdi and Tchaikovsky, so I wanted to include them all.

*The Queen of Spades* is a much darker work than *Onegin*, with Gherman something of an anti-hero. It's subject is obsession, and Tchaikovsky's music seems to me the perfect embodiment of its theme, broodingly dramatic and dark textured. I also got to love it from the brilliant Glyndebourne production I detailed. Marusin's tenor is no doubt an acquired taste, but dramatically he is superb and gives the performance of his life. It's probably as good an introduction to the opera as any.


----------



## San Antone

Pelleas et Melisande
Tristan und Isolde
La Traviata
La Boheme
Porgy & Bess


----------



## Barbebleu

Excluding anything by Wagner I would say

La Boheme
Die Frau ohne Schatten
Boris Godunov 
Elektra
Otello


----------



## GeorgeMcW

Then....Excluding Wagner, mine would be:

Cosi Fan Tutte (only coz this is the last Mozart I heard) .. could equally be Figaro or Don Giovanni 
Salome
Jenufa
Wozzeck
Pelleas & Melisande


----------



## Sloe

For now.

Iris
Madama Butterfly
Don Carlo
Tristan und Isolde
Siberia


----------



## Triple A

1/ Carmen/ Bizet




2/Nozze di Figaro/ Mozart
3' la boheme/ Puccini
3/ Turando/ Puccini
4/La traviata /Verdi
5/ The magic flute/ Mozart
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-o...ve-classical-music-poetry-tickets-46492942643


----------



## starthrower

Schnittke- Life With An Idiot
Britten-A Midsummer Night's Dream
Berg-Lulu
Verdi-Otello
Schoenberg-Moses und Aron

I probably have about ten but these will do.


----------



## Highwayman

Puccini - Tosca
Puccini - Madame Butterfly
Saint-Saëns - Samson et Dalila
Borodin - Prince Igor
Donizetti - L'elisir d'amore

-------------------------------------
I might make a completely different list this time next year, I`m not reliable on Opera I`m afraid


----------



## Hugo9000

Verdi - Un ballo in maschera
Verdi - Aida
Verdi - Otello
Verdi - La Forza del destino
Puccini - Madama Butterfly


----------



## Meyerbeer Smith

Highwayman said:


> Puccini - Tosca
> Puccini - Madame Butterfly
> Saint-Saëns - Samson et Dalila
> Borodin - Prince Igor
> Donizetti - L'elisir d'amore
> 
> -------------------------------------
> I might make a completely different list this time next year, I`m not reliable on Opera I`m afraid


_Prince Igor_ is wonderful. Have you heard _Boris Godunov_, _A Life for the Tsar / Ivan Susanin_, or _Ruslan & Lyudmila_ yet?


----------



## Highwayman

NickFuller said:


> _Prince Igor_ is wonderful. Have you heard _Boris Godunov_, _A Life for the Tsar / Ivan Susanin_, or _Ruslan & Lyudmila_ yet?


Although, I'm familiar with the names and the ouverture of the latter, I haven't seen/listened any of them yet. Nevertheless, you just gave me the motivation to do so...


----------



## Meyerbeer Smith

Highwayman said:


> Although, I'm familiar with the names and the ouverture of the latter, I haven't seen/listened any of them yet. Nevertheless, you just gave me the motivation to do so...


You have a treat, then!

*Boris Godunov* combines a Russian historical epic with a psychological portrait of a guilt-wracked king. Magnificent score, sombre and beautiful. Highlights include the Coronation Scene, notable for handling of crowds and bells; Varlaam's rousing Walls of Kazan aria; Boris's aria in the Coronation Scene, his soliloquy, and the clock scene; the cynical, politically motivated love duet in the Polish act; and the Forest of Kromy scene (one of those crowd scenes that opera is really for).

Some highlights of Cluytens' mighty 1962 recording, with Boris Christoff singing half the roles:





*Ruslan & Lyudmila* is a folktale epic, based on a Pushkin poem. The overture, which you already know, is brilliant, but the opera is full of imaginative orchestration, such as Chernomor's march. Has a terrific patter rondo for bass, too.

Some highlights from the Gergiev recording: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoB7Fd8EvhHZZn9zV9J5hR3rShvFtnPAO

*Life for the Tsar / Ivan Susanin* I know less well; it has one of the finest quartets I've heard, some impressive ensemble writing, and an excellent bass aria.

*Rimsky Korsakov*'s operas are also very good; all but one deal with Russian history or folktales, and, unsurprisingly, the orchestration is brilliantly imaginative.

_Sadko_ - with the Indian Merchant's Song, and the introduction that evokes the sea - is a good place to start. Based on a tone poem.

Whole opera (with English subtitles): 




_Kashchey the Deathless_ - an autumnal fairy tale - is short, so accessible, and has a beautiful final ensemble. Musical analysis here: 




_Snegurochka (The Snow Maiden)_ and _The Invisible City of Kitezh_ have astonishing things, such as the dance of the birds.
Suite from _Kitezh_: 




His historical opera _The Tsar's Bride_ has a powerful overture, and a beautiful mad scene. Soviet-era film here:


----------



## BalalaikaBoy

in no particular order
1) Norma
2) Attila
3) Nabucco
4) Semiramide
5) Rigoletto


----------



## Eusebius12

Don Giovanni
Zauberfloete
Le Nozze di Figaro
Fidelio
Der Rosenkavalier/Boris Godunov/Carmen/La Boheme/Genoveva/Kol Roger/Voss


----------



## DonAlfonso

Don Giovanni
Le Nozze di Figaro
Midsummer Nights Dream
Rigoletto
Madam Butterfly


----------



## SixFootScowl

Right now my top 5 operas are:

1. La Sonnambula
2. La Sonnambula
3. La Sonnambula
4. La Sonnambula
5. La Sonnambula

I know it so well that I can go through it in my sleep.


----------



## Woodduck

Fritz Kobus said:


> Right now my top 5 operas are:
> 
> 1. La Sonnambula
> 2. La Sonnambula
> 3. La Sonnambula
> 4. La Sonnambula
> 5. La Sonnambula
> 
> I know it so well that I can go through it in my sleep.


Probably more effective than counting sheep.


----------



## Robert Thomas

Boris Godunov
Pelleas et Melisandre
Gotterdamerung
Tosca
Rigoletto


----------



## Winslow

My five favorite operas, in order.
1. La Forza Del Destino
2. La Traviata
3. La Boheme
4. Tosca 
5. La Gioconda


----------



## SixFootScowl

Fritz Kobus said:


> Right now my top 5 operas are:
> 
> 1. La Sonnambula
> 2. La Sonnambula
> 3. La Sonnambula
> 4. La Sonnambula
> 5. La Sonnambula
> 
> I know it so well that I can go through it in my sleep.


45 days now and I have listened to La Sonnambula at least once every day, sometimes several times in a day. Tossing in a 4-hour dose of Tristan und Isolde here and there as that addiction is ramping up.


----------



## Woodduck

Fritz Kobus said:


> 45 days now and I have listened to La Sonnambula at least once every day, sometimes several times in a day. Tossing in a 4-hour dose of Tristan und Isolde here and there as that addiction is ramping up.


Guinness (not Alec, not the beer) needs to know about you.


----------



## Barbebleu

Woodduck said:


> Guinness (not Alec, not the beer) needs to know about you.


I think a therapist, rather than Guinness!! :lol:


----------



## joen_cph

Hearing it asleep might add to the experience?


----------



## Barbebleu

joen_cph said:


> Hearing it asleep might add to the experience?


That's it's only chance of me hearing it (again)!:lol:


----------



## BiscuityBoyle

Sticking to one opera per composer, 

1. Così fan tutte 
2. The Fiery Angel 
3. Pelléas et Mélisande
4. Lulu 
5. The Rake's Progress


----------



## Svetlana

I made a new account just so that I could post on this topic!

1) Les Pêcheurs de Perles (The Pearl Fishers) - I've been in love with this opera my whole life, particularly with: "Je Crois Entendre Encore" and the famous "Au Fond du Temple Saint" duet. I saw it live in person at the Metropolitan Opera on new year's eve in 2015. That was such a delight, considering it hadn't been performed in approx 100 years at the Met!

2) Carmen - As generic as the opera might be, a lot of my "favorite operas" (really, I love them all) stem from a deep rooted childhood memory of them. Being raised in a European household, my grandmother would listen to opera, and, of course Carmen was one that I was exposed to the most. Oddly enough, I have never seen it in person! I had tickets to a local production of it with the Nashville Opera and I was unable to attend due to last minute circumstances, and, I also had tickets to another local company's production, but, it was the abridged "The Tragedy of Carmen" (very shortened version of Carmen), and I couldn't go to that performance either due to last minute circumstances. Alas, I have front row orchestra seats for Carmen in about a month at the Met on my NYC trip, so, I shall finally see Carmen!

3) Turandot - No lengthy explanation needed here... we all know that Turandot is spectacular. I only discovered it a few years ago and haven't stopped listening to it since. 

4) Rusalka - Okay, so, being Eastern-European and having an affinity for Disney's The Little Mermaid as a child definitely influenced my love for Rusalka. I am well aware that it's not the most spectacular opera from a musical sense (don't get me wrong, the music is gorgeous, but it's not as strong as others), but, I am a sucker for the plot. I do detest the newly revamped version of the Met's Rusalka and miss the old one that Renee Fleming was in. I saw the live in HD broadcast of the new Met Rusalka and, while aspects of it were okay, I... really thought many aspects did not work well at all. 

5) Les Contes d'Hoffmann - When I was a little girl, someone in my family bought a VHS copy of the 1951 movie version of it and I was instantly very drawn to the music. Looking back at it, parts of it were very nonsensical, but, I was a child and the melodies were beautiful. I go to the Met a lot nowadays whenever I'm in New York, but alas, I live far away from the city and the times I do go, they haven't been doing Hoffmann. I only started going to NYC regularly now that I'm in my mid-20s and can afford to do so. Luckily, though, there's no need to go to the Met for this one because Nashville Opera (I live in Nashville) is putting on Hoffmann this season, so, I'm very happy about that! This time, I will most definitely go and nothing can keep me away from going.


----------



## AlexD

1. Verdi's La Traviatta - the closest opera gets to the European drama of the day - it is almost like Ibsen done at the Opera. There's tragedy and criticism of society. 
2. Tales of Hoffman by Offenbach. It's got drinking songs, fantastical stories and doesn't take itself too seriously. An opera with entertainment writ large above the door.
3. Marriage of Figaro - it's got comedy and a subtle themes beneath as the ruling classes get outfoxed.
4. Turnadot - Puccini - much like Tales of Hoffman. It is almost surrealistic - reality is thrown aside to tell a tale with music. There's comedy through the three advisors and the beauty of Nessun Dorma.
5. Wagner Siegfried. Having been through the Ring cycle once, Siegfried is the one that stood out for me as the standalone one.


----------



## Sonata

Currently:

1) Aida: Verdi
2) Cosi fan Tutte: Mozart
3) Don Carlos: Verdi
4) Der Ring Des Nibelungen: Wagner
5) Lucia Di Lammermoor: Donizetti


----------



## Sonata

Winslow said:


> My five favorite operas, in order.
> 1. La Forza Del Destino
> 2. La Traviata
> 3. La Boheme
> 4. Tosca
> 5. La Gioconda


It's great to see La Forza getting some love!


----------



## Sloe

For now.

Iris
Don Carlo
Madama Butterfly
I Lituani
Parsifal


----------



## Dimace

1. *R. Wagner:* Tannhäuser 
2. *A. Boito:* Mefistofele
3. *H. Berlioz:* La Damnation de Faust.
4. *V. Bellini:* Norma 
5. *R. Strauss*: Salome


----------



## Dimace

Sloe said:


> For now.
> 
> Iris
> Don Carlo
> Madama Butterfly
> I Lituani
> *Parsifal*


An opera list without Parsifal is unthinkable. (though it happened to me...)


----------



## Woodduck

Dimace said:


> An opera list without Parsifal is unthinkable. (though it happened to me...)


It's OK. _Parsifal_ is less an opera than a mystery play, a dream, or a drug trip.


----------



## schigolch

As of September, 2018, I'd say: Norma, La Traviata, Die Tote Stadt, Lulu, Dialogues des Carmélites


----------



## Sloe

Dimace said:


> An opera list without Parsifal is unthinkable. (though it happened to me...)


I have listened to it some times lately. Next time I might leave it out.


----------



## Barbebleu

Re post #426

I'm shocked and a little disappointed that no-one pulled me up for putting 'it's' instead of the correct 'its'.

Standards people, standards!:lol:


----------



## Rangstrom

Tristan und Isolde
Don Carlo(s)
Peter Grimes
Die Frau ohne Schatten
Il Barbieri di Siviglia

This week.


----------



## Dimace

Woodduck said:


> It's OK. _Parsifal_ is less an opera than a mystery play, a dream, or a drug trip.


Let us say that, what Wagner called *Geasmtkunstwerk*, finds emphatically in this work its mean and soul. As you already wrote, the libretto is somehow unusual and remoted from the Wagnerian ideas, but I must admit that this opera on stage is a joy to behold (I have watched the issue of Katharina Wagner some years ago) and like a spectacle comparable only to Tannhäuser.


----------



## Woodduck

Barbebleu said:


> Re post #426
> 
> I'm shocked and a little disappointed that no-one pulled me up for putting 'it's' instead of the correct 'its'.
> 
> Standards people, standards!:lol:


"Its" is the only possessive in English without an apostrophe. That's a pointless inconsistency in the language, no doubt the brain child of some pedant trying to distinguish "belonging to it" from "it is," as if anyone would confuse them in context. The impulse to insert an apostrophe is entirely rational and forgivable, at least for those who understand the issue. I have forgiven myself for it a number of times.


----------



## KenOC

Woodduck said:


> "Its" is the only possessive in English without an apostrophe.


Uh..."his"? The possessive form of "he". I can think of others...any pronoun possessive, I think.


----------



## Woodduck

KenOC said:


> Uh..."his"? The possessive form of "he". I can think of others...any pronoun possessive, I think.


You're right, in a way. "My," "your," "his," "her," and "their" don't have apostrophes, but that's because they _can't_ have them. These personal possessive adjectives are irregular forms; we don't add "s" to make them possessive - "me's," you's," "him's," etc. - but create new words. Otherwise, nouns and pronouns are made possessive by adding an "s" which is, I believe, always preceded by an apostrophe except in the case of "it." I'll modify my statement: "its" is the only regularly formed possessive in English without an apostrophe. It makes sense that people often put one in.


----------



## Rogerx

A list as long as my arm.


----------



## Dimace

schigolch said:


> As of September, 2018, I'd say: Norma, La Traviata, *Die Tote Stadt, Lulu,* Dialogues des Carmélites


Korngold & Berg! I adore them. Very nice selection indeed.


----------



## Haydn70

L'Orfeo
Le Nozze di Figaro
Don Giovanni
Die Zauberflöte
Mathis der Maler


----------



## marceliotstein

1. Cosi Fan Tutte
2. Barbieri di Siviglia
3. Contes de Hoffmann
4. Elektra
5. La Boheme

This is me trying to pick 5 different operas by 5 different composers. If I did not do that, the list would be like this:

1. Cosi Fan Tutte
2. Don Giovanni
3. Die Zauberflote
4. Le Nozze di Figaro
5. Barbieri di Siviglia


----------



## Sloe

For now:

Iris
Madama Butterfly
Norma
Don Carlo
Tristan und Isolde


----------



## SixFootScowl

Today and in no particular order:

Bellini: La Sonnambula
Tchiakovsky: Eugene Onegin
Mascagni: L'amico Fritz
Flotow: Martha
? 

Guess I have to think a bit about #5 and get back to post it later.


----------



## sharkeysnight

Only five?

1: Einstein on the Beach
2: Nixon in China
3: Peter Grimes
4: Elektra
5: Eugene Onegin

Lurking nearby:

Hansel & Gretel, La Cenerentola, Meistersinger, Carmelites, Candide


----------



## SixFootScowl

Fritz Kobus said:


> Today and in no particular order:
> 
> Bellini: La Sonnambula
> Tchiakovsky: Eugene Onegin
> Mascagni: L'amico Fritz
> Flotow: Martha
> ?
> 
> Guess I have to think a bit about #5 and get back to post it later.


Ok I got #5. Discovered it shortly after above post. So my top five are (in no particular order):

Bellini: La Sonnambula
Tchiakovsky: Eugene Onegin
Mascagni: L'amico Fritz
Flotow: Martha
Verdi: La Traviata

My next five after that are:

Beethoven: Fideio
Donizetti: Maria Stuarda
Lehar: Land des Lachelns
Wagner: Der Fliegende Hollander
Paisiello: Nina, o sia La pazza per amore


----------



## Tsaraslondon

Fritz Kobus said:


> Ok I got #5. Discovered it shortly after above post. So my top five are (in no particular order):
> 
> Bellini: La Sonnambula
> Tchiakovsky: Eugene Onegin
> Mascagni: L'amico Fritz
> Flotow: Martha
> Verdi: La Traviata
> 
> My next five after that are:
> 
> Beethoven: Fideio
> Donizetti: Maria Stuarda
> Lehar: Land des Lachelns
> Wagner: Der Fliegende Hollander
> Paisiello: Nina, o sia La pazza per amore


That's quite a conversion cosidering your initial reaction to La Traviata.


----------



## SixFootScowl

Tsaraslondon said:


> That's quite a conversion cosidering your initial reaction to La Traviata.


Quite remarkable, but it comes partly from not having given the story a close enough look in the first place. Of course I got this excited about La fanciulla del West and rarely listen to it now, but it would probably be in my top 20. Still trying to find something to like in La Boheme because I got rid of one library set with Pavarotti and then the other day picked up the Caballe set at the library sale. Also recall that Gheorghiu recorded that one, as well as many other great sopranos, so... Show me a redeeming moral value to La Boheme and I might give it another spin.


----------



## Tsaraslondon

Fritz Kobus said:


> Quite remarkable, but it comes partly from not having given the story a close enough look in the first place. Of course I got this excited about La fanciulla del West and rarely listen to it now, but it would probably be in my top 20. Still trying to find something to like in La Boheme because I got rid of one library set with Pavarotti and then the other day picked up the Caballe set at the library sale. Also recall that Gheorghiu recorded that one, as well as many other great sopranos, so... Show me a redeeming moral value to La Boheme and I might give it another spin.


Maybe you should try the Beecham set with De Los Angeles as an absolutely adorable Mimi. That said, if you have a problem with the morals of the principal characters I'm not sure even that will work.


----------



## marceliotstein

Fritz Kobus said:


> Quite remarkable, but it comes partly from not having given the story a close enough look in the first place. Of course I got this excited about La fanciulla del West and rarely listen to it now, but it would probably be in my top 20. Still trying to find something to like in La Boheme because I got rid of one library set with Pavarotti and then the other day picked up the Caballe set at the library sale. Also recall that Gheorghiu recorded that one, as well as many other great sopranos, so... Show me a redeeming moral value to La Boheme and I might give it another spin.


I missed all the earlier conversation about this, but isn't the redeeming moral value of La Boheme that it celebrates artists who seek truth and beauty instead of money? The eternal struggle ... as relevant today as it ever was.


----------



## SixFootScowl

marceliotstein said:


> I missed all the earlier conversation about this, but isn't the redeeming moral value of La Boheme that it celebrates artists who seek truth and beauty instead of money? The eternal struggle ... as relevant today as it ever was.


Perhaps, and I would have to look into it further, but they may be looking for truth in all the wrong places. Also, the redeeming value must be able to reverse the irredeeming value. Hence, the courtesan in Traviata, not only forsaking her previous life, but saying it is wiped away by God in her repentance. Sadly the family presumably of "high moral values" refused to accept that for the sake of the sisters fiancée and that drove her (not to say she is totally innocent of it) back to her former life having likely little if any other option. I suppose she should have asked the father to pay her keep so she would not have to return to her old life, but then the opera would not have had the confrontation scene at the party, and opera has to have it dramatic events, so...


----------



## Telramund

1: Lohengrin
2: Der Rosenkavalier
3: Tristan und Isolde
4: Tannhäuser
5: La Traviata (or Tosca)


----------



## MarioDelMonacoViva

In no particular order

- Gotterdammerung
- Don Giovanni
- Cavalleria Rusticana
- Suor Angelica
- Otello


----------



## MarioDelMonacoViva

Have you tried the Beecham set? His is perhaps the most definitive recording.


----------



## SixFootScowl

Today my favorites are (in no particular order):

Donizetti:
L'elisir d'amore
La fille du Regiment
Roberto Devereux

Flotow:
Martha, oder Der Markt zu Richmond

Tchaikovsky:
Eugene Onegin


----------



## maac

1. Die Frau Ohne Schatten.
2. Il trovatore.
3. Così fan tutte.
4. Pélleas et Mélisande.
5. Giulio Cesare.


----------



## Dick Johnson

Top 5 at right now – will probably change by tomorrow:
Rossini – Guglielmo Tell 
Puccini - La Fanciulla Del West 
Bellini – La Sonnambula
Verdi – Don Carlos
I’ll finish with one that is probably not in my top 5 but is solidly on the top 50 and does not get much attention on this board:
Mercadante – Orazi e Curiazi


----------



## Caesura

Not really in any order:

Handel: Acis and Galatea (if this counts as an opera)
Handel: Giulio Cesare
Handel: Serse
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte
Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro
Rossini: The Barber of Seville (if Acis and Galatea doesn't count)


----------



## VitellioScarpia

Current favorites, in no order: 

Tchaikovsky, Evgeny Onegin 
Verdi, Macbeth 
Strauss, Salome 
Puccini, Turandot (with the original Alfano ending) 
Verdi, Don Carlo


----------



## Bertali

Mozart: Die Zauberflöte
Beethoven: Fidelio
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
Strauss: Salome
Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov


----------



## ZeR0

Tristan und Isolde
Ring cycle
Salome
Elektra
Eugene Onegin

Unfortunately I can't also include Lulu, Carmen, and La Traviata as they are also favorites.


----------



## Taplow

Salome
Elektra
Die Frau ohne Schatten
Der Rosenkavalier
Ariadne auf Naxos

What? Why are you looking at me like that?


----------



## Itullian

Pick any 5 mature Wagner operas and those are my 5 favorites


----------



## Woodduck

1. Parsifal
2.Tristan
3. Gotterdammerung
4. Die Walkure
5. Don't know. Maybe Otello, maybe Fanciulla del West, both of which I like much more than most other works by their composers.


----------



## MAS

Didn’t we do this already? 
Never mind, I may have changed.
Today I would choose:
Macbeth
Trovatore
Medea
Semiramide
Cosi Fan Tutte or Giulio Cesare


----------



## annaw

I've never been really good at ranking them in some proper order so here's a random one.

Parsifal
Die Walküre
Götterdämmerung
Die Meistersinger
Tristan und Isolde

and then Otello should actually fit somewhere in here too...


----------



## SixFootScowl

Itullian said:


> Pick any 5 mature Wagner operas and those are my 5 favorites


Here ya go, a drinking buddy for sure:


annaw said:


> I've never been really good at ranking them in some proper order so here's a random one.
> 
> Parsifal
> Die Walküre
> Götterdämmerung
> Die Meistersinger
> Tristan und Isolde
> 
> and then Otello should actually fit somewhere in here too...


----------



## gellio

1. _Le nozze di Figaro_
2. _Don Giovanni_
3. _Idomeneo_
4. _Fidelio/Leonore_
5. _Der Ring des Nibelungen_


----------



## SixFootScowl

Today:

La Sonnambula
Eugene Onegin
Martha
L'amico Fritz
Der fliegende Holländer


Second favorite five:

La fille du Regiment
L'elisir d'amore
Don Pasquale
Fidelio
Bartered Bride


----------



## Barbebleu

Today

Die Frau Ohne Schatten
Tannhäuser
Turandot
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Götterdämmerung 

Tomorrow? Who can tell?


----------



## Tsaraslondon

Barbebleu said:


> Today
> 
> Die Frau Ohne Schatten
> Tannhäuser
> Turandot
> A Midsummer Night's Dream
> Götterdämmerung
> 
> Tomorrow? Who can tell?


I have two constants, *Norma* and *Les Troyens*. The other three change from one day to the other, but they are likely to be chosen from

*La Traviata
Don Carlo
Otello
Pelléas et Mélisande
Der Rosenkavalier
Rigoletto
Il Trovatore
Un Ballo in Maschera
Eugene Onegin 
Queen of Spades*


----------



## adriesba

Itullian said:


> Pick any 5 mature Wagner operas and those are my 5 favorites


That's basically where I am. A better question for me might be what are your five favorite operas that are not by Wagner. That I might be able to do. :lol:

Let me try that... maybe even rank them...

1. Der Freischütz 
2. Carmen 
3. Turandot 
4. Elektra 
5. Tosca

Except for maybe _Der Freischütz_, this will be different next month.


----------



## SixFootScowl

adriesba said:


> That's basically where I am. A better question for me might be what are your five favorite operas that are not by Wagner.


On that note, my top five are,

La Sonnambula
Eugene Onegin
Martha
L'amico Fritz
Fidelio/Leonore

The five favorite Wagner operas are,

The Ring, all four of them
The Hollander


----------



## Geoff48

La Traviata 
Carmen
Eugene Onegin
La Boheme
Bartered Bride.

Four works where the chorus plays an important part and Boheme which is just beautiful. But I guess if I prepared the list in a couple of days, or on returning from hearing Mozart, the list might be different.


And if I’m allowed to add perhaps my favourite of all, Gilbert and Sullivan, Yeomen of the Guard. This was my introduction to Opera and I remember having difficulty keeping back the tears towards the end of the performance. Indeed I still get a lump in my throat when I see it, or even hear it on cd. Now I know that many disparaging things are said about Sullivan and his imitation of others, maybe justified, but in Yeomen he gets it all right. And translated into Italian and without the dialogue, and listened to in a state of semi consciousness it might just pass for an unknown work by Verdi.


----------



## nina foresti

If I already posted many years ago, I cannot find me.
So here are my 5 best now.
1. Mefistofele
2. Don Carlo
3. Otello
4.Madama Butterfly
5.Tosca

6. Eugene Onegin
7. Romeo et Juliette
8.Dialogues des Carmelites
9. La Boheme
10. Lucia di Lammermoor


----------



## Hele

The list of favorite operas keeps changing and is much bigger, but if I'd have to choose the ultimate 5, then:

Don Carlo
Otello
Fanciulla del West
Turandot
Lohengrin


----------



## nina foresti

If I am near the opera I love, I love the opera I am near. (subject to change)
1. Don Carlo
2. Mefistofele
3. Otello
4. The Consul
5. Madama Butterfly (tie with Tosca)


----------



## HoDiadochus

Gotta agree with the Wagner fans here... Wagner operas are pretty much in their own class (don't mean quality necessarily, that's debatable; just that it's possible to love Wagner and dislike most other operas, and that signals that they are something rather different, at least the mature works. So people whose lists are totally or almost totally Wagner make sense to me! As well as people who'd never touch him with a ten-foot Gungnir.)

In order, mine would probably be this, and it's a stable list:
1. Parsifal - hands down my favorite. No question. I can listen to this all day, if the mood is right. Gotta cry when the Good Friday hits...
2. Götterdämmerung - I love the whole thing, but especially act 3 I can just play on repeat.
3. Tristan und Isolde - I don't listen to this one as often, but when it's good it's transcendent.
4. Die Walküre - my 2nd favorite of the Ring Cycle. 
5. Lohengrin - my first exposure to Wagner, it'll always have a place in my heart.


----------



## ThaNotoriousNIC

My top five operas is likely to constantly change as I get exposed to more new operas and new recordings of my favorites, but here is a listing in no particular order of my usual top five:

*1. Die Walkure (Wagner):* My favorite opera of all time and the one selection that may never change on my top five. I've talked about this opera in the Opera sub-forum before and I really think that the third act of Die Walkure might be one of the best in all of opera. It has my favorite combination of great orchestral interludes, awesome characters, and dramatic singing.

Recording: Solti, 1965
Favorite Track: Act III, Wotan's Farewell and Magic Fire Music

*2. Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss):* This one always manages to pull my heartstrings by the end of it. I am a sucker for baritone/bass roles and Baron Ochs is one of my favorites. The third act also really moves me, especially when it is time for the ending trio. Fantastic opera.

Recording: Thielemann
Favorite Track: Act II, Ohne Mich, Ohne Mich (The Baron's Waltz)






*3. Lucia di Lammemoor (Donizetti): *Bel canto ranks pretty highly in my book by two out of the five spots. Lucia is my favorite of Donizetti opera with some beautiful melodies and singing. It was one of the first bel canto operas I listened to and I can't wait to catch it live someday.

Recording: Bonynge, 1971
Favorite track: Act II, Se Tradirmi tuo Potrai






*4. La Cenerentola (Rossini):* I have mentioned this opera in a thread or two before, but I think this has some incredibly romantic music and has my favorite duet out of any opera.

Recording: Chailly, 1993
Favorite track: Act I, first duet between Ramiro and Cenerentola






*5. Don Carlo (Verdi):* While I am a big Wagner fan, the Italians manage to take three spots of the top five and they are led by Verdi with my favorite opera by him, Don Carlo. The scale of the music and the drama in this opera is epic from the perspective of my ears and it is one I cannot wait to see live. It has my favorite of Verdi choruses.

Recording: still looking for a go-to recording
Favorite Track: Act III Spuntato ecco il di d'esultanza


----------



## SanAntone

*Monteverdi* - _L'Orfeo_
*Debussy* - _Pelléas et Mélisande_
*Gershwin* - _Porgy and Bess_
*Verdi *- _Otello_
*Britten* - _Death in Venice_


----------



## MAS

SanAntone said:


> *Monteverdi* - _L'Orfeo_
> *Debussy* - _Pelléas et Mélisande_
> *Gershwin* - _Porgy and Bess_
> *Verdi *- _Otello_
> *Britten* - _Death in Venice_


How many centuries do your choices cover?
:tiphat:


----------



## Agamenon

Parsifal is not an opera. So, my faves operas operas are:


1. Meistersingers.
2. Don Giovanni.
3. Don Carlo.
4. Der Ring des Nibelungen
5. Coronazione di Poppea.


----------



## adriesba

Agamenon said:


> Parsifal is not an opera. So, my faves operas operas are:
> 
> 1. Meistersingers.
> 2. Don Giovanni.
> 3. Don Carlo.
> 4. Der Ring des Nibelungen
> 5. Coronazione di Poppea.


Based on your username, I thought _Elektra _would be on your list.


----------



## The Conte

Parsifal isn't an opera? I know Wagner termed it a Bühnenweihfestspiel, but it is really an opera.

N.


----------



## VitellioScarpia

A friend of mine, loves Wagner's music and its importance but jokingly refers to his operas as "philosophical-musico-dramatic pastiches"... :lol: He thinks Mozart operas reign supreme. We always argue for fun as I am a staunch defender of Wagner operas.


----------



## The Conte

VitellioScarpia said:


> A friend of mine, loves Wagner's music and its importance but jokingly refers to his operas as "philosophical-musico-dramatic pastiches"... :lol: He thinks Mozart operas reign supreme. We always argue for fun as I am a staunch defender of Wagner operas.


Sounds familiar...

N.


----------



## HoDiadochus

Agamenon said:


> Parsifal is not an opera.


In a way this is true... in a way it is false. It is the old artistic problem of transcending a historical form, but in a way that doesn't invent some new form to be standardized and copied. What we're left with is something so singular that it can't rightly be classed with other operas, but that isn't some new type that gets its own name. And when a work of art is so totally singular like that, well, I think it's best to group it for these purposes as an opera, but with the understanding that, strictly speaking, maybe it's something else.

Otherwise, we would need a TalkClassical subforum just for "Bühnenweihfestspiele"!

I mean, I know (or I think I know) you were joking, but it's interesting to think about, joke or not!


----------



## Aerobat

Tough to know where to start in picking just five, although number 1 is easy.

1. Tancredi
2. Rinaldo
3. Parsifal
4. La Sonnambula
5. L'Elisir D'Amore

I'm still not entirely sure why Tancredi isn't more appreciated, but I love it regardless.


----------



## erudite

Only 5? Hmmm…

No particular order:

Lulu
La Sonnambula
Macbeth
Satyagraha
Don Giovanni


----------



## Ned Low

Difficult question. Wsh you had asked for top ten, it would have been easier. Anyway 
I.Lohengrin
II.Tristan und Isolde
III.Parsifal
IV.Siegfried
V. Gotterdammerung


----------



## julide

cosi
cosi
cosi 
cosi
cosi


----------



## SixFootScowl

My top five keeps refining and it is hard to exclude other operas, but I think I have to settle for these five:

Bellini, La Sonnambula
Mascagni, L'Amico Fritz
FLotow, Martha
Wagner, Flying Dutchman
Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin

But it is hard not to include Beethoven's Fidelio in there. Maybe I need a top six operas thread.


----------



## ldiat

1) magic flute
2) Giulio Cesare
3)Artaserse, Leonardo Vinci
4)Entführung aus dem Serail
5)La Cenerentola, Rossini


----------



## Caesura

Caesura said:


> Not really in any order:
> 
> Handel: Acis and Galatea (if this counts as an opera)
> Handel: Giulio Cesare
> Handel: Serse
> Mozart: Die Zauberflöte
> Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro
> Rossini: The Barber of Seville (if Acis and Galatea doesn't count)


Wow, how things change over a few months.

My updated list:

Mozart: Marriage of Figaro
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte
Handel: Giulio Cesare
Mozart: Don Giovanni
Handel: Acis and Galatea


----------



## MarnixM

Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten
Korngold: Die Tote Stadt
Verdi: Don Carlo
Borodin: Prince Igor
Debussy: Pelleas & Melisande


----------



## Barbebleu

MarnixM said:


> Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten
> Korngold: Die Tote Stadt
> Verdi: Don Carlo
> Borodin: Prince Igor
> Debussy: Pelleas & Melisande


Nice choices. Five of my favourites!


----------



## mparta

Pelleas et Melisande, by some substantial margin
Ariadne auf Naxos
Magic Flute
Cosi fan Tutte
Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria.

I learned an interesting bit about Il Ritorno: my favorite performance is the slightly bastardized Leppard version, which I like in general but more than anything for Frederic von Stade. And my favorite Penelope moment, one of the great moments in all of opera and opera recording, is the spurious aria that someone says was adapted by Leppard from a Monterverdi madrigal!! after Penelope's encounter with Telemachus, who's returned from his travels and encounter with Helen. Both the aria itself and the orchestral interlude (sort of, a tail to the aria) that follows are beyond description. Anyone who deprives themselves of this performance on the basis of concerns about its authenticity (it's not) is missing one of the greatest musical moments ever set down.

Five for this list doesn't work, no place for Rossini, that's nuts. So I cheat. L'Italiana in Algeri.


----------



## gellio

01. Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart)
02. Leonore (Beethoven)
03. Idomeneo (Mozart)
04. Don Giovanni (Mozart) 
05. Der Ring des Nibelungen (Wagner)

06. Die Zauberflöte (Mozart)
07. Cosi fan tutte (Mozart)
08. La Clemenza di Tito (Mozart)
09. Il Trovatore (Verdi)
10. Les Danaïdes (Salieri)


----------



## SanAntone

SanAntone said:


> *Monteverdi* - _L'Orfeo_
> *Debussy* - _Pelléas et Mélisande_
> *Gershwin* - _Porgy and Bess_
> *Verdi *- _Otello_
> *Britten* - _Death in Venice_


I made this list prior to my rediscovering my love for Mozart operas, and then there's Rossini another fave. It's just that my listening habits go in long waves, I might go months without listening to music for which I actually have strong affection, while I focus on some other area of my favorite music. Which is why lists like this are so inaccurate over time.

If I made this list today, I would easily leave off the Britten work since IIRC I only added that because I couldn't think of a real fifth favorite at the time. Leaving off Gershwin or Monteverdi would be harder, but to be honest now that I'm adding Mozart and Rossini, P&G and Orfeo don't really fit in a top five list.

Here's today's list:

*1. Debussy - Pelléas et Mélisande (still takes the top spot)
2. Mozart - Die Zauberflöte
3. Verdi - Otello
4. Mozart - Don Giovanni
5. Rossini - Semiramide
5. Gershwin - Porgy & Bess*

So a tie for fifth.

On a different day Monteverdi and Britten could easily crack the top five.


----------



## schigolch

As of November, 2020, I'd say: Norma, La traviata, Die tote Stadt, Lulu, Dialogues des carmélites


----------



## Andjar

Turandot
Madamma Butterfly
Otello
Boris Godunov
Pagliacci


----------



## Rogerx

MarnixM said:


> Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten
> Korngold: Die Tote Stadt
> Verdi: Don Carlo
> Borodin: Prince Igor
> Debussy: Pelleas & Melisande


A wide range, no Mozart- Bellini etc


----------



## AlexD

Rigaletto
La Traviata
Seigfried
Tales of Hoffman
The rise & fall of the city of Mahogonny


----------



## Lilam

1. Faust -Gounod
2. Don Giovanni/Marriage of Figaro (tie) -Mozart
3. l'Elisir d'Amore -Donizetti
4. Don Carlo (5 act) -Verdi
5. Les Troyens -Berlioz


----------



## Richard di Calatrava

Oh, gosh - you are cruel - only five?! That's worse than Desert Island Discs on Radio 4 here in the UK where I live...at least the guest gets eight discs!

Well, let me think. With nearly 65 years of opera-going under my belt (Traviata at the age of 5 so work out my age [smiley face]!) I have lots of favourites. So, for TODAY only, and NOT in order, I present to you:

- Fidelio
- Siegfried (I'm listening to the 1965 Bayreuth/Bohm performance from Opera Depot right now!)
- Otello
- Tosca
- Ermione (Rossini)
- Billy Budd
...oh, that's six. I can't count. Tough - I've said it now!

Soooooo, for tomorrow, my favourites will be:

- Meistersinger
- Don Giovanni
- Les Troyens
- Falstaff
- Lulu (funny, I know I'm not alone in preferring it to Wozzeck...)

...And for sometime next week, perhaps I'll be mooting:

- Il Ritorno d'Ulisse
- King Priam
- Theodora (alright, so it's really an oratorio...)
- Le Nozze di Figaro
- Don Carlos (full, five-act with all the extras and ballet, and in French!!)

Shall I continue? Seriously, I simply couldn't narrow down my selection! Maybe we could talk about the top 50...???

Thanks for your indulgence!


----------



## gellio

ldiat said:


> 1) magic flute
> 2) Giulio Cesare
> 3)Artaserse, Leonardo Vinci
> 4)Entführung aus dem Serail
> 5)La Cenerentola, Rossini


LOVE your #3. Such an AMAZING opera!


----------



## gellio

Richard di Calatrava said:


> Oh, gosh - you are cruel - only five?! That's worse than Desert Island Discs on Radio 4 here in the UK where I live...at least the guest gets eight discs!
> 
> Well, let me think. With nearly 65 years of opera-going under my belt (Traviata at the age of 5 so work out my age [smiley face]!) I have lots of favourites. So, for TODAY only, and NOT in order, I present to you:
> 
> - Fidelio
> - Siegfried (I'm listening to the 1965 Bayreuth/Bohm performance from Opera Depot right now!)
> - Otello
> - Tosca
> - Ermione (Rossini)
> - Billy Budd
> ...oh, that's six. I can't count. Tough - I've said it now!
> 
> Soooooo, for tomorrow, my favourites will be:
> 
> - Meistersinger
> - Don Giovanni
> - Les Troyens
> - Falstaff
> - Lulu (funny, I know I'm not alone in preferring it to Wozzeck...)
> 
> ...And for sometime next week, perhaps I'll be mooting:
> 
> - Il Ritorno d'Ulisse
> - King Priam
> - Theodora (alright, so it's really an oratorio...)
> - Le Nozze di Figaro
> - Don Carlos (full, five-act with all the extras and ballet, and in French!!)
> 
> Shall I continue? Seriously, I simply couldn't narrow down my selection! Maybe we could talk about the top 50...???
> 
> Thanks for your indulgence!


If you like _Fidelio_ you have to get René Jacobs recording of _Leonore_. If you're like me, you won't care much for _Fidelio_ anymore


----------



## Handelian

gellio said:


> If you like _Fidelio_ you have to get René Jacobs recording of _Leonore_. If you're like me, you won't care much for _Fidelio_ anymore


I have the Jacobs Leonore but still prefer Fidelio


----------



## SixFootScowl

Handelian said:


> I have the Jacobs Leonore but still prefer Fidelio


I like both. But of the five or six Leonore recordings out there, Jacobs is the first one that really sounds good. I could ditch the rest of them.


----------



## gellio

SixFootScowl said:


> I like both. But of the five or six Leonore recordings out there, Jacobs is the first one that really sounds good. I could ditch the rest of them.


I'm with you. Have a five Leonore recordings I think that there's no point to any of them for me anymore, even the Gardinier which I quite enjoyed until now.

I am having a really hard time listening to any of my Fidelio recordings because every time I try, I just want to go back to the Jacobs Leonore.


----------



## SixFootScowl

gellio said:


> I'm with you. Have a five Leonore recordings I think that there's no point to any of them for me anymore, even the Gardinier which I quite enjoyed until now.
> 
> I am having a really hard time listening to any of my Fidelio recordings because every time I try, I just want to go back to the Jacobs Leonore.


It is a wonderful thing to have such a beautiful opera so perfectly performed!

As for my favorite five operas, I can't do it. I could probably assemble my top 30 but 5 is just too fluid. Among the 30 the top 5 vary over time.


----------



## Meyerbeer Smith

*18th century*
Rameau: _Hippolyte et Aricie_
Vinci: _Artaserse_
Gluck: _Iphigénie en Tauride_
Salieri: _Les Danaïdes_

[Can't decide on a fifth work. There are a lot of excellent operas: Vivaldi's _Orlando furioso_; Handel's _Serse_; Monsigny's _Roi et fermier_; Grétry's _Andromaque_; Gluck's _Iphigénie en Aulide_ and _Paride ed Elena_; Salieri's _Tarare_; Sacchini's _Oedipe à Colone_, besides _Figaro_ and _Don Giovanni_. And I love Porpora and Hasse's arias.)

*19th century and beyond*
Meyerbeer: _Les Huguenots_
Gounod: _Faust_
Mussorgsky: _Boris Godunov_
Moniuszko: _Straszny dwór_ 
tempted to put something silly and brilliant like Offenbach's _Ba-ta-clan_ or _M. Choufleuri_


----------



## gellio

SixFootScowl said:


> It is a wonderful thing to have such a beautiful opera so perfectly performed!
> 
> As for my favorite five operas, I can't do it. I could probably assemble my top 30 but 5 is just too fluid. Among the 30 the top 5 vary over time.


It is, indeed.

I'm with you. Too hard to iron down 5 even though I try.


----------



## SanAntone

SanAntone said:


> I made this list prior to my rediscovering my love for Mozart operas, and then there's Rossini another fave. It's just that my listening habits go in long waves, I might go months without listening to music for which I actually have strong affection, while I focus on some other area of my favorite music. Which is why lists like this are so inaccurate over time.
> 
> If I made this list today, I would easily leave off the Britten work since IIRC I only added that because I couldn't think of a real fifth favorite at the time. Leaving off Gershwin or Monteverdi would be harder, but to be honest now that I'm adding Mozart and Rossini, P&G and Orfeo don't really fit in a top five list.
> 
> Here's today's list:
> 
> *1. Debussy - Pelléas et Mélisande (still takes the top spot)
> 2. Mozart - Die Zauberflöte
> 3. Verdi - Otello
> 4. Mozart - Don Giovanni
> 5. Rossini - Semiramide
> 5. Gershwin - Porgy & Bess*
> 
> So a tie for fifth.
> 
> On a different day Monteverdi and Britten could easily crack the top five.


This was my previous list, but I've been listening to more Puccini recently, and he might crack the list. But which one? La Boheme is always an option; Tosca, Butterfly, even Manon is one I like. Turandot is okay, but not among my top Puccini operas.

New list:

*1. Debussy - Pelléas et Mélisande (still takes the top spot)
2. Mozart - Die Zauberflöte
3. Verdi - Otello
4. Mozart - Don Giovanni
5. Puccini - La Boheme*

If more than five were allowed, it would be more representative of what I regularly listen to: more Verdi, more Mozart, Rossini, and more Puccini.


----------



## Celloman

1. Wagner - Tristan und Isolde (also my favorite piece of music PERIOD)
2. Mozart - Don Giovanni
3. Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen
4. Wagner - Parsifal
5. Debussy - Pelleas et Melisande

If five more operas were allowed, I would probably include Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro and Cosi fan tutte, Verdi's Otello and Falstaff, and Wagner's Die Meistersinger.

Wow, if you look at post #141 on this thread, you'll see how much I've changed over the last eight years. Interesting!


----------



## nina foresti

#275 has not changed me much so I offer another 5 to reckon with:
6. Tosca
7. Eugene Onegin
8. La Boheme
9. La Fanciulla del West
10. Romeo et Juliette


----------



## MAS

I think I did this already, but maybe years ago.

My list today is:

Any opera *with Maria Callas*
Any opera *with Franco Corelli*

That said, I can choose operas in which they haven't appeared or of which there are no recordings.
(In any order)
Rossini *Semiramide*
Händel *Giulio Cesare*
Mozart *Cosi fan tutte*
Verdi *Don Carlo*
Wagner *Lohengrin*


----------



## Op.123

Bellini - Norma
Verdi - La Traviata
Puccini - Tosca
Wagner - Tristan und Isolde
Cherubini - Medea 

Don't particularly like leaving out Salome and Saariaho's L'Amour de Loin either


----------



## 1846

Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, Salome, Tristan und Isolde, Pelleas et Melisande.


----------



## Celloman

Op.123 said:


> Bellini - Norma
> Verdi - La Traviata
> Puccini - Tosca
> Wagner - Tristan und Isolde
> Cherubini - Medea
> 
> Don't particularly like leaving out Salome and Saariaho's L'Amour de Loin either


I love _L'Amour de Loin_ as well! The music is absolutely ravishing. To me, it seems like a metaphysical successor to _Tristan_ in more ways than one. There are some wonderful video performances of that opera with interesting stage sets that are well worth investigating.


----------



## Seattleoperafan

It surprises me how many people put Pelleas in their list. I do admit it is very beautiful musically. Perhaps it is best experienced live.


----------



## Seattleoperafan

This thread is so old I have forgotten if I ever did my list or maybe it changed over 9 years:
Norma
Gotterdammerung
Lohengrin
Tristan
Trovatore
Aida
Elektra
I need seven. Don't boot me off the forum.


----------



## 1846

Seattleoperafan said:


> It surprises me how many people put Pelleas in their list. I do admit it is very beautiful musically. Perhaps it is best experienced live.


I've never seen it live. I would love too, though. I do have three DVDs of it. I first listened to this opera as a teenager, I've always loved it.


----------



## Tempesta

_
Parsifal
Elektra
Falstaff
Cosí fan Tutte
Les Trojans
_


----------



## Tempesta

Easy alternates:

_L'incoronazione di Poppea
Les Huguenots
Don Carlos
The Rake's Progress_
... and any of Handel's oratorios


----------



## MAS

Seattleoperafan said:


> It surprises me how many people put Pelleas in their list. I do admit it is very beautiful musically. Perhaps it is best experienced live.


Do not have a heavy meal before you go to *Pelleas* - I speak from experience.


----------



## Tsaraslondon

Seattleoperafan said:


> It surprises me how many people put Pelleas in their list. I do admit it is very beautiful musically. Perhaps it is best experienced live.


I love *Pelléas et Mélisande* both on stage if the production is good and on record. Maybe not in my top 5, but close, closer than any Wagner opera in fact.

I can't remember what my top 5 were, but now I'd probably say.

Norma (but only with Callas).
Les Troyens
La Traviata
Don Carlo
Queen of Spades

It's not set in stone.


----------



## Allegro Con Brio

The Ring (cheating, but who cares...if I have to pick one, _Götterdämmerung_)
_Don Carlo_
_Turandot_
_Boris Godunov_
_Bluebeard's Castle_


----------



## nina foresti

Tsaraslondon said:


> I love *Pelléas et Mélisande* both on stage if the production is good and on record. Maybe not in my top 5, but close, closer than any Wagner opera in fact.
> 
> I can't remember what my top 5 were, but now I'd probably say.
> 
> Norma (but only with Callas).
> Les Troyens
> La Traviata
> Don Carlo
> Queen of Spades
> 
> It's not set in stone.


Question: Have you ever seen _Norma_ with Sondra Radvanovsky


----------



## Tsaraslondon

nina foresti said:


> Question: Have you ever seen _Norma_ with Sondra Radvanovsky


On DVD, yes. I prefer Caballé in the video from Orange, who is the only other Norma I can really enjoy (and she is better here than anywhere else - her effortless _Casta diva_ is a miracle).

As for Radvanovsky, she's probably the best we've had in a long time, but her articulation of the coloratura is nowhere near as accurate as Callas's, nor is she able to invest it with such eloquence. Even in 1964 and 1965 in Paris, when Callas is only comfortable in about 75% of the role, she makes more of the role musically than anyone else I've heard. I'm willing to believe that Ponselle, Lili Lehmann and Frida Leider were as great or maybe even greater, but we don't have enough recorded evidence, whereas we have several documents of Callas in the role, covering fifteen years, which prove her hegemony in the role.


----------



## MAS

nina foresti said:


> Question: Have you ever seen _Norma_ with Sondra Radvanovsky


I heard her live in San Francisco, before she took it to the Metropolitan. All I can say is, it was disappointing. Beautifully sung, but as Callas said about one of her own performances, "not yet the role." Besides what Tsaras said above, yes, she can sing it, but so much is missing for those who know *Norma* in Callas's hands. Nevertheless, the audiences loved it. I liked Sondra better as the *Trovatore* Leonora, the closest anyone came to what Callas did with the role. I think she connected with Leonora better than with *Norma*. Also, she had Hvorotovsky.


----------



## Seattleoperafan

MAS said:


> I heard her live in San Francisco, before she took it to the Metropolitan. All I can say is, it was disappointing. Beautifully sung, but as Callas said about one of her own performances, "not yet the role." Besides what Tsaras said above, yes, she can sing it, but so much is missing for those who know *Norma* in Callas's hands. Nevertheless, the audiences loved it. I liked Sondra better as the *Trovatore* Leonora, the closest anyone came to what Callas did with the role. I think she connected with Leonora better than with *Norma*. Also, she had Hvorotovsky.


To sing Trovatore well is quite an accomplishment. From the Met video I'd say Radvanovsky's Norma was the best since the young Jane Eaglen sang it 20 odd years ago and it was of the right vocal size with the top D6 and all. I think there should be two Normas for practical purposes: Callas's and everyone else. It is a great opera and should be heard and Callas hasn't sung it since about half a century ago. I know many on this board think ONLY Callas's is valid.


----------



## Tsaraslondon

Seattleoperafan said:


> To sing Trovatore well is quite an accomplishment. From the Met video I'd say Radvanovsky's Norma was the best since the young Jane Eaglen sang it 20 odd years ago and it was of the right vocal size with the top D6 and all. I think there should be two Normas for practical purposes: Callas's and everyone else. It is a great opera and should be heard and Callas hasn't sung it since about half a century ago. I know many on this board think ONLY Callas's is valid.


You are right of course and I would hate to think nobody ever performed or saw a particular opera again because of the shadows cast by previous great artists. That said, Callas's performances of Norma are now so imprinted in my mind's ear that I inevitably find others disappointing. I don't expect or want others to feel the same way and I actually dislike those statements about certain singers _owning_ certain roles.


----------



## SanAntone

Tsaraslondon said:


> You are right of course and I would hate to think nobody ever performed or saw a particular opera again because of the shadows cast by previous great artists. That said, Callas's performances of Norma are now so imprinted in my mind's ear that I inevitably find others disappointing. I don't expect or want others to feel the same way and I actually dislike those statements about certain singers _owning_ certain roles.


Because I am ignorant of historical performances and singers I can enjoy new productions. I suppose I am lucky in a way (ignorance is bliss), but I have always been more interested in the drama in the overall sense and not just focussed on the singing.

So new productions which set the opera outside its original inspiration can often interest me as much and even more than the original settings (of course there are limits).

E.g., I recently watched _Cosi_ set on Coney Island in the '50s - which I thought worked very well. Even more so did _Rigoletto_ set in Las Vegas in 1960, featuring a Rat Pack with the Duke in the center much like a Frank Sinatra character.


----------



## Dimace

Difficult question. I have many beloved operas. The five best, at the moment, could be something like:

Mephistopheles (Boito) 
Norma (Bellini)
Attila (Verdi)
Tannhäuser (Wagner)
La Damnation de Faust (Berlioz) (OK, quasi an opera...) 

(a list without Gaetano's works isn't a list, but let it be for the moment)


----------



## SixFootScowl

It changes a bit over time for me. Today,

La Sonnambula (Bellini)
Martha (Flotow)
L'amico Fritz (Mascagni)
Ring (Wagner, if I have to pick only one, Walkure)
Ummm, this one may be a moving target (Don Pasquale, L'elisir d'amore, La fille du Regiment, ...)

The thing is I will get into a groove and listen to one opera for days, even weeks, at a time. Right now I am listening to Wagner's Ring and have been listening to Rings for several weeks now and the momentum is very high so the end is not currently in sight, especially with a new set on order!


----------



## HenryPenfold

Varies, if not month to month, certainly year to year. But I, Henry Charles Penfold will say as follows:

1. The Ring 
2. Death In Venice
3. Parsifal 
4. Tristan
5. Wozzeck


----------



## Tsaraslondon

SanAntone said:


> E.g., Even more so did _Rigoletto_ set in Las Vegas in 1960, featuring a Rat Pack with the Duke in the center much like a Frank Sinatra character.


That sounds very similar to Jonathan Miller's production of *Rigoletto* at the English National Opera, which premiered in 1982. It was set in 1950s New York with the Duke as a Mafia boss and Rigoletto his sidekick. When the Duke was disguised as a student he was in an American GI uniform. It was a huge success and I think is still being used today.






Here's the quartet from a more recent performance, which is better quality sound and picture


----------



## SanAntone

Tsaraslondon said:


> That sounds very similar to Jonathan Miller's production of *Rigoletto* at the English National Opera, which premiered in 1982. It was set in 1950s New York with the Duke as a Mafia boss and Rigoletto his sidekick. When the Duke was disguised as a student he was in an American GI uniform. It was a huge success and I think is still being used today.


Thanks; I had heard about that kind of staging, but didn't realize it was for the ENO. I am not a fan of Italian opera in English, but I am not 100% opposed to it either. It is ironic, though, that even being sung in English I still can't understand everything.


----------



## Seattleoperafan

SanAntone said:


> Because I am ignorant of historical performances and singers I can enjoy new productions. I suppose I am lucky in a way (ignorance is bliss), but I have always been more interested in the drama in the overall sense and not just focussed on the singing.
> 
> So new productions which set the opera outside its original inspiration can often interest me as much and even more than the original settings (of course there are limits).
> 
> E.g., I recently watched _Cosi_ set on Coney Island in the '50s - which I thought worked very well. Even more so did _Rigoletto_ set in Las Vegas in 1960, featuring a Rat Pack with the Duke in the center much like a Frank Sinatra character.


There is no right or wrong way to appreciate opera. It is a dynamic artform. Many of us are more focused on singers, but if you attend opera today and do not listen to historic performances your experience will differ from many on this forum and it is not the wrong way to appreciate operas. Just a different perspective. I am guessing you are under 50. English performances need subtitles or something like them.


----------



## SanAntone

Seattleoperafan said:


> There is no right or wrong way to appreciate opera. It is a dynamic artform. Many of us are more focused on singers, but if you attend opera today and do not listen to historic performances your experience will differ from many on this forum and it is not the wrong way to appreciate operas. Just a different perspective. I am guessing you are under 50. English performances need subtitles or something like them.


It's not that I don't listen to, or aren't interested in, historical performances, it's just that I have gravitated to newer ones because of the audio quality of the recordings and availability on the Met's site or DVDs (they have some historical performances in audio only).

Now that I've spent several decades, off and on, listening and watching my favorite operas in relatively newer productions (post 1970, mainly the 80s -) I am now starting to go back and investigate the periods prior to 1970. Oh, and I going to have my 70th birthday this December. 

I will never have the kind of expertise exhibited by some here for judging singers since they are not my focus. But I can tell when I am hearing someone whose voice captures the moment and characterization and moves me - and that is enough for me.

It is within the context of a specific operatic performance that I judge singers; as opposed to comparing different singers doing the same role or pieces across 100 years of recordings. I may get to that point, I would like to - but I am most interested in delving deeply in the works of those composers I am interested in: Verdi, Mozart, and Puccini - mainly.

For the remainder of this year I will be watching all of Verdi's operas in chronological order. The I will do the same for Puccini and Mozart. Only after I've completed this traversal will I branch out to other related composers, e.g. Donizetti, Bellini, and Rossini.


----------



## vivalagentenuova

La fanciulla del west
Il tabarro
Tristan und Isolde
Otello
Boris Godunov

These are the operas where I find the combination of music and drama most compelling. That to me is the ultimate criterion. Runners up are several Mozart operas, the Ring operas, La traviata, Gianni Schicchi and Turandot.



SanAntone said:


> It's not that I don't listen to, or aren't interested in, historical performances, it's just that I have gravitated to newer ones because of the audio quality of the recordings and availability on the Met's site or DVDs (they have some historical performances in audio only).
> 
> Now that I've spent several decades, off and on, listening and watching my favorite operas in relatively newer productions (post 1970, mainly the 80s -) I am now starting to go back and investigate the periods prior to 1970. Oh, and I going to have my 70th birthday this December.
> 
> It is within the context of a specific operatic performance that I judge singers; as opposed to comparing different singers doing the same role or pieces across 100 years of recordings. I may get to that point, I would like to - but I am most interested in delving deeply in the works of those composers I am interested in: Verdi, Mozart, and Puccini - mainly.
> 
> For the remainder of this year I will be watching all of Verdi's operas in chronological order. The I will do the same for Puccini and Mozart. Only after I've completed this traversal will I branch out to other related composers, e.g. Donizetti, Bellini, and Rossini.


I understand where you're coming from. If you are interested in trying out some more historical performances from those composers that have pretty good audio and/or video quality, I would suggest the Moffo _Traviata_ film, the 1950s _Don Giovanni_ with Siepi cond. by Furtwangler, the 1958 black and white _Otello_ with Del Monaco, and the 1960s _La Boheme_ with Freni cond. by von Karajan. All these are excellent performances with top notch casts (that I personally believe best any available today or for many years now) that are in pretty good sound and picture. They aren't HD, but there's not a lot of extraneous noise or distortion and in many cases the visual element is very well done. DG is a stage performance w/o audience, Boheme is a stage performance that I think is playback, and the other two are studio films with playback. Some people don't like playback. I just think of it as a studio recording with visuals, but it's true it isn't the same as a live performance. For a full on live performance, check out the 1958 _La forza del destino_ with Corelli, Bastiannini, Tebaldi, and Dominguez while you're doing Verdi. It's black and white, but the sound quality is good.


----------



## MAS

vivalagentenuova said:


> La fanciulla del west
> Il tabarro
> Tristan und Isolde
> Otello
> Boris Godunov
> 
> These are the operas where I find the combination of music and drama most compelling. That to me is the ultimate criterion. Runners up are several Mozart operas, the Ring operas, La traviata, Gianni Schicchi and Turandot.
> 
> I understand where you're coming from. If you are interested in trying out some more historical performances from those composers that have pretty good audio and/or video quality, I would suggest the Moffo _Traviata_ film, the 1950s _Don Giovanni_ with Siepi cond. by Furtwangler, the 1958 black and white _Otello_ with Del Monaco, and the 1960s _La Boheme_ with Freni cond. by von Karajan. All these are excellent performances with top notch casts (that I personally believe best any available today or for many years now) that are in pretty good sound and picture. They aren't HD, but there's not a lot of extraneous noise or distortion and in many cases the visual element is very well done. DG is a stage performance w/o audience, Boheme is a stage performance that I think is playback, and the other two are studio films with playback. Some people don't like playback. I just think of it as a studio recording with visuals, but it's true it isn't the same as a live performance. For a full on live performance, check out the 1958 _La forza del destino_ with Corelli, Bastiannini, Tebaldi, and Dominguez while you're doing Verdi. It's black and white, but the sound quality is good.


Be warned that while the sound is O.K on the 1958 *Forza*, the picture is extremely primitive. But to my ears, it's the best *Forza* cast I've heard: almost all-Italian with voices of the appropriate weight for the roles, singing their hearts out. Even the _comprimari_ are well chosen.


----------



## vivalagentenuova

MAS said:


> Be warned that while the sound is O.K on the 1958 *Forza*, the picture is extremely primitive. But to my ears, it's the best *Forza* cast I've heard: almost all-Italian with voices of the appropriate weight for the roles, singing their hearts out. Even the _comprimari_ are well chosen.


Agree all around.


----------



## Endeavour

Don Giovanni
La Boheme
The Ring
The Marriage Of Figaro
Parsifal

I put Parsifal today but tomorrow it could be Cosi Fan Tutte or The Abduction From The Seraglio or The Magic Flute or Tristan und Isolde or Lohengrin or The Flying Dutchman or Die Meistersinger, etc.


----------



## Daland2021

Der Ring des Nibelungen 
Tristan und Isolde 
Lohengrin 
Khovanschina 
Fedora


----------



## JTS

Handel Julius Caesar
Mozart the da Ponte operas (3)
Verdi Falstaff


----------



## SanAntone

Does the Ring count as one opera?


----------



## SanAntone

SanAntone said:


> 1. Debussy - Pelléas et Mélisande
> 2. Mozart - Die Zauberflöte
> 3. Verdi - Otello
> 4. Mozart - Don Giovanni
> 5. Puccini - La Boheme


This list was created prior to my Wagner submersion, so there are some changes.

If The Ring counts as one opera, then

1. Debussy - Pelléas et Mélisande
2. Wagner - Das Ring des Nibelungen
3. Mozart - Die Zauberflöte
4. Verdi - Otello
5. Puccini - La Boheme

I am sure I'll change my mind again (that's how these lists work right?), but for today this is okay.


----------



## Itullian

SanAntone said:


> Does the Ring count as one opera?


If you want it to.


----------



## Doublestring

Monteverdi - L'Orfeo
Mozart - Don Giovanni
Wagner - Parsifal
Puccini - Madama Butterfly
Berg - Wozzeck


----------



## LeoPiano

1) Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
2) Wagner: Parsifal
3) Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
4) Puccini: La Bohème
5) Puccini: Tosca


----------



## SixFootScowl

For now, these five and taking advantage of calling the Ring one choice! No specific order here.

.....Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
.....Bellini: La Sonnambula
.....Flotow: Martha
.....Mascagni: L'amico Fritz
.....Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer

If I had to spread the Ring over four choices, then it might be,
.....Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
.....Bellini: La Sonnambula

Or perhaps more likely, 
.....Wagner: Walkurie
.....Bellini: La Sonnambula
.....Flotow: Martha
.....Mascagni: L'amico Fritz
.....Wagner: Gotterdammerung


----------



## SanAntone

SixFootScowl said:


> Or perhaps more likely,
> .....Wagner: Walkurie
> .....Bellini: La Sonnambula
> .....Flotow: Martha
> .....Mascagni: L'amico Fritz
> .....Wagner: Gotterdammerung


Those are the two parts of _Der Ring_ which I would select if splitting them off. _Walkure_ is my favorite, I guess because of the love scenes, but I haven't spent as much time with _Götterdämmerung_ ... Your other choices, aside from _La Sonnambula_, are unknown to me.


----------



## SixFootScowl

SanAntone said:


> Those are the two parts of _Der Ring_ which I would select if splitting them off. _Walkure_ is my favorite, I guess because of the love scenes, but I haven't spent as much time with _Götterdämmerung_ ... Your other choices, aside from _La Sonnambula_, are unknown to me.


I am a huge Brunhillde fan so you get the most of her in Walkure and Gotterdammerung, though missing some choice parts in the end of Siegfried. Some of her most impassioned singing occurs in Gotterdammerung.

Martha and L'amico Fritz are delightful operas with happy endings, something I sought in my beginning opera listening days.


----------



## SanAntone

SixFootScowl said:


> I am a huge Brunhillde fan so you get the most of her in Walkure and Gotterdammerung, though missing some choice parts in the end of Siegfried. Some of her most impassioned singing occurs in Gotterdammerung.
> 
> Martha and L'amico Fritz are delightful operas with happy endings, something I sought in my beginning opera listening days.


The end of _Siegfried_ has, as far as I can tell, one of the few true duets in Wagnerian opera - the final love duet is really fantastic. But the rest of _Siegfried_ is somewhat pedestrian, sort of just spinning the plot. The scenes with the dragon really reminded me of an action thriller. One can hear how much of Wagner film composers filched.


----------



## SanAntone

SanAntone said:


> This list was created prior to my Wagner submersion, so there are some changes.
> 
> If The Ring counts as one opera, then
> 
> 1. Debussy - Pelléas et Mélisande
> 2. Wagner - Das Ring des Nibelungen
> 3. Mozart - Die Zauberflöte
> 4. Verdi - Otello
> 5. Puccini - La Boheme
> 
> I am sure I'll change my mind again (that's how these lists work right?), but for today this is okay.


It's funny, for *Verdi* and *Mozart*, I like their operas so much, the one I'm listening to at the moment is my favorite. Today I've been listening to _Don Giovanni_, and I would have put it on the list instead of _Die Zauberflöte_. The same is true for Verdi, _Rigoletto_ could easily replace _Otello_, same is true for any of his mature operas.

So, the list of my five favorite operas would in reality number *over twenty*.



A more accurate list would be "who are your five favorite opera composers?" (there may already be that thread)

For sure:
*Verdi
Mozart
Wagner
Puccini*

The last could be *Rossini*, or *Donizetti*, but since Debussy only wrote one, it seems he's an outlier.


----------



## SixFootScowl

SanAntone said:


> The end of _Siegfried_ has, as far as I can tell, one of the few true duets in Wagnerian opera - the final love duet is really fantastic. But the rest of _Siegfried_ is somewhat pedestrian, sort of just spinning the plot. The scenes with the dragon really reminded me of an action thriller. One can hear how much of Wagner film composers filched.


Well I do like the part with the Wanderer and the three questions, and also would not want to be without the woodbird. Skipping Siegfried is definitely a sacrifice from the Brunnhilde aspect.


----------



## SanAntone

SixFootScowl said:


> Well I do like the part with the Wanderer and the three questions, and also would not want to be without the woodbird. Skipping Siegfried is definitely a sacrifice from the Brunnhilde aspect.


I would never skip it, but was just commenting that of all the operas it seems to have the least female presence of all - but I had forgotten about the songbird, which is very nice - and seems to be mostly exposition, setting up the culmination in _Götterdämmerung_.

And I don't find the character Siegfried very interesting, in fact I found he fairly insufferable.


----------



## starthrower

Current favorites:
Lohengrin
Meistersinger
Das Rheingold
Luisa Miller
Norma


----------



## Itullian

starthrower said:


> Current favorites:
> Lohengrin
> Meistersinger
> Das Rheingold
> Luisa Miller
> Norma


A very interesting 5 choices. Very diverse.
I recommend a couple for you.
Otello, Verdi
Mefistofele, Boito


----------



## starthrower

Itullian said:


> A very interesting 5 choices. Very diverse.
> I recommend a couple for you.
> Otello, Verdi
> Mefistofele, Boito


Haven't heard Mefistofele. I have an old CD edition of Otello with Vickers, the first Verdi opera I bought. But the sound is pretty crude. The loud passages make my ears bleed. I'll have to check the threads for a different recording to try out.

Edit: I did watch Mefistofele on YouTube. The full video with Ramey was up a year or two ago but it's gone now.


----------



## Itullian

starthrower said:


> Haven't heard Mefistofele. I have an old CD edition of Otello with Vickers, the first Verdi opera I bought. But the sound is pretty crude. The loud passages make my ears bleed. I'll have to check the threads for a different recording to try out.












I like this one.
Avoid the EMI Karajan. not good sound and it's cut.


----------



## starthrower

Itullian said:


> I like this one.
> Avoid the Karajan. not good sound and it's cut.


I guess I need the remaster. I just picked up two Warner remasters at the library. Macbeth, and Barber Of Seville with Sills, and Levine, and they sound great! The old Otello CD I have sounds like crud.


----------



## JTS

SanAntone said:


> I would never skip it, but was just commenting that of all the operas it seems to have the least female presence of all - but I had forgotten about the songbird, which is very nice - and seems to be mostly exposition, setting up the culmination in _Götterdämmerung_.
> 
> *And I don't find the character Siegfried very interesting, in fact I found he fairly insufferable*.


Not just an insufferable bully, but completely lacking in any form of intelligence.


----------



## Byron

JTS said:


> Not just an insufferable bully, but completely lacking in any form of intelligence.


As someone who breaks forum rules, gets accounts banned and creates multiple usernames to get around it yet cannot stop yourself from interjecting yourself into threads and starting the same arguments making the same tiresome observations over and over, you're hardly in a position to judge anyone's intelligence.


----------



## Red Terror

Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
Schoenberg: Moses und Aron
Ligeti: Le Grand Macabre
Berg: Wozzeck
Berg: Lulu


----------



## HenryPenfold

JTS said:


> Not just an insufferable bully, but completely lacking in any form of intelligence.


I'm inclined to agree. And strange that Wagner would cast such a significant character as a bully and manifest dolt.


----------



## SanAntone

HenryPenfold said:


> I'm inclined to agree. And strange that Wagner would cast such a significant character as a bully and manifest dolt.


The only character whom I think comes out sympathetic throughout is Brünnhilde.


----------



## La Passione

I'm not sure what makes Siegfried a bully or a dolt. He is certainly naive, but he acts on instinct. He senses correctly who he can trust and who is out to harm him or to use him. He makes friends with the animals in the forest, and the forest murmurs scene shows his ability for introspection.


----------



## HenryPenfold

La Passione said:


> He senses correctly who he can trust and who is out to harm him or to use him.


No he doesn't, he needed a little feathered flighted forest animal to tell him who was out to get him, and how. Otherwise he'd have been in ignorance.


----------



## Bourdon

HenryPenfold said:


> I'm inclined to agree. And strange that Wagner would cast such a significant character as a bully and manifest dolt.


It is to make it easier to indentify with


----------



## SanAntone

La Passione said:


> I'm not sure what makes Siegfried a bully or a dolt. He is certainly naive, but he acts on instinct. He senses correctly who he can trust and who is out to harm him or to use him. He makes friends with the animals in the forest, and the forest murmurs scene shows his ability for introspection.


Oh sure he sensed he could trust Hagen, Gunther, and Gutrun ...


----------



## Bourdon

SanAntone said:


> Oh sure he sensed he could trust Hagen, Gunther, and Gutrun ...


more a naive character ?


----------



## SanAntone

Red Terror said:


> Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
> Schoenberg: Moses und Aron
> Ligeti: Le Grand Macabre
> Berg: Wozzeck
> Berg: Lulu


Nice to see some operas not regularly listed. This week I've been listening to operas by *Wolf-Ferrari* and *Busoni*, and you just reminded me of Ligeti's _Le Grand Macabre_.


----------



## SixFootScowl

La Passione said:


> I'm not sure what makes Siegfried a bully or a dolt. He is certainly naive, but he acts on instinct. He senses correctly who he can trust and who is out to harm him or to use him. He makes friends with the animals in the forest, and the forest murmurs scene shows his ability for introspection.


I never saw him as a bully. Naive really hits it. Like Jethro on the TV series The Beverly Hillbillies. He only broke Wotan's spear because Wotan refused to yield the right of way. But he did not harm Wotan directly. He was smart to trust the animals from an early age and so the wood bird was a natural for him to also trust. Sure, he did not have to kill mime as he could have just lost him, but ont the other hand he was so thorougly disgusted with Mime that he killed him like you or I would a cockroach.

Siegfired may well be the most stand alone of the four operas and if just Siegfried, you get a happy ending.


----------



## Seattleoperafan

SanAntone said:


> Those are the two parts of _Der Ring_ which I would select if splitting them off. _Walkure_ is my favorite, I guess because of the love scenes, but I haven't spent as much time with _Götterdämmerung_ ... Your other choices, aside from _La Sonnambula_, are unknown to me.


Gotterdammerung is hard to catch live, but I think it lifts it to another level as a result.


----------



## SanAntone

Seattleoperafan said:


> Gotterdammerung is hard to catch live, but I think it lifts it to another level as a result.


I finished the Met's Götterdämmerung today and loved it. Voigt was stupendous. Hagen was also very strong.

Re: Siegfried's character - it is hard for me to reconcile naiveté with his treatment of Mime - he was entirely dismissive and arrogant, which is hard to reconcile with his later gullibility concerning Hagen, Gunther and Gutrun. The singer cast in the Met's production captured the jock-like oafishness well.


----------



## La Passione

[


HenryPenfold said:


> No he doesn't, he needed a little feathered flighted forest animal to tell him who was out to get him, and how. Otherwise he'd have been in ignorance.


He was raised by Mime who kept him in a state of perpetual ignorance simply for exploitation. Of course hes not world wise, but he knows enough to know he needs to get away from Mime before he can "come of age". Sorry, not as dumb as you make him out to be. What exactly should he have done that he didn't, or not known that he should have given the circumstances in which he was born and raised that would have made him smart in your eyes? And of course the woodbird is part of the natural world, the world of the subconscious.



SanAntone said:


> Oh sure he sensed he could trust Hagen, Gunther, and Gutrun ...


I was speaking more about the first drama, Siegfried. It is interesting that in Gotterdammerung he is so easily manipulated once he enters the human realm. His natural instincts and the knowledge he learns from Beunnhilde doesn't seem to prepare him very well for the political machinations he encounters. Which may be the point....


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## SixFootScowl

SanAntone said:


> I finished the Met's Götterdämmerung today and loved it. Voigt was stupendous. Hagen was also very strong.
> 
> Re: Siegfried's character - it is hard for me to reconcile naiveté with his treatment of Mime - he was entirely dismissive and arrogant, which is hard to reconcile with his later gullibility concerning Hagen, Gunther and Gutrun. The singer cast in the Met's production captured the jock-like oafishness well.


Remember that Siegfried was drugged in Gotterdammerung with the love potion. The effects are brought out very well in The Machine where Siegfried periodically seems to go into a partial faint for a moment, then snaps out of it. So the evil deeds done to Siegfried are not Siegfried in full control of his faculties.


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## SanAntone

SixFootScowl said:


> Remember that Siegfried was drugged in Gotterdammerung with the love potion. The effects are brought out very well in The Machine where Siegfried periodically seems to go into a partial faint for a moment, then snaps out of it. So the evil deeds done to Siegfried are not Siegfried in full control of his faculties.


Oh, I get that; but I think he was somewhat gullible to trust them in the first place and to drink the potion.


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## Red Terror

Goodness gracious, I forgot all about *Duke Bluebeard's Castle* by Bartók.


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## vivalagentenuova

In the _Saga of the Volsungs_, Sigurd knows everything that's going to happen to him (he's told a prophecy of his entire life and death) but he makes the mistakes he does anyway. Taken literally and from an outsider's perspective, that makes no sense and makes him look stupid. That's why you have to interpret it. I think it's meant as a metaphor for how love, friendship, and success can make us lose ourselves and go against our better judgment and our knowledge, and even betray our loved ones. The real potion for Sigurd is the heady feelings that come with those three. Put in those terms, it's actually a very relatable story. (Think of Sigurd as feeling, "I know this is wrong, but I can't help myself." Ever felt like that before?) I don't want to interpret Wagner too much because I haven't studied the libretti closely, but I suspect he understood this (see his use of the potion in _T+I_) and had something similar in mind. Siegfried isn't stupid, he just has to be understood in terms of his genre.


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## Mercedes2

I have been observing the opera forum for a while but never commented! Here's my attempt at a top 5:

1. _Tristan und Isolde_
2. _Parsifal_
3. _Das Rheingold _
4. _Tannhäuser_
5. _Otello_

I am currently going through a bit of a (self-diagnosed) _Tristan_ addiction! I fear it may be fatal


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## ChoralLlama

Assuming we're counting oratorios:
1. Handel's Messiah
2. Wagner's The Flying Dutchman
3. Handel's Theodora
4. Mozart's Don Giovanni
5. Wagner's Tristan und Isolde


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## SixFootScowl

ChoralLlama said:


> Assuming we're counting oratorios:
> 1. Handel's Messiah
> 2. Wagner's The Flying Dutchman
> 3. Handel's Theodora
> 4. Mozart's Don Giovanni
> 5. Wagner's Tristan und Isolde


Okay with me to include an oratorio. I recall reading that oratorios were done at at time when the church forbid opera, so it was sort of a workaround.

Welcome to the site!


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## new but obsessed

Caveat: I've only seen 16 operas (9 live, 7 free covid-era Met streams), and am missing so many pillars of the medium that I'm dying to see. 

But of the ones I have seen, my top 5 (top ~30%, almost elite!) are:

1) The Ring -- boy was this a real highlight / revelation during the first months of 2020 lockdown. For a nascent D&D nerd & childhood Tolkien fan, this one is hard to beat. 

2) Satyagraha -- my intro to opera, kicking off the obsession! It'll always be special. Plus the physical production was fantastic

3) The Magic Flute -- the first opera I saw that I could later sing along to! (though the too-modern staging was a drag; a better staging could have lifted this maybe to #1!)

4) Tannhäuser -- saw this a few months ago and have listened to that overture almost everyday since. Invigorating experience! And boy, the ballet sequence they performed at the show was really astounding -- reminded me of the "airline" dance sequence from All That Jazz. Wild stuff

5) La Cenerentola -- I just saw this, great show. And boy, esp. in these testy times, I can't remember the last time I'd laughed so hard! Fun fun music, fun fun show, so wonderfully ridiculous and silly, and what a banger of a finale!


* The Met Streams I've seen, aside from the Ring, are heavily discounted because I watched them on a pretty banged up TV and without nice speakers. Tough conditions to take in those great shows -- and I'm sure they'd be higher up the list otherwise. Even then, I enjoyed them and love the CD recordings I've found. So someday seeing Traviata, Onegin, Barber of Seville properly live is high on my wishlist and I'm sure they'd have a real shot at overtaking my 3-5 slots


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## JanacekTheGreat

new but obsessed said:


> Caveat: I've only seen 16 operas (9 live, 7 free covid-era Met streams), and am missing so many pillars of the medium that I'm dying to see.
> 
> But of the ones I have seen, my top 5 (top ~30%, almost elite!) are:
> 
> 1) The Ring -- boy was this a real highlight / revelation during the first months of 2020 lockdown. For a nascent D&D nerd & childhood Tolkien fan, this one is hard to beat.
> 
> 2) Satyagraha -- my intro to opera, kicking off the obsession! It'll always be special. Plus the physical production was fantastic
> 
> 3) The Magic Flute -- the first opera I saw that I could later sing along to! (though the too-modern staging was a drag; a better staging could have lifted this maybe to #1!)
> 
> 4) Tannhäuser -- saw this a few months ago and have listened to that overture almost everyday since. Invigorating experience! And boy, the ballet sequence they performed at the show was really astounding -- reminded me of the "airline" dance sequence from All That Jazz. Wild stuff
> 
> 5) La Cenerentola -- I just saw this, great show. And boy, esp. in these testy times, I can't remember the last time I'd laughed so hard! Fun fun music, fun fun show, so wonderfully ridiculous and silly, and what a banger of a finale!
> 
> * The Met Streams I've seen, aside from the Ring, are heavily discounted because I watched them on a pretty banged up TV and without nice speakers. Tough conditions to take in those great shows -- and I'm sure they'd be higher up the list otherwise. Even then, I enjoyed them and love the CD recordings I've found. So someday seeing Traviata, Onegin, Barber of Seville properly live is high on my wishlist and I'm sure they'd have a real shot at overtaking my 3-5 slots


Welcome to TC and the opera forum.

The Tannhäuser overture is a miracle. When I was first introduced to Wagner, I was also addicted to it for months!


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## ScottK

new but obsessed said:


> Caveat: I've only seen 16 operas (9 live, 7 free covid-era Met streams), and am missing so many pillars of the medium that I'm dying to see.
> 
> But of the ones I have seen, my top 5 (top ~30%, almost elite!) are:
> 
> 1) The Ring -- boy was this a real highlight / revelation during the first months of 2020 lockdown. For a nascent D&D nerd & childhood Tolkien fan, this one is hard to beat.
> 
> 2) Satyagraha -- my intro to opera, kicking off the obsession! It'll always be special. Plus the physical production was fantastic
> 
> 3) The Magic Flute -- the first opera I saw that I could later sing along to! (though the too-modern staging was a drag; a better staging could have lifted this maybe to #1!)
> 
> 4) Tannhäuser -- saw this a few months ago and have listened to that overture almost everyday since. Invigorating experience! And boy, the ballet sequence they performed at the show was really astounding -- reminded me of the "airline" dance sequence from All That Jazz. Wild stuff
> 
> 5) La Cenerentola -- I just saw this, great show. And boy, esp. in these testy times, I can't remember the last time I'd laughed so hard! Fun fun music, fun fun show, so wonderfully ridiculous and silly, and what a banger of a finale!
> 
> * The Met Streams I've seen, aside from the Ring, are heavily discounted because I watched them on a pretty banged up TV and without nice speakers. Tough conditions to take in those great shows -- and I'm sure they'd be higher up the list otherwise. Even then, I enjoyed them and love the CD recordings I've found. So someday seeing Traviata, Onegin, Barber of Seville properly live is high on my wishlist and I'm sure they'd have a real shot at overtaking my 3-5 slots


If opera is a fairly new experience for you and that's your favorite list, I'm guessing your in for the long haul!

Like you, I'm new to this forum and I think you're going to really like this as well. Scrolling through those threads it's hard to come up with a take on opera that isn't discussed in here somewhere. Have fun!!!


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## ScottK

1. Marriage of Figaro
2. Rosenkavalier
3. Boris Godunov
4. Simon Boccanegra
5. Die Walkure 
(Sorry I can't omit it)
5. The Magic Flute


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## Chilham

1. Orfeo ed Euridice
2. L' Incoronazione di Poppea
3. L'Elisir d'Amore
4. Die Zauberflöte/Le Nozze di Figaro
5. Tristan und Isolde

Yeah, I can't keep it to five either.


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## nina foresti

Forewarned that I probably posted my answer back in October and wonder if I still chose the same 5 (or cheated and made it 6)
1. Don Caro
2. Mefistofele
3. Otello
4. Madama Butterfly
5. Eugene Onegin (runner up: Tosca)


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## ansfelden

Brainstorming my top 5 (no opera specialist) 

Tosca, Carmen, Rigoletto, Der Freischütz, Lucia di Lammermoor


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## Josquin13

Don Giovanni
The Magic Flute
Tristan und Isolde
Lohengrin
Parsifal


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## Parsifal98

1. Tristan und Isolde
2. Don Giovanni
3. Die Walküre
4. Parsifal
5. I don't know yet...


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## Da55id

The Marriage of Figaro
Turandot
Tosca
Aida
Il Trovatore


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## Rogerx

Da55id said:


> The Marriage of Figaro
> Turandot
> Tosca
> Aida
> Il Trovatore


Not a bad choice, and good first post, welcome to Talk Classical.


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## Shaafee Shameem

Norma(Bellini)
Medea(Cherubini)
Anna Bolena(Donizetti)
La Traviata(Verdi)
Armida(Rossini)


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## MAS

Shaafee Shameem said:


> Norma(Bellini)
> Medea(Cherubini)
> Anna Bolena(Donizetti)
> La Traviata(Verdi)
> Armida(Rossini)


Coincidentally, all Callas operas. :lol:


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## Shaafee Shameem

I cannot help it that the great dramatic bel canto operas found their ideal interpreter in her!


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## Waehnen

Die Zauberflöte
Don Giovanni
Tristan und Isolde
Viimeiset Kiusaukset
Tannhäuser


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## SixFootScowl

I don't think I can have 5 favorite operas because Wagner's Ring only has 4.


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## Red Terror

The Ring (Wagner)
Bluebeard's Castle (Bartók)
Grand Macabre (Ligeti)
Endgame (Kurtág)
Moses und Aron (Schoenberg)


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## MAS

SixFootScowl said:


> I don't think I can have 5 favorite operas because Wagner's Ring only has 4.


The just seem that long…? :lol:


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## RobertJTh

Parsifal
Tristan und Isolde
Wozzeck
Salome
La Damnation de Faust (ok, it isn't 100% officially an opera...)

If I'm entitled 5 more, I"ll add the complete Ring + Elektra.


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## gsdkfasdf

No particular order

1. Trovatore
2. Onegin 
3. Tosca
4. Ariadne auf Naxos
5. La Rondine


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## ScottK

Da55id said:


> The Marriage of Figaro
> Turandot
> Tosca
> Aida
> Il Trovatore


If it hadn't been for Rogerx I wouldn't have noticed it was your first. I'm fairly recent too ... welcome!!!Oh but I thought I should tell you...Tosca is the wrong answer!..................:lol::lol::lol:!!


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## ScottK

gsdkfasdf said:


> No particular order
> 
> 1. Trovatore
> 2. Onegin
> 3. Tosca
> 4. Ariadne auf Naxos
> 5. La Rondine


I'm going to see Ariadne in a week and a half. Feel free to pass along any "how to watch Ariadne" tips you like!


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## ScottK

Red Terror said:


> The Ring (Wagner)
> Bluebeard's Castle (Bartók)
> Grand Macabre (Ligeti)
> Endgame (Kurtág)
> Moses und Aron (Schoenberg)


I'd like your recommendation from 3 and 4.


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## ScottK

MAS said:


> Coincidentally, all Callas operas. :lol:


Coincidentally???.....!!


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## davidscalvini

Tristan und Isolde
Elektra
La Fanciulla del West 
Falstaff
Götterdämmerung


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## hammeredklavier

Red Terror said:


> 1. The Ring


This is obviously cheating


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## Woodduck

hammeredklavier said:


> This is obviously cheating


What? You can't sit still for a mere 14 hours?


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## Rogerx

SixFootScowl said:


> I don't think I can have 5 favorite operas because Wagner's Ring only has 4.


You can add Fidelio to the list . :angel:


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## hammeredklavier

Rogerx said:


> You can add Fidelio to the list . :angel:


or Licht to the List. :angel:


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## gellio

So hard to say here, but if I could only listen to 5 operas for the rest of my life, I'd go with:

1 - Mozart - _Le nozze di Figaro_
2 - Beethoven - _Leonore_ (1805 Version)
3 - Mozart - _Don Giovanni_
4 - Mozart - _Idomeneo_
5 - Wagner - _Der Ring des Nibelungen_


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## Philidor

1. Richard Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
2. W. A. Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro
3. Alban Berg: Lulu
4. Richard Wagner: Die Walküre
5. Giuseppe Verdi: Don Carlos


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## Seattleoperafan

Philidor said:


> 1. Richard Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
> 2. W. A. Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro
> 3. Alban Berg: Lulu
> 4. Richard Wagner: Die Walküre
> 5. Giuseppe Verdi: Don Carlos


I've seen others pick Lulu and it is not on my radar. Is it the story or the music that does the magic for you. I love his songs but don't know his operas.


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## Philidor

Seattleoperafan said:


> I've seen others pick Lulu and it is not on my radar. Is it the story or the music that does the magic for you. I love his songs but don't know his operas.


It is both ... it is a magic combination of an absolutely modern story with a music that I can only call mysterious. If anyone ever doubted, here is evidence, that dodecaphonic music can express emotions and show colours not less as, say, the addition of Wagner, Verdi and Debussy. I listen to it and I am just fascinated how one could invent such perfect music with a quite new vocabulary. Genius Berg.


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## Mister Meow

My interest in operas is fairly new and still growing, and is limited to the Baroque, so my list (in no particular order) is:

1. Monteverdi: _L'Orfeo_
2-4. Vivaldi: _Farnace_ ; _Ercole su'l Termodonte_ ; _Ottone in villa_
5. Handel: _Il pastor fido_


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## SixFootScowl

Mister Meow said:


> My interest in operas is fairly new and still growing, and is limited to the Baroque, so my list (in no particular order) is:
> 
> 1. Monteverdi: _L'Orfeo_
> 2-4. Vivaldi: _Farnace_ ; _Ercole su'l Termodonte_ ; _Ottone in villa_
> 5. Handel: _Il pastor fido_


Check out Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto


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## Mister Meow

SixFootScowl said:


> Check out Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto


Thanks for the suggestion. I found a stream version online through my library, and I liked it ok, but it's not going to be one of my favorites. I think that _Alcina_ is next on my Handel list. Or perhaps on my Handel liszt.


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## Meyerbeer Smith

Mister Meow said:


> My interest in operas is fairly new and still growing, and is limited to the Baroque, so my list (in no particular order) is:
> 
> 1. Monteverdi: _L'Orfeo_
> 2-4. Vivaldi: _Farnace_ ; _Ercole su'l Termodonte_ ; _Ottone in villa_
> 5. Handel: _Il pastor fido_


Have you heard Vinci or Porpora yet?


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## eblackadder

Faust
Rigoletto
Un Ballo in Maschera
Manon
La Juive


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## Meyerbeer Smith

eblackadder said:


> Faust
> Rigoletto
> Un Ballo in Maschera
> Manon
> La Juive


_La Juive_! Awesome opera (I saw it on Friday) - and more fun than the Jumping Jews of Jerusalem?


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## Mister Meow

Meyerbeer Smith said:


> Have you heard Vinci or Porpora yet?


I've heard only snippets of Porpora on VivaLaVoce, and haven't heard anything of Vinci. I'll have to look harder to find some pieces. Thank you for the suggestions!


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## Meyerbeer Smith

Mister Meow said:


> I've heard only snippets of Porpora on VivaLaVoce, and haven't heard anything of Vinci. I'll have to look harder to find some pieces. Thank you for the suggestions!


Vinci wrote _Artaserse_ and _Catone in Utica_. _Artaserse_ is a countertenor showcase: five of the world's best, and one tenor. Here's the hit aria, sung by Argentinian countertenor Franco Fagioli - nearly 1.8 million views:





Fagioli, Max Emanuel Cencic, Philippe Jaroussky and others have recorded albums of countertenor arias. Here are some of my favourites:

SLOW
Max Emanuel Cencic ROKOKO "Notte amica" (Hasse) - YouTube: 



Max Emanuel CENCIC PORPORA "Quando s'oscura il cielo" - YouTube: 



Franco FAGIOLI PORPORA "Torbido intorno al core" - YouTube: 



Leonardo Vinci: "Quell'amor che poco accende" (Catone in Utica) - Franco Fagioli - YouTube: 



Philippe Jaroussky - Nicola Antonio Porpora - "Alto Giove" - YouTube: 




FAST
L. Vinci - Opera Semiramide Aria 'In braccio a mille furie' | Franco Fagioli - YouTube: 



Franco FAGIOLI | CATONE IN UTICA "Se in campo armato" - YouTube: 



Max Emanuel Cencic "Se tu la reggi volo" from Nicola Porpora`s "Ezio" - YouTube: 




Vivaldi is also great, of course. _Farnace_ (with Cencic again) is probably the best; a wealth of tunes. Here (for a change) are two women singing:
Roberta Invernizzi: Armatae face et anguibus (Vivaldi)- YouTube: 



OPERA PLANET Cecilia Bartoli 'Agitata da due venti' - Vivaldi 4K ULTRA HD - YouTube: 




Enjoy!


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## Sloe

Elektra because I am listening to it now and feel just blown away.
Iris
Madama Butterfly
Tristan und Isolde
Parsifal

Those things are difficult to decide.


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## Sonata

Oh I’m going to go with my favorites for “right now” because for me opera listening is a very dynamic experience.

1) Parsifal : Wagner
2) Lohengrin: Wagner
3) Verdi: Simon Boccanegra 
4) Verdi: Don Carlos
5) Gounod: Faust 

Parsifal just really clicked with me this year—normally the Ring would be on this list instead. Don Carlos is a perennial favorite, and since Verdi is my favorite opera composer I needed another in there. And in the past couple years I’m really loving a good authentically sung French opera


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## dko22

I'm not in general an opera fan. Nearly all operas before the end of the 19th century are too artificial and contrived for my taste. All my favourites without exception are from Slavonic composers and the best from Janacek are right at the top of the charts for any kind of music. 

1. The Cunning Little Vixen. 
2. Jenufa
3. Katja Kabanova
4. The Passenger (Weinberg)
5. Lady Macbeth


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## MAS

dko22 said:


> I'm not in general an opera fan. Nearly all operas before the end of the 19th century are too artificial and contrived for my taste. All my favourites without exception are from Slavonic composers and the best from Janacek are right at the top of the charts for any kind of music.
> 
> 1. The Cunning Little Vixen.
> 2. Jenufa
> 3. Katja Kabanova
> 4. The Passenger (Weinberg)
> 5. Lady Macbeth


Do you mean Lady Macbeth of Msensk? (Katerina Ismailova)?


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## ColdGenius

It's too hard to choose. And the list can vary.
Verdi, Macbeth.
Gluck, Iphigenia in Tauride. 
Haendel, Il trionfo de tempo e de desingano. 
Mozart, Don Giovanni. 
Strauss, Elektra. 
Poulenc, Les dialogues des carmelites.


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## Meyerbeer Smith

ColdGenius said:


> It's too hard to choose. And the list can vary.
> Verdi, Macbeth.
> Gluck, Iphigenia in Tauride.
> Haendel, Il trionfo de tempo e de desingano.
> Mozart, Don Giovanni.
> Strauss, Elektra.
> Poulenc, Les dialogues des carmelites.


I like the Gluck - but why in Italian?


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## ColdGenius

Meyerbeer Smith said:


> I like the Gluck - but why in Italian?


I like Glück in all the languages. Several his operas have Italian versions made in XVIII century, some of them were translated lately. Iphigenia with Callas is in italian.


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## nina foresti

1. Don Carlo
2. Otello
3. Mefistofele
4. Madama Butterfly
5.Tosca (runner up: Eugene Onegin


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## Seattleoperafan

Mister Meow said:


> Thanks for the suggestion. I found a stream version online through my library, and I liked it ok, but it's not going to be one of my favorites. I think that _Alcina_ is next on my Handel list. Or perhaps on my Handel liszt.


Sutherland in the late 50's blew people away with her Alcina. Be sure to look at the Zeffirelli outfits and sets!!! Venice opera house. I can't imagine.


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## MAS

Seattleoperafan said:


> I've seen others pick Lulu and it is not on my radar. Is it the story or the music that does the magic for you. I love his songs but don't know his operas.


My first opera in San Francisco was in the late 1960s; I got a free ticket from my Humanities class in college. Berg’s *Lulu *with Anja Silja screaming her head off (at least that was my impression) and the music didn’t beguile me with its modernity.


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## Tsaraslondon

Seattleoperafan said:


> Sutherland in the late 50's blew people away with her Alcina. Be sure to look at the Zeffirelli outfits and sets!!! Venice opera house. I can't imagine.


There's also this one from Cologne with one of my very favourite tenors, Fritz Wunderlich. It dates from 1959.


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## Artran

Without order and only one work per composer:

The Turn of the Screw (Britten)
Příhody lišky Bystroušky (Janáček)
L'Orfeo (Monteverdi)
Julietta (Martinů)
Wozzek (Berg)


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## Yabetz

Any 5 of Wagner's last 7. Other than that, Mozart's Figaro and Cosí fan tutte, and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (especially the decidedly non-HIP Britten recording).


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## Otis B. Driftwood

Le nozze di Figaro
Il barbiere di Siviglia
L'elisir d'amore
Il trovatore
La boheme


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## nina foresti

1. Don Carlo
2. Mefistofele
3. Otello
4. Madama Butterfly
5. Dialogues des Carmelites
also ran: Tosca & Eugene Onegin


----------

