# Operas you do get, or like...



## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

A companion thread to Itullian's...

Post your favourite operas!



> The Conte: Perhaps it would have been easier to tell us the few operas you don't have a problem with?


Always happy to oblige! 

I'm limiting myself to those I think are excellent (A's, not B's; the five-star brigade)

*18th century*
*Rameau*: Hippolyte et Aricie
*Gluck*: Iphigénie en Aulide; Iphigénie en Tauride; Armide ; Paride ed Elena
*Mozart *: Idomeneo ; Don Giovanni ; The Marriage of Figaro ; Così fan tutte; La clemenza di Tito
*Salieri*: Les Danaïdes
*Grétry*: Richard Coeur-de-lion
Maybe *Sacchini's *_Oedipe à Colone_, too?

*19th century*
*Italian*
*Rossini*: L'italiana in Algeri; Barber of Seville; Cenerentola; Donna del lago; Mosè; Ermione; Maometto II; Matilde di Shabran; Guillaume Tell; Le comte Ory
*Donizetti*: Imelda de' Lambertazzi; Lucia di Lammermoor; Maria Stuarda; Lucrezia Borgia; Roberto Devereux; La favorite
*Bellini*: I puritani
*Mercadante*: Orazi e Curiazi; Virginia
*Verdi*: Macbeth; Rigoletto; Ballo in maschera; Don Carlos; Aida; Otello

*German*
*Beethoven*: Fidelio
*Weber*: Der Freischutz
*Wagner*: Flying Dutchman; Lohengrin
*Lortzing*: Zar und Zimmermann

*French*
*Boieldieu *: La dame blanche
*Meyerbeer *: Les Huguenots ; Le prophète ; Dinorah ; Vasco da Gama
*Berlioz*: Benvenuto Cellini; La damnation de Faust; Les Troyens
*Auber*: Fra Diavolo; Le cheval de bronze; Gustave III
*Halévy*: La juive; La reine de Chypre
*Offenbach *: Ba-ta-clan; M. Choufleuri restera chez lui le…; Orphée aux enfers; La belle Hélène; La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein; Les brigands; La Périchole; Les contes d'Hoffmann
*Adam*: Le toréador
*Gounod*: Faust
*Reyer*: Sigurd
*Saint-Saëns*: Henry VIII
*Massenet*: Thaïs; La navarraise; Cendrillon; Grisélidis; Le jongleur de Notre-Dame; Chérubin; Thérèse; Ariane; Roma; Don Quichotte; Amadis

*Slavic*
*Glinka*: A Life for the Tsar; Ruslan & Lyudmila
*Mussorgsky*: Boris Godunov
*Rimsky-Korsakov*: Sadko; The Snow Maiden; Kashchey the Deathless; The Invisible City of Kitezh
*Borodin*: Prince Igor
*Tchaikovsky*: The Maid of Orleans
*Moniuszko*: Straszny dwór
*Smetana*: The Bartered Bride

*British*
*Gilbert & Sullivan*: Trial by Jury; Pirates of Penzance; Patience; Iolanthe; Princess Ida; Mikado; Grand Duke

*20th century*
*Debussy*: Pelléas et Mélisande
*Strauss*: Salome; Rosenkavalier; Ariadne auf Naxos; Schweigsame Frau; Friedenstag; Daphne
*Janáček*: The Cunning Little Vixen
*Bartók*: Bluebeard's Castle
*Puccini*: Gianni Schicchi; Turandot
*Paliashvili*: Abesalom da Eteri
*Poulenc*: Dialogues des Carmélites
*Britten*: A Midsummer Night's Dream
*Bernstein*: West Side Story
*Sondheim*: Follies; A Little Night Music; Pacific Overtures; Sweeney Todd; Into the Woods
*Theodorakis*: Antigone; Elektra; Medea
*Glass*: Satyagraha; Akhnaten

I imagine that Schillings' _Mona Lisa _would be gripping onstage. And there are a few operas I'd like to hear properly, such as Barber's _Antony & Cleopatra_, Tippett's _King Priam_, Gershwin's _Porgy & Bess_, Walton's _Troilus & Cressida_, Dupont's _Antar_, Prokofiev's _War and Peace_, and more Milhaud. (_Bolivar _is rather good, but no score or libretto unavailable.)


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I'm afraid my list would just go on... and on... and on.....

I really don't think I have the time


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

1. Boito: Mefistofele
2. Verdi: Don Carlo/Otello/Turandot/Rigoletto/Traviata/Trovatore/La Forza
3. Puccini: Madama Butterfly/Tosca/Boheme/Fanciulla del West/Manon Lescaut
4. Menotti: The Consul/Saint of Bleecker Street
5. Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmelites
6. Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin
7.Giordano: Andrea Chenier
8. Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur
9. Janacek: Jenufa
10. Strauss: Salome
11. Gounod: Romeo et Juliette/Faust
12. Halevy: La Juive
14. Montemezzi:L'amor dei tre re
15.Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana
16. Leoncavallo: Pagliacci
17. Bellini: Norma
18. Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
19. Massenet: Manon
20. Wagner: Parsifal/Gotterdammerung
21. Bizet: Carmen
22. Britten: Billy Budd
23. Mozart: Don Giovanni
24. Sondheim: Sweeney Todd (is this REALLY permitted? Not by Sondheim it isn't!)
25. Bernstein: West Side Story (are you kidding me? Since when?)


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

*TOP TWO*:

Bellini: La Sonnambula

Flotow: Martha

*OTHERS HIGH ON MY LIST*:

Auber: Haydee

Beethoven: Fidelio

Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi

Cimarosa: Il Matrimonio Segreto

Donizetti: 
Anna Bolena, 
Maria Stuarda, 
Roberto Devereux, 
La Fille Du Regiment, 
L'elisir D'amore

Gluck: Orphee et Eurydice

Handel: Giulio Cesare,

Lehar: Land des Lachelns

Mascagni: L'amico Fritz

Monteverdi: 
L'Orfeo, 
Il Ritorno D'Ulisse in Patria

Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov

Paisiello: Nina O Sia la Pazza per Amore

Pergolesi: La serva Padrona

Puccini: 
La Fanciulla del West, 
Tosca

Rossini: 
Barbiere di Siviglia, 
La Gazza Ladra

Saint Saens: Henry VIII

Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten

Tchaikovsky: 
Eugene Onegin, 
Iolanta

Verdi: il Trovatore

Weber: Der Freischutz

Wagner: 
Der fliegende Hollander, 
Rheingold, 
Walkure, 
Siegfried, 
Gotterdammerung, 
Lohengrin, 
Tristan und Idolde, 
Meistersinger, 
Parsifal


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Foe me it's pretty easy.
Almost exclusively German opera:
Wagner
Gluck
Von Weber
R. Strauss
Korngold
Humperdinck

Don't care for Russian or French operas.
Only enjoy Italian comic operas.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Itullian said:


> Don't care for French operas.


Not even when Vicky is singing them? Margeurite? Manon? Antonia? Charlotte?


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

GregMitchell said:


> Not even when Vicky is singing them? Margeurite? Manon? Antonia? Charlotte?


I do enjoy Faust and Hoffman. Hoff man is unique.
I can put up with them for Vicky's sake 
She's my Achilles heel.


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

> Almost exclusively German opera:
> Wagner
> Gluck
> Von Weber
> ...





GregMitchell said:


> Not even when Vicky is singing them? Margeurite? Manon? Antonia? Charlotte?


Good point GM, how cruel of Itullian ignore Vicky DLA in all her glory......ha ha

















And her Italian drama roles like Mimi or Butterfly............


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

^^^I can listen to Manon, which I like ok.

Not Boheme or Butterfly though.

I buy Vicky's collection cds which I like love.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

No disrespect meant for Callas, who was a force of nature.


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

Itullian said:


> No disrespect meant for Callas, who was a force of nature.


Indeed, don't want to oversell the queen of La Scala and greatest vocal treasure ever given to mortals from the opera gods.....people might think I am biased or something


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Parsifal #1, Tristan #2. These leave me stupefied.

Otherwise I don't want to rank things, but, taking them more or less chronologically: 

Zauberflote
Der Freischutz
The rest of Wagner
Otello
Falstaff
La Fanciulla del West (I don't know why this spaghetti western is here when I'm not a great Puccini fan)
Anything with Callas in it even if I wouldn't be caught dead listening to anyone else sing it


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Itullian said:


> No disrespect meant for Callas, who was a force of nature.


Indeed she was, but, like DA, I wouldn't want anyone to think I was biased or anything. And VDLA is also one of my favourite singers.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

GregMitchell said:


> Indeed she was, but, like DA, I wouldn't want anyone to think I was biased or anything. And VDLA is also one of my favourite singers.


Don't worry. By now it's very clear to everyone that you are not biased. I have precisely the same lack of bias.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I forgot to mention Kalman's _Grafin Maritza._ May we include operetta? This one is an astonishing cornucopia of infectious melody of the best Viennese vintage, spiced with a little Hungarian paprika. Good performances are hard to find, though. People don't know how to perform this repertoire any more.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I like operetta.
I should do a thread on them.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> I forgot to mention Kalman's _Grafin Maritza._ May we include operetta? This one is an astonishing cornucopia of infectious melody of the best Viennese vintage, spiced with a little Hungarian paprika. Good performances are hard to find, though. People don't know how to perform this repertoire any more.


Just by coincidence, Sena Jurinac's namesake posted this this morning:

Operetta - Should I?

For some reason I'm having a hard time making it play without interruptions. Dang!


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Itullian said:


> Foe me it's pretty easy.
> Almost exclusively *German opera*:
> Wagner
> Gluck
> ...


Don't forget Humperdinck.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

nina foresti said:


> 1. Boito: Mefistofele
> 2. Verdi: Don Carlo/Otello/Turandot/Rigoletto/Traviata/Trovatore/La Forza
> 3. Puccini: Madama Butterfly/Tosca/Boheme/Fanciulla del West/Manon Lescaut
> 4. Menotti: The Consul/Saint of Bleecker Street
> ...


Well, if it's performed by opera singers, in an opera house...

Kaminski also includes several Rodgers & Hammerstein, My Fair Lady, and Fiddler on the Roof in his book on 1001 Operas.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Itullian said:


> Foe me it's pretty easy.
> Almost exclusively German opera:
> Wagner
> Gluck
> ...


What about Gluck in French?


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

*Opera**Composer** Year*OrfeoMonteverdi1607L'incoronazione di PoppeaMonteverdi1635Acis et GalatéeLully1686Dido and AeneasPurcell1689RinaldoHändel1711Giulio CesareHändel1724TamerlanoHändel1724Tito ManlioVivaldi1733La serva padronaPergolesi1733Les Indes GalantesRameau1735Orfeo ed EuridiceGlück1762Die Entführung aus dem SerailMozart1782Le Nozze di FigaroMozart1786Don GiovanniMozart1787Così fan tutteMozart1790La Flauta MágicaMozart1791Il matrimonio segretoCimarosa1792MedeaCherubini1797TancrediRossini1813L'Italiana in AlgeriRossini1813FidelioBeethoven1814Il barbiere di SivigliaRossini1816Der FreischützWeber1821SemiramideRossini1823La sonnambulaBellini1831NormaBellini1831L'elisir d'amoreDonizetti1832I puritaniBellini1835Lucia di LammermoorDonizetti1835Maria StuardaDonizetti1835La JuiveHalévy1835Les HuguenotesMeyerbeer1836MacbethVerdi1843Der fliegende HolländerWagner1843TannhäuserWagner1845LohengrinWagner1848RigolettoVerdi1851Les TroyensBerlioz1853La TraviataVerdi1853Il trovatoreVerdi1853FaustGounod1859Tristan e IsoldaWagner1859HamletThomas1868Don CarloVerdi1867Die Meistersinger von NürnbergWagner1867AidaVerdi1871Boris GodunovMussorgski1872Der Ring des NibelungenWagner1874CarmenBizet1875Samson et DalilaSaint-Saëns1877Eugene OneginTchaikovsky1879Les Contes d'HoffmannOffenbach1880La GiocondaPonchielli1880ParsifalWagner1882OtelloVerdi1887PagliacciLeoncavallo1890Cavalleria RusticanaMascagni1890Píkovaya damaTchaikovsky1890Adriana LecouvreurCilea1892WertherMassenet1892FalstaffVerdi1893ThaïsMassenet1894Andrea ChénierGiordano1896La BohèmePuccini1896ToscaPuccini1900RusalkaDvorak1901Pelleas et MelisandeDebussy1902JenufaJanacek1904Madama ButterflyPuccini1904SalomeStrauss1905ElektraStrauss1909Der RosenkavalierStrauss1911Ariadne auf NaxosStrauss1912A kékszakállú herceg váraBartok1913Die GezeichnetenSchreker1915Il TritticoPuccini1917Die Tote StadtKorngold1920Katia KabanovaJanacek1921WozzeckBerg1925Doktor FaustBusoni1925CardillacHindemith1926Věc MakropulosJanacek1926TurandotPuccini1926Moses und AronSchönberg1934Lady MacbethShostakovich1934Porgy & BessGershwin1935LuluBerg1937Peter GrimesBritten1945Voiná i mirProkofiev1945The ConsulMenotti1950Billy BuddBritten1951The rake's progressStravinski1951Boulevard SolitudeHenze1952The Turn of the ScrewBritten1954Dialogues des CarmélitesPoulenc1957Die SoldatenZimmermann1965Saint François d'AssiseMessiaen1983Nixon in ChinaAdams1987Luci mie traditriciSciarrino1998L'amour de loinSaariaho2000

Restricting the list up to the 20th century, as per the OP.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

schigolch said:


> *Opera**Composer** Year*OrfeoMonteverdi1607L'incoronazione di PoppeaMonteverdi1635Acis et GalatéeLully1686Dido and AeneasPurcell1689RinaldoHändel1711Giulio CesareHändel1724TamerlanoHändel1724Tito ManlioVivaldi1733La serva padronaPergolesi1733Les Indes GalantesRameau1735Orfeo ed EuridiceGlück1762Die Entführung aus dem SerailMozart1782Le Nozze di FigaroMozart1786Don GiovanniMozart1787Così fan tutteMozart1790La Flauta MágicaMozart1791Il matrimonio segretoCimarosa1792MedeaCherubini1797TancrediRossini1813L'Italiana in AlgeriRossini1813FidelioBeethoven1814Il barbiere di SivigliaRossini1816Der FreischützWeber1821SemiramideRossini1823La sonnambulaBellini1831NormaBellini1831L'elisir d'amoreDonizetti1832I puritaniBellini1835Lucia di LammermoorDonizetti1835Maria StuardaDonizetti1835La JuiveHalévy1835Les HuguenotesMeyerbeer1836MacbethVerdi1843Der fliegende HolländerWagner1843TannhäuserWagner1845LohengrinWagner1848RigolettoVerdi1851Les TroyensBerlioz1853La TraviataVerdi1853Il trovatoreVerdi1853FaustGounod1859Tristan e IsoldaWagner1859HamletThomas1868Don CarloVerdi1867Die Meistersinger von NürnbergWagner1867AidaVerdi1871Boris GodunovMussorgski1872Der Ring des NibelungenWagner1874CarmenBizet1875Samson et DalilaSaint-Saëns1877Eugene OneginTchaikovsky1879Les Contes d'HoffmannOffenbach1880La GiocondaPonchielli1880ParsifalWagner1882OtelloVerdi1887PagliacciLeoncavallo1890Cavalleria RusticanaMascagni1890Píkovaya damaTchaikovsky1890Adriana LecouvreurCilea1892WertherMassenet1892FalstaffVerdi1893ThaïsMassenet1894Andrea ChénierGiordano1896La BohèmePuccini1896ToscaPuccini1900RusalkaDvorak1901Pelleas et MelisandeDebussy1902JenufaJanacek1904Madama ButterflyPuccini1904SalomeStrauss1905ElektraStrauss1909Der RosenkavalierStrauss1911Ariadne auf NaxosStrauss1912A kékszakállú herceg váraBartok1913Die GezeichnetenSchreker1915Il TritticoPuccini1917Die Tote StadtKorngold1920Katia KabanovaJanacek1921WozzeckBerg1925Doktor FaustBusoni1925CardillacHindemith1926Věc MakropulosJanacek1926TurandotPuccini1926Moses und AronSchönberg1934Lady MacbethShostakovich1934Porgy & BessGershwin1935LuluBerg1937Peter GrimesBritten1945Voiná i mirProkofiev1945The ConsulMenotti1950Billy BuddBritten1951The rake's progressStravinski1951Boulevard SolitudeHenze1952The Turn of the ScrewBritten1954Dialogues des CarmélitesPoulenc1957Die SoldatenZimmermann1965Saint François d'AssiseMessiaen1983Nixon in ChinaAdams1987Luci mie traditriciSciarrino1998L'amour de loinSaariaho2000
> 
> Restricting the list up to the 20th century, as per the OP.


I've alwys admired the wide range you listen to and enjoy.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I really have wide tastes, as I posted in the 'opera you don't get' thread, it's really only Clemenza, Ariadne and Pelleas that leave me cold. I have preferences and some works are obviously stronger than others, but in general I love opera, all of it, ring up the curtain!

N.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

The Conte said:


> I really have wide tastes, as I posted in the 'opera you don't get' thread, it's really only Clemenza, Ariadne and Pelleas that leave me cold. I have preferences and some works are obviously stronger than others, but in general I love opera, all of it, ring up the curtain!
> 
> N.


Me too, except that I adore *Pelléas et Mélisande*, and like both *Ariadne auf Naxos* and *La Clemenza di Tito*.


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## sharkeysnight (Oct 19, 2017)

I (at the very least) like most of the operas I've seen, but in particular:

*Satyagraha* & *Einstein on the Beach* - two very different sides of Philip Glass's abilities, both totally enrapturing. I'll never forget how I fell in love with Satyagraha from the first three notes, and how it carried that feeling all the way to the end without breaking the spell once. Einstein on the Beach was like being picked up by a UFO and being shown a totally alternate and previously unthinkable form of living.

*The Exterminating Angel* & *Breaking the Waves*, which I'm grouping as being based on movies. Both are terrifying and exhilirating, though I think Breaking the Waves has a slight edge - Angel is beautiful (the "closet duet"!), but Waves has such a distinct sound that I love.

*The Tales of Hoffman*, *Hansel and Gretel*, & *La Cenerentola* - I love fairy tales so of course I turn up for these. Hoffman and Hansel both have a number of terrific songs, and Cenerentola is just fun from start to finish (particularly with the lovely Joyce DiDonato, who just breaks your heart).

*Die Meistersinger* - I was gripped by the psychologies of this. It's wonderfully detailed in its observations about life, goes deeply into a unique craft, and has great dramatic intrigue.

*Capriccio* & *Salome* - two different sides of Strauss. Capriccio had me from the start with its ambiguous discussion of conflicting art forms and the tragic necessity of living only one life at a time, and only in one direction. Salome, on the other hand, is disgustingly lurid, which I'm absolutely here for.

*Nixon in China* - my favorite of Adams's works, and so far my favorite post-1800s opera. "This is prophetic!" is such an incredible piece of work, and is representative of the opera's charms - the libretto's poetics are nothing short of astonishing, and the music is so propulsive that listening to it becomes an act of compulsion.


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