# What's your favorite comic opera........................



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

As above... :tiphat: 

OOPS
Forgot Marriage of Figaro
Magic Flute and
Cosi.

Please add them in.
thank you


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Britten's Albert Herring and Cavalli's Elena. In your list I like La Fille as played by Natalie Dessay. I find Don Pasquale too cruel; and Meistersinger doesn't even make me crack a smile.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

What's your favourite, Itullian?


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

Cosi fan Tutte


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## opus55 (Nov 9, 2010)

From those choices, I picked L'Elisir d'Amore because I find Dottore Dulcamara's song to be really funny.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

opus55 said:


> From those choices, I picked L'Elisir d'Amore because I find Dottore Dulcamara's song to be really funny.


Yes, it is a cracker!


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Without a moment's hesitation *Falstaff*, as near perfect as anything could ever be,


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

There are many great comic operas, indeed.

When I was younger, "Le nozze di Figaro" was my favourite and then I switched to "Così fan tutte". But perhaps, when asked today, I'll choose "Gianni Schicchi".


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

schigolch said:


> But perhaps, when asked today, I'll choose "Gianni Schicchi".


it's very funny, yes. Off Itulian's original list I like L'italiana best, although La fille is very funny too. I don't think Il barbiere is _that_ funny and I really can't stand Don Pasquale. But where is Le Comte Ory, eh?


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

Hard to choose 
Il barbiere, La Cenerentola, L'elisir, Gianni Schicchi are all fantastic comic operas.

I'd go for Wolf-Ferrari's I quatro rusteghi because I'm attached to the venetian vernacular.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

It depends partly on whether I'm watching it or just listening. Mozart can provide a delightful evening in the theater, but on recordings I'm bored senseless by secco recitative and so avoid his operas. For pure musical nourishment I guess it has to be Meistersinger and Falstaff. 

Is anyone familiar with Adam's Postillon de Lonjumeau? Silliest plot imaginable, and with good singing and conducting it's sheer ludicrous delight. Why don't they stage it nowadays?


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

From the list above, I went with _Il Barbiere di Siviglia_. Among "others," _Gianni Schicchi_ also gets my vote.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

GregMitchell said:


> Without a moment's hesitation *Falstaff*, as near perfect as anything could ever be,


Yup, he finally got one right


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I love L'Italiana and Barbiere and Un Giorno di Regno.

Falstaff and Meister are in a class of there own.

Comic operas are my favorite genre, love them all.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

_*Falstaff*_ without hesitation but I also love this


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## SilenceIsGolden (May 5, 2013)

So many good ones already mentioned, but I wanted to add _The Bartered Bride_ as one of my favorites.


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## HumphreyAppleby (Apr 11, 2013)

_Le comte ory_, _Gianni Schicchi_, _L'heure espagnole_


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

HumphreyAppleby said:


> _L'enfant et les sortileges_


Now I never think of *L'Enfant et les sortileges* as a comedy. *L'Heure Espagnole* certainly, but the former I think of more as a fantasy.


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## HumphreyAppleby (Apr 11, 2013)

GregMitchell said:


> Now I never think of *L'Enfant et les sortileges* as a comedy. *L'Heure Espagnole* certainly, but the former I think of more as a fantasy.


Yes, I meant _L'heure espagnole_! Wrong Ravel... Not an operatic vocal style I typically enjoy, but Ravel is my favorite classical (non-opera) composer, and that overcomes everything else in that work.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

_La Cenerentola_. It's not only my favorite comic opera but my favorite opera of all time. The only thing is, it's classified as a _dramma giocoso_, which is sort of a gentler comedy, so I think of it a bit differently than some of the others on the list. If I were to exclude _Cenerentola_, I'd have to say that _L'Italiana in Algeri_ is my favorite -- at least for now; a few of the works on the list I don't know well enough yet, so maybe my voting is permature. _Barbiere di Siviglia_, _L'Elsir_, and of course _Falstaff_ are all great too, by the way.


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

I voted for Il Barbieri and would have voted it for it on any poll since 1964, when I first listened to the Gobbi/Callas/Gallieri (sp?) 1957 studio recording.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Bellinilover said:


> it's classified as a _dramma giocoso_, which is sort of a gentler comedy, so I think of it a bit differently than some of the others on the list.


I was thinking the same thing. Cenerentola is more like Mozart's comedies, which tend to not be straight up comedies. It's got life lessons (forgiveness, empathy) and not so funny situations (Cenerentola being mistreated by sisters and father) but also hilarious moments.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Revenant said:


> Gallieri (sp?) .


It's Alceo Gallier*a*


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

GregMitchell said:


> It's Alceo Gallier*a*


In-_FLEC_-tions: feminine, not masculine; singular, not plural. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

GregMitchell said:


> It's Alceo Gallier*a*


Thank you. I erroneously ascribed multiple personalities to him.


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## msegers (Oct 17, 2008)

Amazing that _Un Giorno di Regno_ is on the list. Yes, it is funny, but I would think it is not so well known as to get on this list. I'm curious about whether we are being asked about a comic opera in terms of its being comic or in terms of its being a great opera. _Meistersinger_ and _Falstaff_ are both great operas but not so funny (to me, at least).

Are we supposed to distinguish between "opera" and "operetta"? If not, why isn't Offenbach well represented here?


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

msegers said:


> Amazing that _Un Giorno di Regno_ is on the list. Yes, it is funny, but I would think it is not so well known as to get on this list. I'm curious about whether we are being asked about a comic opera in terms of its being comic or in terms of its being a great opera. _Meistersinger_ and _Falstaff_ are both great operas but not so funny (to me, at least).
> 
> Are we supposed to distinguish between "opera" and "operetta"? If not, why isn't Offenbach well represented here?


Un Giorno is on cause its a favorite of mine. 
I was just keeping these to opera.
You may do an operetta thread if you like.
That would be fun too.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Cosi 

My opera horizons are remarkably expanded as of late, thanks to all of you in general and Itullian in particular. But it's still hard to top Mozart opera for me!


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Sonata said:


> Cosi
> 
> My opera horizons are remarkably expanded as of late, thanks to all of you in general and Itullian in particular. But it's still hard to top Mozart opera for me!


It's pretty hard to top Wolfie.


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## msegers (Oct 17, 2008)

Itullian said:


> Un Giorno is on cause its a favorite of mine.
> I was just keeping these to opera.
> You may do an operetta thread if you like.
> That would be fun too.


I agree about _Un Giorno_; I think it is a good thing, but it is amazing to me. Maybe I'm operatically illiterate, but I had never even heard of it until a few months ago. Now it is one of my favorites also. We are so fortunate to live in a time when we can find such almost forgotten masterpieces (at least, that is my experience). Thanks for a poll that really got me thinking.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

msegers said:


> I agree about _Un Giorno_; I think it is a good thing, but it is amazing to me. Maybe I'm operatically illiterate, but I had never even heard of it until a few months ago. Now it is one of my favorites also. We are so fortunate to live in a time when we can find such almost forgotten masterpieces (at least, that is my experience). Thanks for a poll that really got me thinking.


Welcome to the Un Giorno di Regno fan club 
I just love this wonderful little opera


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## Nervous Gentleman (Mar 15, 2014)

Wow. What a bizarre list. I can't say I find any of these to be particularly funny (well, maybe one or two). If you want comedy you first need a librettist who actually excelled at that and certainly (in the English language, at least) there was never a funnier or cleverer librettist than W.S. Gilbert, nor was there ever a composer who accentuated the comedic elements of a libretto better than Arthur Sullivan. My own favorite G & S would be one of their first, the one act "Trial by Jury." Then, of course, to be successful a comic opera (like comedy in general) requires performers who excel at comedy, otherwise it just falls flat [which in the case of a fast piece like "Trial by Jury" is probably the case for most recorded versions] To my mind the only really funny recording of "Trial by Jury' was the briskly-paced version recorded way back in 1927, which, despite the early date, nevertheless is exceptionally well recorded and a joy to listen to.

YouTube:

Part 1:






Part 2:

[mislabelled as 1949 version BUT it's actually part 2 of the 1927]






Part 3:






archive.org:

[The sound on the copy posted to archive.org is excellent. What I DON'T like is the unnecessary gaps between each part which in my opinion absolutely ruins the pace of the recording.]

http://https://archive.org/details/GILBERTSULLIVANTrialByJury1927-NEWTRANSFER

Libretto:

http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/trial/tbj_lib.pdf

Wikipedia:

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


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## DaDirkNL (Aug 26, 2013)

Cosi fan Tutte..


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Well, I've changed my mind: _Il Barbiere di Siviglia_ is my favorite after _Cenerentola._


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

I voted for Meistersinger and would still have.
Paul Hindemith´s Neues vom Tage is also really good:

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3


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## Buoso (Aug 10, 2016)

Gianni Schicchi without doubt for me. I confess though I tend to prefer tragedy to comedey but love Schicchi due to the fact its humor is quit morbid. Then again Il Trittico is my desert Island opera(s) and Schicchi is my favourite part of it.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

What, no Offenbach?


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## Loge (Oct 30, 2014)

Gianni Schicchi for me, like Weekend at Bernie's but with a great aria.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Loge said:


> Gianni Schicchi for me, like Weekend at Bernie's but with a great aria.


Beautiful aria but sometimes it is good to not know what they are singing.
Is it necessary to make such regie productions of Gianni Schicchi? It is not like there is an abundance of comic Puccini operas set in the middle age.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Definitely *Falstaff* for me. The jokes are so well built into the plot and the libretto. I've never seen a production fail to entertain the audience... although I haven't see one in Munich!

If i have a criticism it's that it is so damn clever in every respect that it is hard for the less knowledgeable opera lover to appreciate. (i.e. the speed that the tunes come and go). How ironic that Verdi's very funny comedy should be loved mostly by the connoiseurs.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Of those listed I know these:

Barber of Seville 
La Cenerentola
L'Elisir d'Amore
Don Pasquale 
Daughter of the Regiment
Meistersinger von Nuernburg

I voted Barber of Seville as my favorite. But what is missing from the list is a wonderful comic opera, Flotow's Martha.

My least favorite of these is Don Pasquale. Really don't care for it much at all. 

Meistersinger is wonderful but too long and drawn out for me to be in the same comic opera category as the others.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Florestan;
Meistersinger is wonderful but too long and drawn out for me to be in the same comic opera category as the others.[/QUOTE said:


> Meistersinger last over 4 hours but it feels like 2 hours.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Daughter of the Regiment any day of the week, Sutherland or Sills please.:clap:


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## Buoso (Aug 10, 2016)

Sloe said:


> Beautiful aria but sometimes it is good to not know what they are singing.
> Is it necessary to make such regie productions of Gianni Schicchi? It is not like there is an abundance of comic Puccini operas set in the middle age.


Richard Jones Covent Garden Trittico is both bad in his Il Tabarro moderate in his Gianni Schicchi and the best staging ever in his Suor Angelica. Gianni Schicchi actually doesn't come off to badly from vaguely regie productions the Glyndebourne one is a particular favourite of mine though I confess that I don't think that a production merely updated to a different time is proper "regie" regie I mean it's not like their all bloody rats...


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Buoso said:


> Richard Jones Covent Garden Trittico is both bad in his Il Tabarro moderate in his Gianni Schicchi and the best staging ever in his Suor Angelica. Gianni Schicchi actually doesn't come off to badly from vaguely regie productions the Glyndebourne one is a particular favourite of mine though I confess that I don't think that a production merely updated to a different time is proper "regie" regie I mean it's not like their all bloody rats...


To make them rats would at least be comical.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Sloe said:


> To make them rats would at least be comical.


...Gianni Scratchy?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Sloe said:


> Meistersinger last over 4 hours but it feels like 2 hours.


Depends on whether you're feeling it with your heart or with your derriere.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Sloe said:


> Meistersinger last over 4 hours but it feels like 2 hours.


Here is a Meistersinger that is 12 hours!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Florestan said:


> Here is a Meistersinger that is 12 hours!


I do think four is enough


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> Depends on whether you're feeling it with your heart or with your derriere.


With my bladder I would say four days.


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## arnerich (Aug 19, 2016)

Falstaff is probably my favorite opera, it gets my vote!


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Florestan said:


> Here is a Meistersinger that is 12 hours!


Well played! I have to hand it to you, you had me taken in for a second.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

It's a very close call for me, between _Meistersinger_ and _Barbiere_. In the end I went for Wagner, because of its sheer variety: it has warmth, humanity and pathos in spades, as well as the comedy. It also has originality; the "duel" between Beckmesser and Sachs in Act II, and Beckmesser's mangled rendition of Walther's _Preislied_ in Act III, are works of sheer dramatic/comedic genius. In that regard, let's not forget that Wagner wrote the "book" as well as the music; with (all? most of?) the others, the comedy element was largely down to the librettist - not that this should count against the final collaborative product, of course.

Speaking of collaborative products, I'd liked to have seen _The Mikado_ and/or _Pirates of Penzance/Yeomen of the Guard_ in the list, too. Neither would have displaced Wagner from the top spot, but in my estimation they'd have given Rossini a run for his money


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## ma7730 (Jun 8, 2015)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> Speaking of collaborative products, I'd liked to have seen _The Mikado_ and/or _Pirates of Penzance/Yeomen of the Guard_ in the list, too. Neither would have displaced Wagner from the top spot, but in my estimation *they'd have given Rossini a run for his money*


They're not totally dissimilar.









But I still think the first is far superior.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Fritz Kobus said:


> Of those listed I know these:
> 
> Barber of Seville
> La Cenerentola
> ...


I don't know how it is that I forgot my favorite comic opera: Flotow's Martha!
Especially this wonderful video. There are some cuts, but this video is awesome. 
I watched it 8 times in two months.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

In addition to the already mentioned Gianni Schicchi...

Ralph Vaughan Williams - Sir John in Love
Carl Nielsen - Maskarade


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## Annied (Apr 27, 2017)

It has to be "L'Elisir d'amore" for me because without it, I would have missed out on a lot of wonderful music and I wouldn't be here on this Forum. It was the only opera with José Carreras that I could find in my library after I fell in love with his voice and went on the search for a full opera featuring him. It was melody from beginning to end and piqued my interest in a way I doubt any other opera would have done at that stage.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I'm surprised 'Giorno di regno' is in the list, but no Mozart or Gianni Schichi.

My choice also wasn't there: Il Turco in Italia.

I know! How can I prefer it over L'italiana? Well, the music may not be superior from an academic point of view, however I find that Turco sparkles in a way that Italiana doesn't and I find the comic situations much funnier.

N.


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

Probably _Gianni Schicchi_ and _Orphée aux enfers_.

My favourite light-hearted moment from _Die Meistersinger_ is towards the end of Act II when Sachs's hammering of nails into the shoes he's making for Beckmesser doubles up as the racking up of demerits when judging the latter's singing. Beckmesser makes such a pig's ear of the song that Sachs manages to complete the shoes for him by the time the song's finished - appropriately so as Beckmesser was complaining to Sachs earlier on in the opera about how long it was taking for the shoes to be made.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Falstaff but I also have a great love for Cenerentola


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Falstaff is both funny and a musical masterpiece. Certainly the greatest comic opera after Mozart


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## Rossiniano (Jul 28, 2017)

Since I listened to it just yesterday Rossini's _L'Italiana in Algeri_. Incidentally, it was a recording of a live broadcast from the MET conducted by James Levine from 2004 who always includes two non-standard variants of the score in the second act. They are the longer tenor aria "Concedi amor pietoso" which was added later and the original version of "Per lui che adoro" in its cello version which adds a certain amount of sensuousness to the aria. To my knowledge no audio commercial recording includes both of these variants, though they were included in the appendix of the LP release of the Scimone recording with Horne, but not on CD and the tenor aria is used in a release from the Rossini Opera Festivsl. The DVD from the MET under Levine with Horne does include both as does Levine's 2016 performances at the MET.

In any event, the inclusion of these two pieces puts it way over the top for me even though the standard score would still win out over both _Cenerentola_ and _Barbiere _even though it would be a much closer call!


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

Richard Cœur-de-lion (Gretry)

Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) 

Don Pasquale (Donizetti)


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## Amara (Jan 12, 2012)

Der Rosenkavalier.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Amara said:


> Der Rosenkavalier.


There is a new DVD coming out,from the Met. 
( see my avatar)


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I could listen to The Elixir of Love once a week. When I had Met Opera radio, I would listen everytime it was on. Now live with cast of choice.... Joan in Daughter of the Regiment.


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

Among my favorite comic Operas there are:

Giorgio Federico Ghedini : La pulce d'oro
Luigi Ferrari-Trecate : Le astuzie di Bertoldo
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari : I quatro rusteghi
Gian Francesco Malipiero : La bottega del caffè and Sior Todero Brontolon (from the trypthic Tre commedie goldoniane)

Finally, while I don't have high estimate for Giancarlo Menotti's works, I do think that his The old maiden and the thief is a hidden gem that possess the same comic verve of something like La serva padrona.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

My top five comic operas today are (in no particular order):

Flotow: Martha (or Der Markt zu Richmond)
Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore
Donizetti: La fille du Regiment
Donizetti: Don Pasquale
Smetana: Bartered Bride


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## Dimace (Oct 19, 2018)

Der Rosenkavalier
Ariadne auf Naxos (despite it isn't pure comic opera)
La perichole (Offenbach)


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Meistersinger
Zauberflote
Seville
L"Italiana
Cenerentola
Nozze
Cosi
L'Elisir
Don Pasquale
Giorno di Regno


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

For now:
Daughter of the Regiment
Don Pasquale
L'Italiana in Algeri


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Not a sub-genre I love, but I''d vote for Britten's Albert Herring.


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## VitellioScarpia (Aug 27, 2017)

I vote for Puccini's Gianni Schicchi. It is the epitome of the Italian irreverence by turning a verse of the Divine Comedy's Inferno into a comedy. Schicchi had swindled his wife's family (the Donati) from the inheritance. The words _testando e dando al testamento norma_ are straight out of Dante.


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

Art Rock said:


> Not a sub-genre I love, but I''d vote for Britten's Albert Herring.


Yes, it's a delightful work. I regret not including this among my earlier choices.


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## Dimace (Oct 19, 2018)

I'm not sure about the criteria have been used by you for the pole. If these are how much we have laugh from a specific performance, I must take out the Offenbach, because my French are only decent and I can't understand the French humor, or the situations so much to start laughing. (this also, for other languages is ''taking out''' any simple hearing at home. Despite I'm speaking very good Italian, I can't clearly understand what the singers are saying. So it is difficult for me to laugh. I have never laughed with the Girl of the Regiment, since I saw live the opera. This is a reason, that in out Opera Comique, (we perform also normal operas) we use (and I don't like this) German translated libretti! (in England are making lately the same). Also, in the local music market, many operas are sung in German (to sell more copies) The best way to answer such question is to watch the opera in DVD, Blu Ray etc. (with good subtitles)


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

My favorite comic opera is certainly Falstaff. There is everything that should be: humor, amazing music, delicate irony. What a gift is to finish his way in art with the words "Everything in the world is a joke"! 
Die Meistersingern is a masterpiece, it was one of the best evenings in my opera life. But l hardly receive it as a comic opera. Drama where nobody dies is not a comedy. In this case Die Frau ohne Schatten is opera buffa. 
By the way, Strauss has written some nice comic operas like Arabella, Intermezzo or Die aegyptische Helena. 
I also can't not to mention two Rimski-Kórsakov's oeuvres, The night before Christmas and The tale of Tzar Saltan. Both are genuinely comic and contain wonderful music, especially symphonic parts.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

ColdGenius said:


> By the way, Strauss has written some nice comic operas like Arabella, Intermezzo or Die aegyptische Helena.


Isn't *Der Rosenkavlier *supposed to be a comedy? However it's the comic bits of the score (most of the Ochs stuff in fact) that I find tedious.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Isn't *Der Rosenkavlier *supposed to be a comedy? However it's the comic bits of the score (most of the Ochs stuff in fact) that I find tedious.


It's a little too long for a comedy. And with all my love to Strauss Der Rosenkavalier seems to me the least memorable. Maybe the case is that I've never seen it in the theater.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

The Bartered Bride by Bedrich Smetana.

From the original selection, it would probably be The barber of Seville. 
But I don't know most of the suggested operas, or not properly. I have grown up without internet and with limited availability of the recordings. And later, I have been in the operatic coma for cca 15 years.


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## Ludwig Schon (10 mo ago)

The answer of course is Meistersingers… Sixtus Beckmesser is the kind of character that Mel Brooks and Woody Allen have been affecting and perfecting over the last 70 years… 

Trashy Italian opera does not count...


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

ColdGenius said:


> It's a little too long for a comedy. And with all my love to Strauss Der Rosenkavalier seems to me the least memorable. Maybe the case is that I've never seen it in the theater.


I'm not sure that length should preclude comedy. You may not think of it as such, but Wagner seemed pretty sure he was writing a comic opera when he wrote *Die Meistersinger*. Strauss too, when he wrote *Der Rosenkavalier*, which is actually my favourite Strauss opera, though it's not the comic bits I like best. I love most of the first act. Some of the shenanigans in the second act can drive me a bit potty, but the Presentation of the Silver Rose is sublime. Again the beginning of the third act can be a little tedious, but from the entrance of the Marschallin onwards its glorious. Maybe it helps that I first saw it in my early twenties in a wonderful production by Scottish Opera, with Helga Dernesch as the most beautiful Marschallin imaginable. I hadn't heard a note of the music before, but I was hooked and the trio in the last act had us all in tears. A most memorable night in the theatre.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Ludwig Schon said:


> The answer of course is Meistersingers… Sixtus Beckmesser is the kind of character that Mel Brooks and Woody Allen have been affecting and perfecting over the last 70 years…
> 
> Trashy Italian opera does not count...


How about nontrashy Italian opera?

Hmmm... Relative to _Meistersinger,_ only one title comes to mind.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I'm not sure that length should preclude comedy. You may not think of it as such, but Wagner seemed pretty sure he was writing a comic opera when he wrote *Die Meistersinger*. Strauss too, when he wrote *Der Rosenkavalier*, which is actually my favourite Strauss opera, though it's not the comic bits I like best. I love most of the first act. Some of the shenanigans in the second act can drive me a bit potty, but the Presentation of the Silver Rose is sublime. Again the beginning of the third act can be a little tedious, but from the entrance of the Marschallin onwards its glorious. Maybe it helps that I first saw it in my early twenties in a wonderful production by Scottish Opera, with Helga Dernesch as the most beautiful Marschallin imaginable. I hadn't heard a note of the music before, but I was hooked and the trio in the last act had us all in tears. A most memorable night in the theatre.


Saw that production as well Tsaras. Just glorious.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I'm not sure that length should preclude comedy. You may not think of it as such, but Wagner seemed pretty sure he was writing a comic opera when he wrote *Die Meistersinger*. Strauss too, when he wrote *Der Rosenkavalier*, which is actually my favourite Strauss opera, though it's not the comic bits I like best. I love most of the first act. Some of the shenanigans in the second act can drive me a bit potty, but the Presentation of the Silver Rose is sublime. Again the beginning of the third act can be a little tedious, but from the entrance of the Marschallin onwards its glorious. Maybe it helps that I first saw it in my early twenties in a wonderful production by Scottish Opera, with Helga Dernesch as the most beautiful Marschallin imaginable. I hadn't heard a note of the music before, but I was hooked and the trio in the last act had us all in tears. A most memorable night in the theatre.


Did you see this production in Glasgow Tsaras? I did in1971 and Janet Baker sang one of her few Octavians. The glory days of Scottish Opera.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Barbebleu said:


> Did you see this production in Glasgow Tsaras? I did in1971 and Janet Baker sang one of her few Octavians. The glory days of Scottish Opera.


I have a recording of that one on CD (released by Ponto). No, I saw it when Scottish Opera brought it to Newcastle-upon-Tyne the following year. The revival was sung in German and had Anne Howells as Octavian and Teresa Cahill as Sophie. I saw it on a Saturday night and loved it so much that I went back the following Monday for the next performance.

The previous year they brought *Fidelio*, again with Helga Dernesch and she was superb in that too.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I have a recording of that one on CD (released by Ponto). No, I saw it when Scottish Opera brought it to Newcastle-upon-Tyne the following year. The revival was sung in German and had Anne Howells as Octavian and Teresa Cahill as Sophie. I saw it on a Saturday night and loved it so much that I went back the following Monday for the next performance.
> 
> The previous year they brought *Fidelio*, again with Helga Dernesch and she was superb in that too.


A lot of contemporary reviews criticised Helga for struggling with the tessitura. Perhaps I was overcome by the whole evening but I can’t say I heard that. Having said that, it was fifty one years ago so maybe I was less critical than I am now. I have a recording of that night to which I haven’t got round to listening. I should remedy that and hear what my more experienced ears hear now!


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Barbebleu said:


> A lot of contemporary reviews criticised Helga for struggling with the tessitura. Perhaps I was overcome by the whole evening but I can’t say I heard that. Having said that, it was fifty one years ago so maybe I was less critical than I am now. I have a recording of that night to which I haven’t got round to listening. I should remedy that and hear what my more experienced ears hear now!


The Karajan recording of *Fidelio *is my favourite version of the opera. I think it's her best recorded role, and I don't hear any sense of strain. Those who say they can, I think are being wise after the fact. She sounds radiant to me - just as she was in *Der Rosenkavalier*.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Tsaraslondon said:


> The Karajan recording of *Fidelio *is my favourite version of the opera. I think it's her best recorded role, and I don't hear any sense of strain. Those who say they can, I think are being wise after the fact. She sounds radiant to me - just as she was in *Der Rosenkavalier*.


And I think she is wonderful in both the Karajan Ring and Tristan.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Barbebleu said:


> And I think she is wonderful in both the Karajan Ring and Tristan.


Me too, though I seem to be in a minority on this site.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Me too, though I seem to be in a minority on this site.


There would appear to be two of us at least!😂


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Barbebleu said:


> There would appear to be two of us at least!😂


Make that 3


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

Back in 2011 my wife and I attended the Sante Fe Opera. They staged a performance of the _Last Savage_, a little known rarely performed opera buffa by Menotti. It was fantastic and one of the funniest operas we had ever seen


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

From the list I would go for Meistersinger or Falstaff. The trouble is that Meistersinger is really a very one-off work whereas Falstaff is a culmination of a long tradition. Of course, if Mozart had been there I would have needed several votes and if Albert Herring had been there it would have hurt not to vote for it.


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