# Favorite Operatic language?



## Alberich (Dec 22, 2011)

Hello, I'm new here and only recently got into Classical music, and so I don't know if this has already been exhaustively discussed, but I was recently wondering, what language sounds best in an opera? Of course, this'll be pretty subjective, but I've discovered that in general, I like German-language opera the best.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

It has been discussed before, but not exhaustively. 

I find in general that people with English as their first language prefer French/Italian/German/Russian because when we grow up and hear opera, we almost always hear it in a foreign language because of English's late start being used as an operatic language. I think the association is false though, and contrary to what many people say, I find English to be an intensely beautiful language. Owing both to its extreme malleability and also its sheer size, I prefer it for opera as well as poetry and prose.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Hello Alberich & welcome to the forum.

As you can maybe guess from the username & avatar my favourite opera language is Italian. With nearly every word ending in a vowel the Italian language is just made to be sung.

Second is Russian (I find those deep dark Russian voices sooooo sexy ), then French. I just can't seem to like German at all & I know I am missing out on a huge slice of repertoire but, hey, thank goodness we don't like all the same thing.

Do you have a favourite composer?


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## Alberich (Dec 22, 2011)

Beethoven and Wagner.
Every time I listen to _The Ring_ I'm in awe of the magnitude of Wagner's artistic achievement. Writing the whole 15+ hours in an ancient alliterative Germanic poetic technique was the icing on the cake.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Alberich said:


> Beethoven and Wagner.
> Every time I listen to _The Ring_ I'm in awe of the magnitude of Wagner's artistic achievement. Writing the whole 15+ hours in an ancient alliterative Germanic poetic technique was the icing on the cake.


You'll find plenty of fans of those composers on here.

You really ought to try some bel canto froth you know, just for a change.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I think I'll go for German and English. Britten's English chamber operas are marvellous as is Brett Dean's opera "Bliss." That last one uses a fair bit of Aussie slang too.


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## BradPiano (Dec 22, 2011)

Ever since I heard Mozart's Queen of the Night Aria, I've always loved German operas.

I never liked English as an operatic language. I know people that think it's downright wrong. I like whatever sounds good and I just really don't like English operas.

Mozart's Queen of the Night Aria from the Magic Flute


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

For my "attempt" opera (that I have now abandoned) I originally wanted a German libretto. But since I couldn't find a good German librettist that easily, I set about writing an English one. I have left it in the middle of Act 2 scene 2 and I doubt I will ever go back to it.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

I probably like Italian best as a language for opera, even though two of my favorites -- _Fidelio_ and _Die Zauberflöte _-- are in German, and I speak German but not Italian.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> For my "attempt" opera (that I have now abandoned) I originally wanted a German libretto. But since I couldn't find a good German librettist that easily, I set about writing an English one. I have left it in the middle of Act 2 scene 2 and I doubt I will ever go back to it.


Why did you abandon it?


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## AndyS (Dec 2, 2011)

Probably German, as I speak it a bit and therefore can more readily understand it. However, been warming alot more to Italian in the last few months


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

mamascarlatti said:


> Why did you abandon it?


It just didn't work. My style changed during the course of writing music for the first act, so I completely restarted it. Then the story started to annoy me.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Alberich said:


> Of course, this'll be pretty subjective, but I've discovered that in general, I like German-language opera the best.


Yah! I like da Germans too!


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Alberich said:


> I like German-language opera the best.


I agree... but that doesn't mean that German is my favorite language _for_ opera. It would probably be too sharp to say that many of the accomplishments of Mozart, Weber, Wagner, R. Strauss were accomplished _in spite of_ the German language-- but the point remains that I like German opera preponderantly for what the composers did with the music.

Hopefully, I won't have to turn in my Wagner Society Membership Card for saying it... but I agree with *sospiro* that Italian is the superior _operatic language_.

I see little reason why Spanish couldn't be an effective operatic language in the same fashion as Italian, but the tradition of Spanish composition isn't in the same ballpark as the Italian tradition. Because of that lack, I'd have to say French is my next most favorite "language-for-opera."


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I must find a Japanese librettist for a future opera in Japanese. Been watching a lot of Japanese films recently.


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## CameraEye (Nov 18, 2011)

My favourite operatic language is Italian but I like listening to operas in their original language.


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## Sieglinde (Oct 25, 2009)

Italian. All I know I learned from operas, I never studied the language. So I know a lot of words and next to no grammar, only what I figured out.

But German and English are also very good.


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## CountessAdele (Aug 25, 2011)

German, German, German! I love that language! And Italian is a _very_ close second! I'm getting there with French, it's just...hmm I guess I'm intimidated by the French language since I'm planning on learning it, haha.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

CountessAdele said:


> German, German, German! I love that language!


I really admire that. I go to Italy for a week & find myself actually saying more than 'please' and 'thank you'. I go to Germany and 'Danke' is _all_ I can remember.



CountessAdele said:


> And Italian is a _very_ close second! I'm getting there with French, it's just...hmm I guess I'm intimidated by the French language since I'm planning on learning it, haha.


French is quite easy to learn, the accent is the hard part!


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## EarthBoundRules (Sep 25, 2011)

Normally German is by far my favourite language to listen to, but I much prefer Italian for operas. The way it flows, it's almost like the words sing themselves!


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## Yashin (Jul 22, 2011)

I would say German is the language which suits my ears best. I also love Russian -such an expressive language and i just love to listen to real Russian tenors singing opera.


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## TrazomGangflow (Sep 9, 2011)

My favorite opera language is German, then Italian. When I simply wish to listen to music to relax I'll listen to Italian operas. When I really want to micro-listen and contemplate the music I listen to German operas. I can't seem to think of any reason for this.


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## Lenfer (Aug 15, 2011)

I like both *German* and *Italian* although *Italian* may just pip *German* to the top spot. However I've been "in love" with *Górecki's* *Symphony No. 3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs"* which I think is in *Polish* and I think it is one of the most beautiful piece of music.

I'd love to my hands/ears on more *Polish* works.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Lenfer said:


> I'd love to my hands/ears on more *Polish* works.


You might like this, it's been getting some good reviews.


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

I think all languages would be beautiful if the composer use the words correct and masterfully in combination with music. Each language has it's own problems with the stuff (combination with music), but I confess that Italian is the easiest.


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## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

English, because it's the only language I can speak lol! In purely musical terms though I find that I really like German...maybe it's the language, or maybe it's just because most of my favorite composers were German lol.


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## ohesperides (Jan 20, 2012)

CountessAdele said:


> German, German, German! I love that language! And Italian is a _very_ close second! I'm getting there with French, it's just...hmm I guess I'm intimidated by the French language since I'm planning on learning it, haha.


I echo these sentiments - when I visited Europe a few years ago, I was expecting to love being immersed in the Italian and French languages, but to my surprise, German was the language my ears liked the most 

*Deutscher ist das Beste!*


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## eorrific (May 14, 2011)

Italian. I've warmed up to German over the last few months, it's probably 2nd and may overtake Italian in the future. One of my favourite German word used in operas is "tüchtig". Can't remember in what context it was used (probably from one of Wagner's), but it sounds so ut:


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## gellio (Nov 7, 2013)

1. Italian
2. Russian
3. German
4. English
5. French

Are there any Spanish language operas.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Favorites:
1. Italian
2. French
3. Russian
4. Czech

Least favorites:
1. English
2. German

Some more well known Spanish operas are:
1. La Vida Breve (De Falla)
2. Ainadamar (Golijov)
3. Il Postino (Catan)


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

Another one in Spanish I like is Astor Piazzolla's 'tango opera' _María de Buenos Aires_. Spanish has a real pungency which makes this and _La Vida Breve_ so enjoyable, especially when complimented by the different textures of Argentinian and Andalusian folk/dance music.


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## Sieglinde (Oct 25, 2009)

Italian. It just feels the most natural and, despite never offically studying it, I understand it fairly well thanks to 23+ years of being obsessed with opera 

German also works well for me because I studied it. 

On the other hand French is incredibly tiresome. Especially when it's an Italian opera in French. It feels wrong.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Sieglinde said:


> On the other hand French is incredibly tiresome. Especially when it's an Italian opera in French. It feels wrong.


I love the French language. I used to speak it really well, though I don't so well now. That said, I've been told by French people that I have very little accent, which is a real compliment. I like singing in French too.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I love the French language. I used to speak it really well, though I don't so well now. That said, I've been told by French people that I have very little accent, which is a real compliment. I like singing in French too.


There are good reasons for basing vocal pedagogy on Italian, since it's made up of clear vowels and quickly executed consonants that don't interfere with the flow of tone. But Beverly Sills said that her favorite language for singing was French, and Michael Fabiano, in an interview on yesterday's Met broadcast of _Manon,_ expressed the same preference. I don't recall having a preference back in my singing days; I sang Finnish, Swedish and Spanish as well as the usual Italian, French (the only language I actually studied), German and English, and enjoyed them all. I'd like to have tried Russian for the challenge, but somehow never got around to it.


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

Italian is my favourite, followed by French.

Depending on the performance, the language is (almost) incidental to my enjoyment. Listening to historic recordings can do that: you've perhaps enjoyed a handful of interesting performances in different languages by favourite artists before alighting on the language the composer actually intended.

Lionel's aria from Flotow's opera Martha

Ach so fromm with Peter Anders





M'appari with Beniamino Gigli





A mes yeux enchantes with Georges Thill





One Lonely Night with Richard Tucker





(In Russian) with Sergei Lemeshev


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

Italian followed by English. The fact that I am half Italian, half English is a simple coincidence.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Italian followed by French and as guilty pleasure, sung in German .


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## erki (Feb 17, 2020)

I like Italian. For one I do not understand it so I can enjoy just the sound of it. French and Spanish is good too. German I don't like, specially if it is translated from Italian. However Wagner is absolutely beautiful also as language goes. In English not so - I lived in US some 10 years and now everything in English is smeared by Broadway musicals


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## annaw (May 4, 2019)

The German is definitely my favourite one. I just really like the dynamics and the sound of German language.


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