Top 5 Favorite Verdi Operas

Started by Jaakko Keskinen, December 22, 2015, 07:11:04 AM

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Jaakko Keskinen

Go, go, go!


Simon Boccanegra
Don Carlo/s
Falstaff
Il Trovatore
Othello
"Javert, though frightful, had nothing ignoble about him. Probity, sincerity, candor, conviction, the sense of duty, are things which may become hideous when wrongly directed; but which, even when hideous, remain grand."

- Victor Hugo

ritter

#1
My relationship with Verdi has cooled very much over the past several years, and I often find myself loosing patience with his music and his dramatic art. But yet,  I still think Falstaff is a masterpiece, a jewel of an opera. Next I would place Don Carlos (which I think is a rather successful blend of italianità and French grand opéra). I surprise myself by rather enjoying La Forza del destino, as I think the alternation of the dramatic and the comic in this cloak-and-dagger piece makes it stand out from the run-of-the-mill Italian melodrammi from the period. Next, I'd place Simone Boccanegra and, last among the top 5, I'd place (also surprisingly) I Due Foscari, from the anni di galera.

The "romantic trilogy" I'd banish to any operatic purgatory I could find... >:(

Jaakko Keskinen

Quote from: ritter on December 22, 2015, 07:35:19 AM
The "romantic trilogy" I'd banish to any operatic purgatory I could find... >:(

The only one of those three that I don't like is La Traviata.
"Javert, though frightful, had nothing ignoble about him. Probity, sincerity, candor, conviction, the sense of duty, are things which may become hideous when wrongly directed; but which, even when hideous, remain grand."

- Victor Hugo

Drasko

Otello
Simone Boccanegra
Il trovatore
Un ballo in maschera
Rigoletto

springrite

Rigoletto
La Forze del Destino
La Traviata
Don Carlo
Aida
Do what I must do, and let what must happen happen.

Sergeant Rock

UN BALLO IN MASCHERA
LA FORZA DEL DESTINO
IL TROVATORE
MACBETH
NABUCCO



Sarge

the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Karl Henning

Otello
Falstaff
Aïda
La traviata
Rigoletto
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

WAIT—WHY ISN'T THIS A POLL??!!   8)  8)  8)
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Jaakko Keskinen

"Javert, though frightful, had nothing ignoble about him. Probity, sincerity, candor, conviction, the sense of duty, are things which may become hideous when wrongly directed; but which, even when hideous, remain grand."

- Victor Hugo

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

bhodges

Otello
Falstaff
Macbeth
La traviata
Rigoletto


--Bruce

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

springrite

Do what I must do, and let what must happen happen.

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: karlhenning on December 22, 2015, 09:20:15 AM
Coincidence?...

You two gents present a musically superior list to mine...but I just can't help loving Verdi's trashier operas  ;D

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: karlhenning on December 22, 2015, 08:59:00 AM
WAIT—WHY ISN'T THIS A POLL??!!   8)  8)  8)

I'm too lazy to confirm (and I need to start dinner) but I would bet there is already a Verdi poll here.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Karl Henning

Quote from: springrite on December 22, 2015, 09:21:49 AM
Or laziness...

I've never known Bruce to be lazy.  Not saying he's incapable of it, which is a question I cannot judge;  I am merely pointing out the limits of my knowledge  8)

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on December 22, 2015, 09:28:23 AM
You two gents present a musically superior list to mine...but I just can't help loving Verdi's trashier operas  ;D

Sarge

I do not presume to judge your list, dear fellow (I haven't seen/heard much of your list!)  And I trust Verdi's stage instincts:  I know he wrote them, so that they should be liked!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

kishnevi

#16
Trovatore
Falstaff
Otello
Don Carlo
Nabucco
Requiem

kishnevi

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on December 22, 2015, 09:28:23 AM
You two gents present a musically superior list to mine...but I just can't help loving Verdi's trashier operas  ;D

Sarge

They are not trashy:  they simply were written to be good entertainment first and foremost. 

bhodges

Nothing wrong with "trashy"! Though I think even the trashiest (and no, I have no idea which ones those might be) have good music in them. And wish I could join in the Aïda love, but that is one that just hasn't resonated with me. (Maybe I need a different production, other than the Met's gigantic one.)

Hm...maybe I need to replace Rigoletto with Don Carlo. 8)

--Bruce

Jaakko Keskinen

Simon Boccanegra
Aida
Falstaff
Don Carlo/s
Rigoletto
"Javert, though frightful, had nothing ignoble about him. Probity, sincerity, candor, conviction, the sense of duty, are things which may become hideous when wrongly directed; but which, even when hideous, remain grand."

- Victor Hugo