Greatest Opera Composer - Ever

[Mandryka]

Can't be Verdi because there is too much vulgar music.
Can't be Wagner because at the end of the day they just don't make sense.
I suppose it could be Mozart. It could even be Monteverdi (though probably not)
But the most perfect opera ever written, surely, is Pagliacci.

[hornteacher]

Missed the poll too.  Add a vote for Mozart.

[marvinbrown]

  Missed the poll as well...add a vote for WAGNER!

  marvin

[DavidRoss]

Poll closed awfully damned fast!

Greatest "opera composer" = Verdi.

Greatest composer of operas = Mozart.

Composer of greatest operas = Mozart.

What's Wagner doing in here?  Wasn't he at pains to distinguish his "music dramas" from opera?

[Sarastro]

I am frankly surprised such polls still appear. Well, then if they do, we'd better test the voters' qualification: how many operas (and which) of each composer they have heard so far. At least, it would be somewhat fair that way. I sometimes feel that people who heard only Nabucco rush to conclude that Verdi is all about rum-ti-tum, and someone who was bored at the meistersingers of Nurnberg would yell that Wagner is boring.

[71 dB]

Mozart??? Perhaps I am missing something but in my opinion Mozart wrote simple music for simple-minded opera audience. Mozart the genius wrote other music like piano concertos.

Verdi??? In my opinion perhaps the most overvalued composer in history.

Wagner??? Well, his music is rather good!

No, in my opinion the best opera composers were Rameau, Handel and Puccini. Why? Because their opera music I really enjoy. These composers were able to include complexity in their opera music without compromising the entertainment aspect of it.

[zamyrabyrd]

I am frankly surprised such polls still appear. Well, then if they do, we'd better test the voters' qualification: how many operas (and which) of each composer they have heard so far. At least, it would be somewhat fair that way. I sometimes feel that people who heard only Nabucco rush to conclude that Verdi is all about rum-ti-tum, and someone who was bored at the meistersingers of Nurnberg would yell that Wagner is boring.

Who would ever think that Meistersingers is boring, and that is not even the longest Wagner opera? I also agree there is the danger to cast votes based on spotty knowledge. The same though goes for voting for political leaders, I guess.  And I wanted to vote, only to find the poll was already closed.

ZB

[Lilas Pastia]

This poll doesn't really count because:

1. It closed too quickly (I missed it).
2. Verdi didn't win.
3. Wagner won.

(I'd have settled for Mozart. Grudgingly.)

Same here. Except I'd have placed Verdi first, ahead of Mozart. and then Puccini. If Wagner had had a better librettist (he was his own worst enemy in that regard), and if he had managed to cut each act of his operas by some 15 minutes, he might have had a chance against Puccini

[karlhenning]

Surgically done, André!

[Maciek]

Same here. Except I'd have placed Verdi first, ahead of Mozart. and then Puccini. If Wagner had had a better librettist (he was his own worst enemy in that regard), and if he had managed to cut each act of his operas by some 15 minutes, he might have had a chance against Puccini

But, Andre, that's exactly what I meant! First Verdi, followed closely by Mozart (so I would have settled for him as well).

[Sarastro]

Mozart??? Perhaps I am missing something but in my opinion Mozart wrote simple music for simple-minded opera audience. Mozart the genius wrote other music like piano concertos.

Verdi??? In my opinion perhaps the most overvalued composer in history.

Wagner??? Well, his music is rather good!

No, in my opinion the best opera composers were Rameau, Handel and Puccini. Why? Because their opera music I really enjoy. These composers were able to include complexity in their opera music without compromising the entertainment aspect of it.

Thank you for illustrating just what I had stated above. Now, you haven't revealed what operas of Mozart, Wagner, and Verdi you have heard (and preferably, of Rameau, Puccini, and Handel).

[Lilas Pastia]

But, Andre, that's exactly what I meant! First Verdi, followed closely by Mozart (so I would have settled for him as well).

Blame it on age, Mac.  . At first I thought that's what you had meant (IOW, complete agreement right down to the last detail ). Then I started to have the shadow of a doubt, and I wasn't sure anymore   .

For the record, I'll list the operas of Wagner, Verdi and Mozart I have NOT heard (even though I may know some scenes/arias or ensembles pretty well):

- Meistersinger
- Lohengrin
- Rienzi

- Everything by Verdi from the 'galley years' (aka the rum-ti-tum operas, except Nabucco which I do have), plus Simon Boccanegra and I Vespri siciliani. I know the plots and much of the music from the latter works, but have never owned a complete set. I've never warmed to La Traviata, probably Verdi's most overrated work. It annoys me no end. Though I recognize that without Sempre libera the soprano repertoire would suffer a gaping hole.

- All the childhood/teen years operas, plus Idomeneo and La Clemenza di Tito. Although I think his greatest operas contain many sublime pages, I often have trouble connecting with the plots. The only ones  I actually have pleasure listening to as music drama or comedy are Don Giovanni and Zauberflöte - and, when done well, Die Entführung. I love the music of Cosi and Figaro to death, but the marivaudage and mistaken identity elements fail to arouse much more than an amused smile here and there. The last scene of Figaro is an absolute gem of operatic lore, though.

[Tsaraslondon]

I am frankly surprised such polls still appear. Well, then if they do, we'd better test the voters' qualification: how many operas (and which) of each composer they have heard so far. At least, it would be somewhat fair that way. I sometimes feel that people who heard only Nabucco rush to conclude that Verdi is all about rum-ti-tum, and someone who was bored at the meistersingers of Nurnberg would yell that Wagner is boring.

Well I have heard every one of Verdi's operas except Oberto, and seen many of them in the theatre. I don't know all of Mozart's early operas (though I have seen Mitridate), but have heard and seen all his mature operas from Die Entfuhring aus dem Serail onwards. The only Wagner operas I haven't heard are Die Feen, Das Liebesverbot (by all accounts both rather worse efforts than Verdi's Oberto) and Rienzi.
With that knowledge, I would find it impossible to judge who was greater, as I ascribe each of them equal greatness and influence, so to speak. That said, if vouchsafed the operas of only one of these composers on that proverbial desert island, then it would be the operas of Verdi, with a rather wistful glance at those of Mozart. Wagner I could happily live without.

[Cristofori]

Biased as I may be, I'm not much of a fan of Italian Opera, unless it's made by Germans!

So chalk one down for Mozart, with Handel an Wagner tying for second.

[Coopmv]

I have all the Wagner operas on CD and most of them on LP as well (including 3 complete Ring Cycle).  I do have an opera collection, though my interest for the last few years has been focused on choral works ...

[71 dB]

Now, you haven't revealed what operas of Mozart, Wagner, and Verdi you have heard (and preferably, of Rameau, Puccini, and Handel).

Mozart: All of them
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, Der Fliegende Holländer &  Parsifal + music from other operas.
Verdi: Rigoletto, Requiem for non-operatic + music from other operas
Rameau: Dardanus, Castor et Pollux, Les Fêtes D'Hébé, Les Indes galantes & Les Boréades + orchestral music from many others
Puccini: Turandot, Tosca & Manon Lescaut + music from other operas.
Handel: Teseo, Semele (semi-opera) & Giulio Cesare +many oratorios + music from many other operas

[Sarastro]

+ music from many other operas

Khm, what is "music from many other operas"? And how does it represent these operas in their entirety? If you listened to the drinking song from La Traviata (in addition to one complete opera by Verdi you have heard in your life!), you can't draw conclusions about Verdi being "the most overvalued composer in history".

It is funny, though, that you have heard ALL the "simple" operas Mozart wrote for "simple-minded opera audience", and the composers you heard the least -- except for Verdi -- are your favorites.

[Sarastro]

Well I have heard every one of Verdi's operas except Oberto, and seen many of them in the theatre. I don't know all of Mozart's early operas (though I have seen Mitridate), but have heard and seen all his mature operas from Die Entfihring aus dem Serail onwards. The only Wagner operas I haven't heard are Die Feen, Das Liebesverbot (by all accounts both rather worse efforts than Verdi's Oberto) and Rienzi.
With that knowledge, I would find it impossible to judge who was greater, as I ascribe each of them equal greatness and influence, so to speak. That said, if vouchsafed the operas of only one of these composers on that proverbial desert island, then it would be the operas of Verdi, with a rather wistful glance at those of Mozart. Wagner I could happily live without.

Very impressive, Tsaraslondon!
Every rushing voter should first read your opinion before casting his/her vote in this poll. I am too young to have seen many of these operas onstage (hopefully, I'll get enough of a chance to do so throughout my life), yet I understand their uniqueness and influence. I think it's great to have composers who worked in different styles and had their ways of conveying emotions and drama; it's quite silly to decide "greatness" of each one. Well, I guess, we all have to agree that people have this tendency to proclaim that their favorites are great and divine, so that these people lift themselves in their own eyes. Why couldn't we just have "favorite composer" polls instead of "Greatest Opera Composer - Ever"?

[71 dB]

I am not interested about Verdi's music based on what I heard.

I got all Mozart operas in Brilliant box. That's why.

[Superhorn]

 This is indeed a silly poll. Each of the three is great in his own way.
I would say that for me, Wagner is the most profound and that his influence on 19th and 20th century music,not just operatic, has been enormous.
I've gotten to know his works so well that I don't find them boring at all, and I can't imagine any one else writing his librettos. Like them or not,
no one else could have done the job to Wagner's satisfaction, and cutting them ironically makes them seem even longer !
  Wagner is the least uneven of the three. Everything from Der Fliegende Hollander to Parsifal is wonderful.  Wagner simply matured as a composer. None of these works is a dud, unlike some of the other two composers lesser works.
I've heard Rienzi on the Hollreiser/EMI recording, and even though it's immature Wagner and nowhere near as great as his mature operas, it's at least never boring, and should be heard by all those who love his music.
Hollander,Tannhauser and Lohengrin may not be quite as great as the mature Wagner, but they're still wonderful operas.