# Introduction to opera...



## bplary (Sep 13, 2009)

Hello there! I'm fairly new here but have been listening seriously to classical music for the past couple years now, but haven't quite crossed into the opera scene yet. I'd love some recommendations on where to start in this undertaking!


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

What is your experience/preference within the classical music that you have been listening to? Such might give a better idea where to begin.


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## bplary (Sep 13, 2009)

Well, my musical preferences lie all over the spectrum. I enjoy music from Bach to Carter. But, if I had to choose a favorite period I'd say...romantic to early modernism? Chopin to Shostakovich perhaps?


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## cultchas (Sep 19, 2009)

Since you listen to Shotakovitch, try his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Its one my favorites. Plus Bluebard's Castle of Bartok and Moses und Aron by Schoenberg.

While they are not of the modernist era, try Mozart's operas like Marriage of Figaro. I also like Verdi and Wagner's operas. You can also try Aida (Verdi) and Tristan and Isolde (Wagner). Puccini's ... La Boheme. 

Happy listening!


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Opera is a world unto itself and can be quite daunting upon first entering it. My first love in classical music was the Baroque and so I entered opera through works by Handel, Vivaldi, Bach's oratorios and cantatas (not opera _per se_ but utilizing a similarity of vocals and merger of music and theater/drama. From there Mozart opened of the flood gates. Romantic opera may be a bit more challenging... especially Wagner and post-Wagnerian opera. Before Wagner opera was largely constructed of a series of arias, duets, etc... broken upon by recitative... not unlike a musical in which the drama unfolds for a while and then everyone breaks into a song. Wagner changed all this. The entire work unfolds as a musical drama... not unlike a symphony.

Anyway... for someone beginning to explore opera I would suggest exploring some really good recitals which collect a number of the best arias from a composer or group of composers. Check into Rene Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli, Placido Domingo, Anna Netrebko, Angela Gheorghiu, Pavarotti, Paul Wunderlich, Maria Callas, or any number of others. Perhaps for a first complete opera from around the period you most admire I would look into a recording of Carmen... a marvelous opera laden with endless well-known tunes.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

I would also seriously recommend that you try to see an actual opera in person... or at least a DVD recording in which you may experience the drama as well as the music. Opera is a merger of theater/drama and music and while it may be appreciated purely for the music such would be akin to looking at a classic film solely in terms of visuals/cinematography and ignoring the narrative, music, etc...


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

bplary said:


> I'd love some recommendations on where to start in this undertaking!


Try 'the most beautiful 3 minutes in all opera', from _Cosi Fan Tutte_, here:
Soave sia il vento

Or how about a bit of 'Handel does rock & roll', from _Ariodante_, here:
Dopo notte

Or how about a spot of Puccini? Lucia Popp singing from _La Boheme_:
Muzetta's song
(You might like to start at about 1.40)


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## kg4fxg (May 24, 2009)

*For what it is worth....*

I have been enjoying the book Opera 101. Very good and cheap if you order it via Amazon used.

I actually posted both. Both are very good books and worth the money. You can view them on-line at Amazon.


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## bplary (Sep 13, 2009)

Picked up this CD today from my local library


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

bplary said:


> Hello there! I'm fairly new here but have been listening seriously to classical music for the past couple years now, but haven't quite crossed into the opera scene yet. I'd love some recommendations on where to start in this undertaking!


There are various routes into opera. Some classical fans can just get into it at a pure music level via their favourite conductors or composers. Others, like me, got into it when I got sick of boring rock music and was looking for something fresh and expressive. My enjoyment in classical music came from opera.

But the first task for anybody is to love the operatic voice, as this is the main obstacle for most people. It's a visceral thing, something that you feel rather than intellectualise. Many operas from the 19th century are openly emotional and dramatic. I love to hear great operatic voices giving vent to feelings of joy, anger, triumph, sadness, regret, love, lust, loss etc. It's thrilling.

With all that said, if I never went to another symphony orchestra concert I'd still love Beethoven and Mahler, but opera can be such a brilliant live experience, and seeing a great performance at a major opera house is something that you'll never forget.

Good luck with your opera discoveries, I wish I could do it all over again.


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## scytheavatar (Aug 27, 2009)

bplary said:


> Picked up this CD today from my local library


La Traviata is an excellent starting place for opera, but I highly recommend starting with a DVD recording instead of a CD recording. There are numerous outstanding La Traviata on DVDs, I recommend you getting this:










The DVD recording of the CD recording you got, with Netrebko/Villazon is pretty good too but the staging is too eurotrash for me to recommend to an opera beginner. Bizet's Carmen is another good opera for a beginner.


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## Davidjo (Sep 30, 2009)

I'd recommend Puccini. La Boheme is beautiful. 

I found Carmen surprisingly boring. The fact it has a couple of cracking good tunes tends to obscure the dearth of interest to be found in the rest of the opera. Bit like Richard III by Shakespeare. Opens with "Now is the winter of our discontent..." - you think it's going to be that good all the way through - but it ain't!


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## Rafael2007 (Mar 4, 2010)

I would also suggest to listen (better watch) Rigoletto. If you choose to listen a CD (and you are already enjoying symphonic music), I would suggest the Giulini recording (DG, with Placido Domingo and Ileana Cotrubas) because the conduction and the orchestra are great.


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