# Bluebeard's Castle and Beyond



## bz3 (Oct 15, 2015)

Greetings, I seek advice.

I am a mild opera fan. I know and enjoy Mozart and Wagner but they are really the only opera composers I listen to with any frequency. I've heard a lot of the more popular operas once or twice, but 20th century opera is largely an untapped listening reservoir for me.

That said, I love Bluebeard's Castle. Where should I go from here in exploring 20th century opera? Strauss, Schoenberg, Rimsky-Korsakov, someone else entirely? I'm at a loss! I'm not particularly enthused about a lot of atonal/non-common practice tonality works but as long as its not too oppressive I don't mind. Other than that I'm a pretty open listener.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Janacek, maybe? Jenufa, House of the Dead or The Cunning Little Vixen.

Shostakovich Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk.

Not saying either of these sound like Bartok, but you might like them.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Richard Strauss: Salome, Elektra, and Der Rosenkavalier, Die Frau ohne Schatten (to start)
Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande
Korngold: Die tote Stadt
Antonín Dvořák: Rusalka
Giacomo Puccini: Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Turandot
Leoš Janáček: Jenufa, The Cunning Little Vixen
Rimsky-Korsakov: Sadko, The Tale of Tsar Saltan, The Golden Cockerel and The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh, The Snow Maiden, The Maid of Pskov
Franz Lehár: The Merry Widow, Das Land des Lächelns
Frederick Delius: A Village Romeo and Juliet
Igor Stravinsky: The Nightingale
Sergei Prokofiev: The Love for Three Oranges, The Fiery Angel, Semyon Kotko, War and Peace
Kurt Weill: Three Penny Opera, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
Dmitri Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District
Gershwin: Porgy and Bess
Benjamin Britten: Peter Grimes, A Mid-Summer Night's Dream, The Turn of the Screw, Death in Venice


A Start. :tiphat:


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

My first suggestion would be Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande--pure magic! (And it's also a major influence on Bartok's wonderful Bluebeard.) There are enjoyable orchestral suites from the opera as well. I'd also recommend Saariaho's "L'amour de loin," a recent masterwork that sits nicely alongside the other two. 

My favorite opera composer of the 20th-C is Benjamin Britten: Peter Grimes, The Turn of the Screw, and Billy Bud are great places to start. And Curlew River is a strange and amazing work. 

Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex and Rossignol (Nightingale) are lovely. You can hear some of the latter in "The Song of the Nightingale," a key orchestral work by the composer. The Rake's Progress is his most famous opera, though I listen to it less often. 

Poulenc's operas are wonderful--Dialogues of the Carmelites is amazing. 

Those are the works I listen to most, but by all means listen widely: Janacek, Struass, Schoenberg, and Berg have regularly performed and influential works--Ariadne auf Naxos would be my choice out of those. Kurt Weill and Porgy & Bess are 20th century landmarks. 

Anyways, those are some favorites to start you off--others have listened much more widely than I have to modern and operatic repertoire, and will have many more recommendations I'm sure!


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Massenet: Le Jongleur de Notre Dame
Massenet: Don Quichotte 
D'Indy: L'Etranger 
Magnard: Berenice 
Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise 
Roussel: Padmâvatî




Arrieu: Noé




Lazzari: La Lepreuse




Lazzari: La Tour de Feu
Enescu: Œdipe


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Try; Rimsky Korsakov: Le Coq d'Or


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Superb suggestions above and many which I will look at myself.

I would agree with Jenůfa, Peter Grimes, Curlew River and The Love for Three Oranges. 

If you liked Curlew River, you could also try The Burning Fiery Furnace and The Prodigal Son, also by Britten. These are collectively known as The Church Parables.


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

Some fine suggestions already listed. If you liked the tense expressionism of _Bluebeard's Castle_ then I would also suggest von Zemlinsky's _A Florentine Tragedy_ (1915-16) and _The Dwarf_ (1920-21) as well as Hindemith's _Sancta Susanna_ (1922) and _Cardillac_ (1926).


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

From your original two choices, I dare not say the wonderful Puccini, so instead I am more confident that you will like Janacek -- _Jenufa, Katya Kabanova_, etc.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Bluebeard's Castle is often performed together with Schoenberg's Erwartung, in large part because of their similarly expressionistic atmosphere. I would also recommend Janacek, both of Berg's operas, and Moses und Aron.

With the exception of Erwartung, all of these works feature easily recognizable leitmotifs and clear dramatic outlines.


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

Berg's Wozzeck of course.


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## Xenakiboy (May 8, 2016)

Bluebeard's Castle is actually my favorite opera, I'll use this thread to announce this too. It's has such an impact on me and my growth in music and life and general (as well as other pieces from Bartok, Xenakis and Stravinsky) :tiphat:


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## bz3 (Oct 15, 2015)

I listened to Wozzeck yesterday. Didn't love it but I'll come back to it. Pelleas et Melisande is next up!


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

R Strauss - Ariadne Auf Naxos
Paul Hindemith - Mathis Der Maler; Das Nusch-Nuschi
Franz Schreker - Der Schatzgraber
Ernst Krenek - Jonny Spielt Auf
Schoenberg - Moses und Aron

Just adding to the list, but definitely give a listen to Janacek, Poulenc, Stavinsky's Nightingale, Britten's Turn Of The Screw.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

bz3 said:


> I listened to Wozzeck yesterday. Didn't love it but I'll come back to it. Pelleas et Melisande is next up!


That might be a good choice.


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