# Opera: Back to basics



## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

*Confession Time:*

My problem when buying opera is that I'm never quite sure of what I like and what I don't like (even though I own a large number of operas already). Look, I have ''classics'' like Adriana Lecouvreur, Aida, La Boheme, Carmen, Les Pecheures De Perles, Faust, Romeo Et Juliette, Rigoletto, La Traviata, Otello, Falstaff. Other operas I have include Il Trovatore, Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Turandot, Il Barbiere Di Siviglia, La Cenerentola, L'Elisir D'Amore, Le Nozze Di Figaro, Cosi, Don Giovanni, Yevgeny Onyegin, Boris Godunov, Prince Igor, Rusalka, Cav & Pag, Die Zauberflote, The Abduction From The Seraglio, Manon, Werther, Thais...the list goes on! What are good and *popular *''melody-filled operas'' to explore in addition to these? I gravitate towards 19th and early 20th century Italian and French opera. FYI, I prefer productions that are easy to follow and in the spirit of the composer and librettist. Maybe recommend some recital discs too.

Looking forward to reading your recommendations.


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

I'll wait to look on Amazon or Presto Classical until I have received some recommendations.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Perhaps this is the best place to start?









The TC Top 200-272 Recommended Operas threads 2010-2020


Over the years a number of times TC members have voted for the most recommended operas. The three resulting threads were made into stickies. This new thread replaces the three stickies with one, as part of an ongoing effort to minimize the number of stickies. The Talk Classical Top 272 Most...




www.talkclassical.com


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

MAS said:


> Perhaps this is the best place to start?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks. I have seen this before, but I would prefer individual replies on this thread with product images of what people have. There are far too many operas on that thread to know where to continue from my original post. I only want a top 5 or top 10 list, and I'll choose based on my budget.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

When you say "And the list goes on..." that is kind of off-putting. How do I know that my choices are not already on your list?
Why not consider making an entire list of YOUR choices and then whatever is missing we could add to the list?
Anyway, I suspect you already have these but here goes:
Mefistofele(Boito)
La Fanciulla del West(Puccini)
Norma(Bellini)
La Forza del destino(Verdi)


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## Aerobat (Dec 31, 2018)

I'd also recommend looking at Youtube. There are quite a few full Operas on there, and a search by composer or artist will get you somewhere. For example:
















Looking at Youtube will very quickly let you decide whether you like something or not before you buy. 

There are other subscription-based services around that have very large libraries of Opera on video that may also be worth looking at.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

They are German and early 19th century but I assume you have heard/seen Fidelio and Freischütz? 
If you like colorful romanticism and are not too bothered by odd, implausible action (or no real action at all) you could also try Weber's Oberon and Euryanthe.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

There is no Bellini on your list. 
Try Norma, it is popular, but it can be ruined if sung badly. Go for Callas or Montserat Caballe. 
Also la Sonnambula is quite popular, but it is kind of slow and dreamy, so you should judge yourself if you are in a mood to explore something like this.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Also

Ponchielli: La Gioconda 
Donizetti: Maria Stuarda

Ok, there is also Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor , it is popular and played frequently but i like Maria Stuarda better.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Bellini: Il Pirata

IMaybe I deviated away from your specification a little. You wanted a popular piece, and this one is played rarely, but I honestly do not know why, except maybe the difficult singing. It is by Bellini, but not as lyrical and slow as his other ones. It is quite swift, the tempo resembles more Donizetti or young Verdi rather than later Bellini himself. And obviously melodical, that is guarranteed with Bellini. It opens up with a tempest, and some believe, it inspired Verdi and his opening of Othello. There is also my favourite tenor aria at the beginning, which is in pollonaise rhythm, "Nel furror delle tempeste". Plus there is a famous finale for the soprano, the mad scene, "Col sorrizo d innocenza".

I bought a recent recording, which won awards last year. I bought not a physical CD, but an online download, which was cheaper. The interprets are Javier Cammarena and Marina Rebeka. On the website Presto music, you can hear short previews of this recording and decide. Recording with Callas exists as well, but incomplete, it is on youtube somewhere.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

BBSVK said:


> There is no Bellini on your list.
> Try Norma, it is popular, but it can be ruined if sung badly. Go for Callas or Montserat Caballe.
> Also la Sonnambula is quite popular, but it is kind of slow and dreamy, so you should judge yourself if you are in a mood to explore something like this.


Or Cerquetti.


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> When you say "And the list goes on..." that is kind of off-putting. How do I know that my choices are not already on your list?
> Why not consider making an entire list of YOUR choices and then whatever is missing we could add to the list?
> Anyway, I suspect you already have these but here goes:
> Mefistofele(Boito)
> ...


Here is a (near-complete) list of the operas I own, on DVD and Blu ray.

*Mozart*

Le Nozze Di Figaro
Cosi Fan Tutte
Don Giovanni
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Zauberflote

*Beethoven: *Fidelio

*Bel Canto*

Il Barbiere Di Siviglia
La Cenerentola
La Donna Del Lago
Mose In Egitto
Lucia Di Lammermoor
L'Elisir D'amore

*Verdi*

Tutto Verdi boxed set (as well as separate productions of individual operas - Un Ballo In Maschera and Don Carlo)

*Puccini*

Tutto Puccini boxed set (as well as separate productions of individual operas)

*Verismo*

Cavalleria Rusticana
Pagliacci
Adriana Lecouvreur
Andrea Chenier
La Gioconda

*French opera*

Carmen
Les Pecheurs De Perles
Faust
Romeo Et Juliette
Manon
Werther
Samson Et Dalila
Les Troyens
Pelleas Et Melisande

*Russian & other Slavic opera*

Ruslan and Lyudmilla
Yevgeny Onyegin
Prince Igor
Boris Godunov
Sadko
The Cunning Little Vixen
Rusalka

*Operetta*

Die Fledernaus
Eine Nacht In Venedig
Der Zigeunerbaron
Die Lustige Witwe
Das Land Des Lachelns
Die Csardasfurstin

This is all I can think of at the moment. Let's see what you can recommend as a top 10 ''opera basics'' kit based on some of these. If you can, please include product images and/or cast lists, as it helps me know what to search for.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Simon Boccanegra and Don Carlo are worthy to be put into "classics". 
Among russian operas there is plenty of names and oeuvres unknown even in Russia. But there are also popular and melody-filled ones like Tzar's bride, Sadko, Tale of Tzar Saltan by Rimski-Kórsakov, both operas by Glinka. In case of Tchaikovsky there are some less famous like Maiden of Orleans and Mazepa. Khovanschina, of course, is staged regularly. 
And it's impossible not to mention Donizetti's operas about the Tudors.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Donizetti's La Favorite must be listed too. The real story of Leonor de Guzman was much more interesting, but the opera is beautiful and it's a rare leading part for mezzo.


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

ColdGenius said:


> Simon Boccanegra and Don Carlo are worthy to be put into "classics".
> Among russian operas there is plenty of names and oeuvres unknown even in Russia. But there are also popular and melody-filled ones like Tzar's bride, Sadko, Tale of Tzar Saltan by Rimski-Kórsakov, both operas by Glinka. In case of Tchaikovsky there are some less famous like Maiden of Orleans and Mazepa. Khovanschina, of course, is staged regularly.
> And it's impossible not to mention Donizetti's operas about the Tudors.


I actually have Sadko (but forgot to include it), but haven't watched it yet. It's the Kirov production. I don't really like Mussorgsky operas. 

Remind me the names of Donizetti's Tudor operas again, please?


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

LouisMasterMusic said:


> I actually have Sadko (but forgot to include it), but haven't watched it yet. It's the Kirov production. I don't really like Mussorgsky operas, too dissonant.
> 
> Remind me the names of Donizetti's Tudor operas again, please? Also, which Don Carlo would you recommend?


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Anna Bolena- Maria Stuarda-Roberto Devereux are the Tudor queens.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Elisabetta in castello Kenilworth too


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

There are many. First, old recordings: 
1) Siepi, Cerquetti, Barbieri, Lo Forese, Bastianini. 
2) Ghiaurov, Tebaldi, Bumbry, Bergonzi, Fischer-Diskau, Talvela. Conducted by Solti. 
3) Siepi, Regal, Bjorling, Barbieri, Merill, Hines. Conducted by Stiedry. All without Fontainebleau act. I don't know which to advise, such a cast is unaffordable nowadays. 
On video there are productions from 1970-s from Choregies d'Orange with Caballe, Estes, Bumbry, Aragall, relatively modern from ROH with Furlanetto, Poplavskaya, Villazon, Ganassi, Keenlyside, La Scala - Furlanetto, Cedolins, Zajick, Neal and Salzburg - Salminen, Kaufmann, Harteros, Semenchuk. Last one is longest ever, in five akts. I've seen it live in La Scala with Furlanetto, Stoyanova, Semenchuk and Meli. So, there are shows for every taste.


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

ColdGenius said:


> There are many. First, old recordings:
> 1) Siepi, Cerquetti, Barbieri, Lo Forese, Bastianini.
> 2) Ghiaurov, Tebaldi, Bumbry, Bergonzi, Fischer-Diskau, Talvela. Conducted by Solti.
> 3) Siepi, Regal, Bjorling, Barbieri, Merill, Hines. Conducted by Stiedry. All without Fontainebleau act. I don't know which to advise, such a cast is unaffordable nowadays.
> On video there are productions from 1970-s from Choregies d'Orange with Caballe, Estes, Bumbry, Aragall, relatively modern from ROH with Furlanetto, Poplavskaya, Villazon, Ganassi, Keenlyside, La Scala - Furlanetto, Cedolins, Zajick, Neal and Salzburg - Salminen, Kaufmann, Harteros, Semenchuk. Last one is longest ever, in five akts. I've seen it live in La Scala with Furlanetto, Stoyanova, Semenchuk and Meli. So, there are shows for every taste.


Thanks for this information. I'd rather start with something shorter and ''lighter'', that moves along swiftly, either because of the conductor's approach/tempo, or the music itself.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Here are some you should try : Dvorak : The Devil & Kate . Smetana: Dalibor . Janacek : Jenufa . Katya Kabanova. The Makropoulos Case . The Cunning Little Vixen . From the House of the Dead . The Excursions of Mr. Broucek . Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tsar's Bride . The Snow Maiden. May Night . Mlada . Sadko. The Tale of the Tsar Saltan . Kashchei the Immortal . The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh . The Golden Cockerel . Tchaikovsky : Mazeppa .The Maid of Orleans . Iolanta . Richard Strauss : Intermezzo . The Egyptian Helena . Daphne . Die Schweigsame frau ( the silent woman ) . Feuersnot . Friedenstag ( day of peace ) . Die Liebe Der Danae ( the love of Danae ). 
Hans Pfitzner : Palestrina . Hindemith : Cardillac . Mathis der Maler . Ernest Chausson : Le Roi Arthus ) king Arthur ) . Emmanuel Chabrier : L'Etoile ( the star) . Humperdinck : Konigskinder ( the royal children ) . Gheorghe Enescu : Oedipe ( Oedipus ) . Albert Roussel : Padmavati . Rachmaninov : Aleko. The Miserly Knight . Francesca Da Rimini . Riccardo Zandonai : Francesca Da Rimini . Howard Hanson : Merry Mount . Britten : Gloriana . Karol Szymanowski : King Roger . Stanislaw Moniuszko : Halka . Weber : Oberon . Euryanthe . 
Schumann : Genoveva . Johann Strauss Jr : Der Zigeunerbaron ( the Gypsy baron ) . Ralph Vaughan Williams : The Pilgrim's Progress .


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

superhorn said:


> Here are some you should try : Dvorak : The Devil & Kate . Smetana: Dalibor . Janacek : Jenufa . Katya Kabanova. The Makropoulos Case . The Cunning Little Vixen . From the House of the Dead . The Excursions of Mr. Broucek . Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tsar's Bride . The Snow Maiden. May Night . Mlada . Sadko. The Tale of the Tsar Saltan . Kashchei the Immortal . The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh . The Golden Cockerel . Tchaikovsky : Mazeppa .The Maid of Orleans . Iolanta . Richard Strauss : Intermezzo . The Egyptian Helena . Daphne . Die Schweigsame frau ( the silent woman ) . Feuersnot . Friedenstag ( day of peace ) . Die Liebe Der Danae ( the love of Danae ).
> Hans Pfitzner : Palestrina . Hindemith : Cardillac . Mathis der Maler . Ernest Chausson : Le Roi Arthus ) king Arthur ) . Emmanuel Chabrier : L'Etoile ( the star) . Humperdinck : Konigskinder ( the royal children ) . Gheorghe Enescu : Oedipe ( Oedipus ) . Albert Roussel : Padmavati . Rachmaninov : Aleko. The Miserly Knight . Francesca Da Rimini . Riccardo Zandonai : Francesca Da Rimini . Howard Hanson : Merry Mount . Britten : Gloriana . Karol Szymanowski : King Roger . Stanislaw Moniuszko : Halka . Weber : Oberon . Euryanthe .
> Schumann : Genoveva . Johann Strauss Jr : Der Zigeunerbaron ( the Gypsy baron ) . Ralph Vaughan Williams : The Pilgrim's Progress .


Hi. Thanks, but some of these look a little too ''ambitious'' for me at the moment. I'm still missing a lot of the 19th century Italian rep (pre-Verdi), for example, but Halka and Francesca Da Rimini have intrigued me. I'll need a far more basic list.


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

Hi

What are the top 10 operas you would recommend to someone wanting to return to basics and rediscover opera all over again? I'll look through your list and see what I don't own already. Please specify good DVDs and/or Blu rays.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

ColdGenius said:


> There are many. First, old recordings:
> 1) Siepi, Cerquetti, Barbieri, Lo Forese, Bastianini.
> 2) Ghiaurov, Tebaldi, Bumbry, Bergonzi, Fischer-Diskau, Talvela. Conducted by Solti.
> 3) Siepi, Regal, Bjorling, Barbieri, Merill, Hines. Conducted by Stiedry. All without Fontainebleau act. I don't know which to advise, such a cast is unaffordable nowadays.
> On video there are productions from 1970-s from Choregies d'Orange with Caballe, Estes, Bumbry, Aragall, relatively modern from ROH with Furlanetto, Poplavskaya, Villazon, Ganassi, Keenlyside, La Scala - Furlanetto, Cedolins, Zajick, Neal and Salzburg - Salminen, Kaufmann, Harteros, Semenchuk. Last one is longest ever, in five akts. I've seen it live in La Scala with Furlanetto, Stoyanova, Semenchuk and Meli. So, there are shows for every taste.


Which opera was this about ?


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

BBSVK said:


> Which opera was this about ?


Don Carlo, but it's too heavy for me at the moment. I need a top 10 list of operas that aren't too long. I'll go through it and might buy what I don't own already.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

Even if this is another period, if you haven't yet, try Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, it's one of my favorite operas and my favorite under 1 hour. 
And try Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, another short gem.


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

Kreisler jr said:


> Even if this is another period, if you haven't yet, try Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, it's one of my favorite operas and my favorite under 1 hour.
> And try Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, another short gem.


OK, thanks. Can you please recommend 5 more popular,(perhaps ''*populist" *even), operas on DVD and/or Blu ray? Check out my list so that you can create a suitable series of recommendations. You'll notice that I don't really ''go'' for German opera except those included.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

I think you have the "basics" from the fields you are most interested in, i.e. roughly Mozart through early 1900s and no Weber, Wagner, Strauss pretty well covered. Except maybe Norma, Smetana's "Bartered Bride" and one of Rimsky's and I think you already got recommendations for them (I couldn't add anything here):
So I think the most plausible thing would be to try stuff outside this time frame or German 19th century.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Try Donizetti's Don Pasquale. Also Flotow's Martha, Mascagni's L'amico Fritz, and Bellini's La Sonnambula.


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

Thanks all.


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

Can anyone please recommend DVDs or Blu rays of a top 10 list of popular operas (intermediate level, no Wagner or atonality)? Some of what has been recommended seems a bit too advanced at the moment. 

Looking forward to reading your recommendations. 

Louis Solomons


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

LouisMasterMusic said:


> Can anyone please recommend DVDs or Blu rays of a top 10 list of popular operas (intermediate level, no Wagner or atonality)? Some of what has been recommended seems a bit too advanced at the moment.
> 
> Looking forward to reading your recommendations.
> 
> Louis Solomons


I don't watch that many DVDs or BluRays, but there are a few that I have really enjoyed.
1. Act II of *Tosca* with Callas and Gobbi from Covent Garden in 1964. It's in black and white and it's a cime that they never filmed the whole thing, but this is a superb example of what opera should be but rarely is. 
2. *Norma *from Orange with Caballé, Vickers and Veasey. A fairly traditional production with stunning singing. 
3. *Der Rosenkavalier *- the movie with Schwarzkopf, Jurinac and Rothenberger and Karajan conducting. Though a film, it is a film of a stage production.
4. *La Bohème *- Australian Opera production staged by Baz Luhrmann. The 1950s setting works really well. The singers may not have glamorous voices like Freni or Pavarotti, but they are all believably young and great actors. 
5. *La Traviata *- Zeffirelli movie with Stratas and Domingo. There are cuts admittedly, but not so ruinously as in Zeffirelli's *Otello. *Stratas is unforgettably moving in the title role. I forgive her her vocal inadequacies for the truth of her portrayal.
6. *La Traviata *- La Scala, Milan production with Tiziana Fabbricini and Robert Alagna and conducted by Riccardo Muti. Hard to find, but a superb example of a traditional stage production. Gheorghiu, in the Covent Garden production is as affecting as Fabbricini and vocally more secure, but I don't much like Lopardo and Nucci and Muti is a far better bet in Verdi than Solti. The Muti might be hard to find, though.
7. *La Cenerentola *- Ponnelle film with Von Stade in a role she might have been born to sing. Magical.
8. *Salome *- the movie with Stratas as a more than usually believable teenage princess.
9. *Otello *- Zeffirelli production from the Met with Vickers, Scotto and MacNeil under Levine. There are actually quite a few good versions on DVD, and this one might be quite hard to get hold of. There are also a couple of good ones with Domingo. I like the Covent Garden production with Te Kanawa and Leiferkus.
10. *Roméo et Juliette *- from Covent Garden with Alagna and Leontina Vaduva. This is the performance that catapulted Alagna to stardom. I saw it on stage and it was one of my most memorable nights in the theatre.

If you don't mind opera in English, then the English National Opera prodcution of Donizetti's *Maria Stuarda* is well worth your attention. Janet Baker is superb as Mary and Rosalind Plowright matches her as Elizabeth, the great confrontation scene is absolutely thrilling.

My priorities for watching opera are slightly different from when I'm just listening, particularly on video when you also get close-ups of the performers. Some of the singers in the productions above would not be my first choice for an audio only recording, but, seen as well as heard, are very convincing.

My second rung would include the Zeffirelli movie of *Pagliacci *(Domingo and Stratas), the aforementioned *Otello *from Covent Garden with Domingo and Te Kanawa and the Covent Garden *Traviata *with Gheorghiu, *Der Rosenkavalier *conducted by Kleiber with Gwyneth Jones, Brigitte Fassbaender and Lucia Popp, the Joseph Losey movie of *Don Giovanni *and a production of *le Nozze di Figaro *from Glyndebourne, which starred Kiri Te Kanwa, Ileana Cotrubas and Frederica Von Stade all on the threshhold of their international careers.


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