# Your favorite operas



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

A possibly odd list of great operas -- which two or three are your favorites? Please feel free to suggest favorites that were unconscionably left off the list!


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Your unconscious mind must be huge to only include those operas. My favourite operas are Nixon in China, Bliss, Albert Herring and What Next?


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## Zabirilog (Mar 10, 2013)

I'll add some Verdi's. They're very popular, like Traviata?

Well, I voted Siegfried, Tosca and Magic Flute.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Your unconscious mind must be huge to only include those operas. My favourite operas are Nixon in China, Bliss, Albert Herring and What Next?


Albert Herring??? Hey, I like Britten as much as the next guy, but even I draw the line somewhere! :lol:


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

KenOC said:


> Albert Herring??? Hey, I like Britten as much as the next guy, but even I draw the line somewhere! :lol:


Albert Herring is FANTASTIC!!!!!! THE best Britten I've ever heard!


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

you forgot *other*


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

KenOC said:


> A possibly odd list of great operas -- which two or three are your favorites? Please feel free to suggest favorites that were unconscionably left off the list!


Why didn't you include some Wagner ?
I'll add Verdi's Otello anf Falstaff and Mozart's Die Entfuhung.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

moody said:


> Why didn't you include some Wagner ?


Because little Siegfried Wagner is too much of an esoteric composer.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Albert Herring is FANTASTIC!!!!!! THE best Britten I've ever heard!


I sit corrected.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Because little Siegfried Wagner is too much of an esoteric composer.


not too esoteric for TC!


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I love Eugene Onegin, Pique Dame, La Fanciulla del West, Don Carlos, The Turn of the Screw and Billy Budd.

I voted Don Giovanni (it would have come top of my list anyway), Peter Grimes and Die Walküre.You left out my favourite Wagner opera - Lohengrin.


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## sharik (Jan 23, 2013)

from the list i chose - _Strauss Salome, Wagner Götterdämmerung, Wagner Tristan und Isolde_.


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## sharik (Jan 23, 2013)

_'Verdi: Il Trovatore'_ - a strange entry if compared to Verdi's _Otello_, his best opera.


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

From the list: Salome and Don Giovanni

Others: Lady Macbeth, Rigoletto, Turn of the Screw, Porgy & Bess, Wozzeck and Boris Godunov (either version).


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## unpocoscherzando (Sep 24, 2011)

I would like to have voted for _Carmen_, but in its absence I chose _Tosca_, _Parsifal_ and _Tristan und Isolde_.


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

unpocoscherzando said:


> I would like to have voted for _Carmen_, but in its absence I chose _Tosca_, _Parsifal_ and _Tristan und Isolde_.


Good call - I neglected to include Carmen in my previous post. I should also have included Orphee aux enfers.


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## Kazaman (Apr 13, 2013)

My favourite opera by far is Wozzeck. Salome is a close second.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Because little Siegfried Wagner is too much of an esoteric composer.


What has he got to do with it? Explain.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Tristan und Isolde, Die Walkure, Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, Moses und Aron, and Wozzeck head my list, but I'm not generally an opera person.

Edit: Add to that Pelleas et Melisande


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

My favorite among the listed operas is _The Magic Flute_. Aside from that, there's my incurable _Fidelio_ obsession, and _Rigoletto_ is another one of my top choices.

I'm not familiar with _Peter Grimes _or _Saint Francois d' Assise_, but I certainly don't dislike any of the other operas on the list.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

A rather biased list, is it not?

There are a few disputes among various sources, but essentially most agree that the "Most Popular" operas as measured by performances/recordings are:

1. La boheme, Puccini 
2. Madama Butterfly , Puccini 
3. La Traviata , Giuseppe Verdi 
4. Carmen, by Georges Bizet 
5. The Barber of Seville, Gioacchino Rossini 
6. Tosca, Puccini 
7. The Marriage of Figaro , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 
8. The Magic Flute , Mozart 
9. Don Giovanni , Mozart 
10. Rigoletto , Verdi 
11. Cosi fan tutte, Mozart 
12. Aida, Verdi 
13. Turandot, Puccini 
14. Lucia di Lammermoor, Donizetti 
15. Hansel and Gretel, Humperdinck 
16. Falstaff, Verdi 
17. L'elisir d'amore, Donizetti 
18. Pagliacci, Leoncavallo 
19. Salome, Strauss 
20. Macbeth, Verdi 
21. Cavalleria rusticana, Mascagni 
22. Il Trovatore, Verdi 
23. Cenerentola, Rossini 
24. Otello, Verdi 
25. Faust, Gounod

The inclusion of Messiaen's _Saint Francois d' Assise_ which doesn't even make the top 100, while excluding 4 of the 5 most performed operas is rather biased, don't you think?

Limited to just three from the list:

Mozart- Die Zauberflote
Mozart- Le nozze di Figaro
Mozart- Don Giovanni


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> A rather biased list, is it not?


Not at all. Only lists that disagree with _my _tastes are biased!


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## Ritter (Apr 11, 2013)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> A rather biased list, is it not?
> 
> There are a few disputes among various sources, but essentially most agree that the "Most Popular" operas as measured by performances/recordings are:
> 
> ...


One question... where is Wagner?


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Meister,Walkure,Rheingold


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## Ritter (Apr 11, 2013)

Itullian said:


> Meister,Walkure,Rheingold


The Ride of the Walkyries may be the most famous piece of music from an opera...


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Ritter said:


> The Ride of the Walkyries may be the most famous piece of music from an opera...


I would have thought that the "William Tell" Overture might challenge that.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Mozart and Puccini are the kings of opera on my iPod  

Puccini: Madama Butterfly, Turandot, and Suor Angelica
Mozart: All of the big four, with Don Giovanni probably being my favorite.

Outside of those, I enjoy Rusalka, La Traviata, Fidelio, and Eugene Onegin.


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## Amateur (Mar 21, 2013)

My favorite Puccini is Manon Lescaut. George Bernard Shaw loved it, and he was right to hail the coming man. Sure the last act is a little weak, but there's no better first act by Puccini. The second's wonderful too, especially the duet. 
Not many good commercial recordings, but I do like the Callas, and you can find fascinating air checks with Olivero and a very young Domingo (where he's much better than on EMI with Caballe, although Montsy is lovely), another with Bergonzi and Dorothy Kirsten and at least two with Bjorling. M-L is probably the best Puccini opera for a tenor. 
Just a terrific work.


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## Ritter (Apr 11, 2013)

Amateur said:


> Not many good commercial recordings, but I do like the Callas, and you can find fascinating air checks with Olivero and a very young Domingo (where he's much better than on EMI with Caballe, although Montsy is lovely), another with Bergonzi and Dorothy Kirsten and at least two with Bjorling. M-L is probably the best Puccini opera for a tenor.
> Just a terrific work.


One good commercial recording is Freni-Domingo-Sinopoli (DG) in my opinion.


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

I voted Tristan und Isolde, Don Giovanni and Peter Grimes.
Probably would have voted for them with other choices regardless.
Although Nixon in China, Lady Macbeth and
Eugene Onegin would come very close.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Aside from the many great operas on this list, I am a huge fan of Bartok's _Bluebeard's Castle_. Some of the most creative orchestral effects in the history of music in that work in my opinion. I would also agree with CoaG that Britten's _Albert Herring_ is a great opera.

Edit - some other favorites are Ravel's _L'Enfant et les Sortileges_, Berg's _Wozzeck_, and Monteverdi's _Orfeo_ to name a few.


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## HumphreyAppleby (Apr 11, 2013)

favorites, hmm. La fanciulla del west, Benvenuto Cellini, Mefistofele, Thais, La forza del destino, La rondine, Die Zauberflote, Suor Angelica, Rigoletto, Beatrice et Benedict and a big soft spot for L'Amico Fritz. I've never been a huge Wagner fan, although I'm starting to like him more recently.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

One question... where is Wagner?

My guess in that the scale as well as the demands made upon the singers as well as theatrically are in part a large reason that Wagner's operas don't make this list. Looking at other lists I found Wagner operas slotted as follows:

17. Der fliegende Hollander
36. Das Rheingold
40. Die Walkure
41. Tristan und Isolde
45. Parsifal
49. Lohengrin
55. Tannhauser

According to Opera International of the Top 200 most performed operas 10 Wagner operas make the list, surpassed only by Verdi with 14. Donizetti, Mozart, and Rossini are next in line with 9, followed by Puccini, Handel, Strauss, and Britten with 7. Wagner's operas combined are 6th in terms of productions followed by Verdi, Puccini, Mozart, Richard Strauss, and Rossini.

Baroque opera makes an even worse showing with only 14 opera making the list, half by Handel.

Other "interesting" facts:

By productions the operas of the 19th century are the most popular followed closely by the 20th century... and then far behind by the 18th and 17th.

German operas are the most produced followed by Italian, French, English, Russian, and Czech.

The Italian opera houses are the most biased, producing 71% Italian repertoire compared to 50% German by German houses, and only 21% French operas by French theaters.


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## Ritter (Apr 11, 2013)

Thank you very much for the figures, very interesting.

I think Tristan or The Ring shoud be in the top 10 in any list, at least for their importance and influence on later opera development, but also for their popularity. It is hard to believe that Humperdinck - Hansel and Gretel is a fantastic opera anyway- is more popular than Wagner or one of his operas.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Baroque opera makes an even worse showing with only 14 opera making the list, half by Handel.


but probably the best showing in 250 years.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

I love these polls as it gives us all a chance to be indignant!! :lol:

Actually my own favourite is _Simon Boccanegra _but I'm used to funny looks. I also love _Macbeth_, _Attila_ & _Falstaff_ by my favourite composer. Also love _Boris Godunov_ & _Mefistofele_.


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

=(

Berlioz: Les Troyens.
Cherubini: Les Abencerages
Haydn: Orfeo Ed Euridice
Gluck: Iphigénie en Aulide
Beethoven: Fidelio
Rameau: Castor et Pollux
Rameau: Les Boréades
Schumann: Genoveva


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

sospiro said:


> I love these polls as it gives us all a chance to be indignant!! :lol:


indignation seems to be the preferred state of mind on TC  while we're at it, my faves these days are Il Seraglio, Gluck's Orphee and Bellini's I Capuleti.

ps: I just realised there's a rescue mission theme running through...

pps: checking the poll I think it's amusing Mozart is still winning in spite of all the Wagner. Maybe one or two Wagner works would've pulled a lot more votes than having them spread over all the other works.


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## Celesta (May 4, 2013)

I voted for Tristan and Der Gotterdammerung. But my favorite operas are Pelleas et Melisande, Carmen, Daphne, La Traviata and Madama Butterfly


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Lucky you left Cosi and Idomeneo off the list or Wagner and Verdi wouldn't have gotten a look in...


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## Jimm (Jun 29, 2012)

A few personal favorites ..

Wagner - Parsifal
Debussy - Pelléas et Mélisande
Stravinsky - The Nightingale
Berg - Lulu
Bartok - Bluebeard's Castle
Tippett - King Priam
Birtwistle - The Mask of Orpheus
Stockhausen - The LICHT Cycle


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## Rangstrom (Sep 24, 2010)

Top three: Tristan, Grimes and Boccanegra or Turandot.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Tristan und Isolde and I won't even patronize other operas by acknowledging that they exist.


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

Cannot abide 20th century British operas, essentially tuneless, sorry for my semi-rude opinion, which includes Britten. God knows I've tried to enjoy them, and generally I do like 20th century music, particularly operas of Philip Glass, but he's neo-classical.

My top five fave operas are pretty much "crowd favorites", in no particular order:

Mozart Marriage of Figaro
Mozart Magic Flute
Verdi Rigoletto
Puccini Il Tabarro
Puccini Tosca

And I've also had the distinct pleasure of singing in all of these.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

katdad said:


> Cannot abide 20th century British operas, *essentially tuneless,* sorry for my semi-rude opinion, which includes Britten.


Without disputing your right to dislike anything you choose, I am basically flabbergasted by this assertion. I am listening to Peter Grimes as I type, the first sea interlude, and I am bathed in a sea of evocatively orchestrated melody.

On the other hand Glass, much as I like some of his works, does strike me as largely tuneless.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

katdad said:


> Cannot abide 20th century British operas, essentially tuneless, sorry for my semi-rude opinion, which includes Britten.


I happen to listen as I type this reply to Boughton's The immortal hour (1914), which is definitely full of lovely melodies. That aside, I agree with mamascarlatti, that Britten's best works (PG, Death in Venice, e.g.) are melodious as well.


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

No Russians  but I do like Don Giovanni, Salome & Parsifal


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

KenOC said:


> A possibly odd list of great operas


I'll accept the self-admission... but strangely enough, my five favorite operas _are_ on this list. To me, there's next-to-nothing to choose between Die Walküre, Die Meistersinger, Tristan und Isolde, Götterdämmerung, and Parsifal. However, if backed into a corner, I'd say Meistersinger, T & I, and Götterdämmerung.


KenOC said:


> Please feel free to suggest favorites that were unconscionably left off the list!


Favorites not found on the list are: Tannhäuser, La bohème, and Carmen.


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## jurianbai (Nov 23, 2008)

I love all the three Mozart listed there. How about Purcell's Dido and Aenaes, gotta love the Baroque English.


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## BoukeB (May 4, 2016)

Mozart Figaro, Don Giovanni, Zauberflote
Verdi Boccanegra, Falstaff, Otello, Don Carlos
Carmen
Schubert Fierrabras (sorry, but it's Schubert!)
Weber Freischutz
Puccini La Boheme, Tosca


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I skipped the Britten and Messiaen


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Sadly 2 of the greatest operas of all time aren't even on the list: Don Carlo and Otello. It's all Wagner or Mozart. (Only 1 Verdi???????????)
What kind of list is this?


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> Sadly 2 of the greatest operas of all time aren't even on the list: Don Carlo and Otello. It's all Wagner or Mozart. (Only 1 Verdi???????????)
> What kind of list is this?


Poll is from 2013


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Pugg said:


> Poll is from 2013


Aha! Duped again am I!
I hate these things. I have to always remember to look at the date posted. But even so -- 1 Verdi? (retch!)


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> Aha! Duped again am I!
> I hate these things. I have to always remember to look at the date posted. But even so -- 1 Verdi? (retch!)


I know the feeling, however withdrawing a answer seems so lame.:tiphat:

I am with you on Don Carlo though:cheers:


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## EarthBoundRules (Sep 25, 2011)

Out of those, _Tristan _and _Don Giovanni_.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Posted deleted. See below.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Of the operas the poll lists,_ Salome, The Marriage of Figaro,_ and _Die Walkeure_ are my favorites, with _Il Trovatore_ and _Tosca_ as runners up. Hard choices, though.


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## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

Ah, noticed too late 2 -3, voted 4. All Mozart's and Puccini


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Bellinilover said:


> Of the operas the poll lists,_ Salome, The Marriage of Figaro,_ and _Die Walkeure_ are my favorites, with _Il Trovatore_ and _Tosca_ as runners up. Hard choices, though.


Wild guess... not a very great Wagner fan I presume?


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Let's see, mine change every few years, like most people.

1) Don Carlos, Il Trovotore Verdi
2) Gotterdammerung, Rheingold, Wagner
3) Don Giovanni, Mozart
4) Suor Angelica, Puccini
5) Psyche, Lully (don't know if it's exactly my favorite of the french baroque, but it's great and I do want one in the list to balance it out)


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## znapschatz (Feb 28, 2016)

I restricted myself to those operas listed and checked *Peter Grimes*, *Don Giovanni* and *The Marriage of Figaro*. Although *Der Ring* cycle operas would have been another choice, I don't regard them as separate pieces but as one opera in 4 parts, so I never choose among them. What's the favorite part of your body (and don't get silly  )?


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

of all the operas you listed NONE make my top 10 
why do you zero Bellini or Donizetti, only 1 Verdi and _seven_ Wagner. surely you can be more balanced than that XD

10) Mose en Egitto (Rossini)
9) Esclarmonde (Massenet)
8) Armida (Rossini)
7) Nabucco (Verdi)
6) Maometto Secondo (Rossini) 
5) Beatrice di Tenda (Bellini)
4) Macbeth (Verdi)
3) Semiramide (Rossini)
2) Attila (Verdi)
1) Norma (Bellini)


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## Lensky (May 8, 2016)

My top ten 

1) Don Giovanni

2) Norma
3) Don Carlo
4) Lohengrin
5) Macbeth
6) Arabella
7) Simon Boccanegra
8) Tristan & Isolde
9) Lucia di Lammermoor
10) Eugene Onegin


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

From that list, I voted for _Don Giovanni_ and _Figaro_ - but neither'd appear on my list of favourites.

Limiting myself to a dozen:
1.	_Les Huguenots_ (Meyerbeer)

Then in no real order:
2.	_Le Prophète_ (Meyerbeer)
3.	_Vasco da Gama_ (Meyerbeer)
4.	_La juive_ (Halévy)
5.	_Benvenuto Cellini_ (Berlioz)
6.	_Boris Godunov_ (Mussorgsky)
7.	_Straszny dwór_ (Moniuszko)
8.	_Les contes d'Hoffmann_ (Offenbach) - that's limiting myself to opera!
9.	Place holder for a Rossini - _La Cenerentola, L'italiana in Algeri, Semiramide, Maometto II, Ermione, Le comte Ory, Guillaume Tell, Mosè in Egitto, La gazza ladra_, and trios and quartets from lesser operas
10.	Place holder for a Massenet - _Roma, Cendrillon, Grisélidis, Thaïs, Amadis, Manon, Ariane, Chérubin, Esclarmonde, Don Quichotte_
11.	_Faust _(Gounod)
12.	Something Italian - either a Donizetti or Verdi's _Don Carlos_

I can't think of a Rossini, Donizetti or Massenet opera that stands out above the rest, in the Italians' case because the libretti are conventional and formulaic, and the plot is (in Rossini's case) often a vehicle for music, while Massenet reinvents himself with each opera.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Lensky said:


> My top ten
> 
> 1) Don Giovanni
> 
> ...


Don Giovanni above Don Carlo.


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## Guest (Jul 7, 2016)

Pugg said:


> Don Giovanni above Don Carlo.


Hi Pugg,what is your favourite Tristan?:tiphat:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Traverso said:


> Hi Pugg,what is your favourite Tristan?:tiphat:


Very personally:
Wagner:Tristan und Isolde

Peter Hofmann (Tristan), Hildegard Behrens (Isolde), Yvonne Minton (Brangaene), Hans Sotin (Marke), Bernd Weikl (Kurwenal), Heribert Steinbach (Melot), Heinz Zednik (Hirt), Raimund Grumbach (Steuerman), Thomas Moser (Stimme eines jungen Seemanns)

Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, *Leonard Bernstein*.
Almost no one agree with with me but the love duet is out off this world .


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## Ginger (Jul 14, 2016)

You asked for a 'possibly odd list' so here are my two favourite operas. Both aren't very popular unfortunately, but I love them.

'Die tote Stadt' by Erich Wolfgang Korngold

'South Pole' by Miroslav Srnka


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Ginger said:


> You asked for a 'possibly odd list' so here are my two favourite operas. Both aren't very popular unfortunately, but I love them.
> 
> 'Die tote Stadt' by Erich Wolfgang Korngold
> 
> 'South Pole' by Miroslav Srnka


Wonderful music, much underrated .


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## Ginger (Jul 14, 2016)

Absolutely!!! There is a very good DVD of a recent production in Helsinki....


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## znapschatz (Feb 28, 2016)

Operas I have enjoyed over the years, among my favorites on a much longer list. I haven't read every post in this thread, but I don't remember coming across more than a few or any of these.

1. Dialogue of the Carmelites
2. Wozzek
3. Boris Godunov (w/Mussorgsky orchestration)
4. Khovanschina
5. Porgy and Bess
6. Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
7. Eugene Onegin
8. Moby Dick (Los Angeles Opera production)
9. Vanessa
10. Nixon in China


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I voted for my favorites from the list provided in the poll, but it was only one or two of them (Tosca and maybe Meistersinger). Most of my favorite operas are not on the list (Fidelio, Hollander, Maria Stuarda, Barber of Seville....).


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Florestan said:


> I voted for my favorites from the list provided in the poll, but it was only one or two of them (Tosca and maybe Meistersinger). Most of my favorite operas are not on the list (Fidelio, Hollander, Maria Stuarda, Barber of Seville....).


Make up your own list, everyone seems doing it.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Haven't listened to most of them. Just started listening to Parifal last night. Sounds good! Made two aborted attempts with the Messiaen. I was bored to death.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

starthrower said:


> Haven't listened to most of them. Just started listening to Parifal last night. Sounds good! Made two aborted attempts with the Messiaen. I was bored to death.


You are not alone there


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