# Looking for recommendations



## Dili (Jun 19, 2014)

Hi, folks, I'm looking for some info that Wikipedia seems to lack and I couldn't find a thread on here either. Is there a late-20th, early-21st century opera that is *really* worth watching? I have been reading and listening a bit in the past few weeks, but to be honest I am really underwhelmed by what I heard.

Where are the big composers gone, and where are all the gods? (insert dramatic posture) But seriously, did they all leave for musical-land, or Disney? Cheers,

Dili


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## Danforth (May 12, 2013)

Here are some that I have come to appreciate:
The Bassarids by Hans Werner Henze (1966)
Elegy for Young Lovers by Hans Werner Henze (1961)
Akhnaten by Philip Glass (1983)
King Priam by Michael Tippett (1962)
Doctor Atomic by John Adams (2005)

Others that I have heard are good but have not had a chance to listen to yet:
Silent Night by Kevin Puts (2011)
Phaedra by Hans Werner Henze (2007)
An American Tragedy by Tobias Picker (2005)
Mourning Becomes Electra by Marvin Levy (1967)
The Mask of Orpheus by Harrison Birtwistle (1986)


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Menotti's "The Consul", Menotti's "The Saint of Bleecker Street", Poulenc's "Dialogues des Carmelites", and Adams' "Death of Klinghoffer" should not be missed.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

In one sense, there is plenty of late-20th, early-21st century opera that is really worth watching. I personally love quite a few of them.

In another sense, maybe there is not really worth watching, for you. That depends on your tastes, your background, how curious you are...

Then again, you can try this link:

http://www.talkclassical.com/26178-great-new-modern-operatic.html

There are several suggestion that can be of interest if you are looking for recommendations on contemporary opera.


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

Thomas Ades's Powder Her Face. It really is very good, especially if you like Britten and Berg. Here's the Wiki blurb.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_Her_Face


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

A Streetcar Named Desire 1995 and a Brief Encounter both by Andre Previn
Dead Man Walking and Moby Dick by Jake Heggie


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

What's the latest (chronological order) Operas you like? Without knowing your tastes it's hard to make good recommendations.


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## Dili (Jun 19, 2014)

Thank you all for the list  Some of those I've heard, but for some I hadn't even heard the titles. 

@Bardamu - that is an excellent question, but I wasn't really looking for recommendations within specific style. I just wanted to know what people considered the "have-to-see"s of the 20th (and even 21st) century operas. For example, to be honest I am not a fan of John Adams, but he has created influential work and minimalism is a valid style. What I was wondering was, who are the other names and why have I heard so little of them?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Holy mackrel nobody has mentioned Written on Skin. It is absolutely wonderful! And the cast is utterly stellar.










I'm not sure I'd just listen to it, but I love this DVD of Birtwistle's the Minotaur:










And a hypnotic piece vaguely reminiscent of Pelleas et Melisande:


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## Speranza (Nov 22, 2014)

The only modern opera composers I have heard of (I am not very well informed on this subject) are John Adams, Philip Glass and Mark-Anthony Turnage (I only know him because I watched his opera Anna Nicole). Of their operas that I have seen,numbering a grand total of 4, the only really good one was Glass's Satyagraha which is about Ghandi.

I think that is the only one I would consider, as you say Dili, to be really worth watching.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

You can watch in youtube a performance of "Written on Skin":


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