building a nice opera collection

[Henk]

I have some operas of Handel, Rossini and Schoenberg. I want to get the box of Janacek operas with Mackerras. What are other nice opera recordings to get? I want a nice mix of modern and classical operas. Maybe there are some nice box sets with different works?

[Novi]

Definitely get the Janacek box - I've enjoyed that one tremendously. There's the big Wagner Bayreuth box:



No librettos, unfortunately. 

[Wendell_E]

You might want to check out this thread:
http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,11531.0.html

[Henk]

Definitely get the Janacek box - I've enjoyed that one tremendously. There's the big Wagner Bayreuth box:



No librettos, unfortunately. 

I'm no fan of Wagner. Otherwise it seems a great set.

[Henk]

You might want to check out this thread:
http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,11531.0.html

I already checked that thread. I'm also looking for some modern operas. They seem hard to find.

[DavidRoss]

Henk--no opera collection is complete (or maybe isn't even really started!) without the three Mozart operas with libretto by da Ponte.  As a HIPster, I'm a big fan of the recent recordings under the direction of Rene Jacobs.  However, Böhm's Cosi and Giulini's Giovanni and Le Nozze are pretty terrific.

Other perennial faves include Bizet's Carmen, Rossini's Barber, Verdi's Aida, and Puccini's La Boheme.  Modern operas of note include those by Strauss, Berg, Janáček, Korngold, Bartόk, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Britten, and even Debussy (though we try not to mention this around here  ).  There is even (!) contemporary opera still being written in our time.

The web is full of resources to learn more about opera.  One place for a very cursory start is GMG's own Essential Opera page.

[Gabriel]

Henk--no opera collection is complete (or maybe isn't even really started!) without the three Mozart operas with libretto by da Ponte.  As a HIPster, I'm a big fan of the recent recordings under the direction of Rene Jacobs.

By the way, I saw a couple of days ago at a store the brand new recording of Idomeneo by Jacobs. I attended a performance last year in the Salle Pleyel and it was excellent, so this recording should keep the standard of the previous ones.

And the next Mozart opera to be recorded by Jacobs is Die Zauberflöte! (I hope to attend a live performance in the second semester).

[DavidRoss]

And the next Mozart opera to be recorded by Jacobs is Die Zauberflöte!

Better get my wallet out--that will be a must, I imagine!

By the way, I almost ignored your post because your lovely avatar is shared by one of the local nutcases best avoided.

[Henk]

Henk--no opera collection is complete (or maybe isn't even really started!) without the three Mozart operas with libretto by da Ponte.  As a HIPster, I'm a big fan of the recent recordings under the direction of Rene Jacobs.  However, Böhm's Cosi and Giulini's Giovanni and Le Nozze are pretty terrific.

Other perennial faves include Bizet's Carmen, Rossini's Barber, Verdi's Aida, and Puccini's La Boheme.  Modern operas of note include those by Strauss, Berg, Janáček, Korngold, Bartόk, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Britten, and even Debussy (though we try not to mention this around here   ).  There is even (!) contemporary opera still being written in our time.

The web is full of resources to learn more about opera.  One place for a very cursory start is GMG's own Essential Opera page.

Thanks for this information. A have an eye on this box set containing de da Ponte operas:


It seems to me "new music" (serial music) isn't suitable for opera. What are good and available contemporary operas?

Can't find a version of Carmen's Bizet on cd.

Henk

[Henk]

I have this Naxos issue . Will listen to that to see what I like.

[bhodges]

Henk, you might really enjoy any of these operas--two composed relatively recently--and all quite different from each other:

Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Die Soldaten (1965)
Helmut Lachenmann: Das Mädchen mit dem Schwefelhölzern (The Little Match Girl) (1990-96; rev. 2000)
Ricky Ian Gordon: The Grapes of Wrath (2007)

--Bruce

[knight66]

Henk, It is Bizet's Carmen, not Carmen's Bizet. The composer is Bizet and Carmen is a character, a gypsy who lures a soldier away from his duty....with dire consequences for them both.

Here is a link to some CDs. Where there are stars against the entries, someone has reviewed the discs and you can read whether you think it is an opera you might like. You do not have to buy an expensive version, lots of good ones are available at good prices.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_m_h_?url=search-alias%3Dclassical&field-keywords=bizet+carmen

Some versions, such as Karajan, are sung all the way through. Others such as Ozawa use a slightly different version that has spoken dialogue in between the various musical 'numbers'.

As to serial music, here is a modern serial composer opera.


This was written to accompany the original film as a new soundtrack. But no DVD is available due to contract issues. However the CD version can be bought for very little.

Mike

[Henk]

Sorry for the mistype. I meant Bizet's Carmen, but typed wrong.

I think I just get the Janacek box and maybe later the Muti box of the Da Ponte operas.

I listened to the Glass but he annoys me, I regonize he uses the same themes for different works.

@Bruce: german and american composers are not my favourite for some reasons, sounds a bit discriminating maybe, but you have to be selective .

I think modern serial music is not suitable for opera. I think serial music is more suitable for reaching to new horizons, as philosopher Sloterdijk says. This doesn't fit with the characteristics of a story, where there's always a home-coming, as you have with opera.

Henk

[bhodges]

How about Louis Andriessen's Writing to Vermeer (1999)?

--Bruce

[Wendell_E]

As to serial music, here is a modern serial composer opera.

Glass isn't a serial composer.

[knight66]

Glass....quote. "Although his music is often, though controversially, described as minimalist, he distances himself from this label, describing himself instead as a composer of "music with repetitive structures."[4] Although his early, mature music is minimalist, he has evolved stylistically."

He has been through quite a number of styles.

Mike

[Gabriel]

Better get my wallet out--that will be a must, I imagine!

By the way, I almost ignored your post because your lovely avatar is shared by one of the local nutcases best avoided.

I will take profit of this circumstance and change it to Haydn for commemorating these very special Haydn days.

[DavidRoss]

No one here has recommended the operas of Richard Strauss

You have read carelessly.



edit:  And I see you have removed your post. 

[PSmith08]

I have always liked Carlo Maria Giulini's Rigoletto on DGG, but I would gladly defer to a Verdi expert on that recommendation.

[DavidRoss]

I have always liked Carlo Maria Giulini's Rigoletto on DGG, but I would gladly defer to a Verdi expert on that recommendation.

I've not heard Giulini, but I'd bet it's a darned good 'un.  Your post reminds me that it's been quite some time since I last heard this work (and I've never seen it), so I think it's time to give my only copy a spin:  Serafin/la Scala/Gobbi/Callas.  I hope Tsaraslondon approves.