How to access Vocal/Opera/Choir?

[jochanaan]

I agree fully here. It's because my expectation is rather to listen to a good piece of music than watching a theatrical piece. The last days I found out it's not the voice that I disliked, but also the talking...

Opera is a fusion of drama and music.  Neither one by itself "makes" the whole experience.  Even in non-operatic vocal music there is the dimension of words; any good singer will dramatize the song, "playing" it as if s/he were an actor.  (Good instrumentalists do this too, especially when playing a transcription of a vocal piece.)  I agree that some operas have "too much talking," but sometimes the spoken word can provide a wonderful dramatic contrast, as at the end of Britten's Peter Grimes when Balstrode tells Grimes--well, I won't give away the ending except to say that the brief speech, in context, overwhelms my already overloaded heart whenever I see or hear the opera.

Ideally, opera should be experienced live.  Failing that, DVDs can provide a more complete experience than audio recordings, especially if there are subtitles.

(Of course, a lot of operas are less gesamtkunstwerken than excuses for vocal pyrotechnics and visual spectacle.  But many of the greater ones--say, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Verdi's Rigoletto or Otello, the later Wagner music dramas, or any of Benjamin Britten's stage works--present gripping fusions of drama and music, unparalleled as artistic experiences.)

P.S.  Another wonderful fusion of music and spoken word is Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait.  For greatest effectiveness, it needs a huge deep voice such as James Earl Jones's.

[zamyrabyrd]

I also begin to like religous choral stuff like Schuberts Deutsche Messe (D872).

If the human voice is also supported by an orchestra I tend to tolerate vocals easier.

A good intro to Bach Cantatas are "Wachet Auf", "Christ Lag in Todesbanden", the "Magnificat", "Christmas Oratorio", the Passions, and much, much more.

Try the "Messiah" by Handel, the "Creation" by Haydn, Requiems by Mozart, Brahms, Verdi and Faure.

That's about it for now.

ZB

[Lethevich]

Listening to Fauré's Requiem now for the 1000s time. I'm probably the worlds best Pie Jesu whistler now

It is a cliché to mention these two in the same breath, but Duruflé's requiem may be of interest to you - the obvious similarities are there. Poulenc's choral music is also of stunning quality, although that is getting into "unsupported by orchestra" territory... Strangely Berlioz's requiem has yet to be mentioned, perhaps it is too obvious. I would recommend his dramatic cantata/oratorio/whatever-it-is La Damnation de Faust, it is a sort of half opera really, but without requiring you to pay attention to any stage actions.

Bruckner's masses, especially No.3 (which is a concert work with full orchestra) would be rewarding to investigate.

[jochanaan]

...Bruckner's masses, especially No.3 (which is a concert work with full orchestra) would be rewarding to investigate.

That one is wonderful, yes; but I actually prefer the second, in E minor, accompanied only by woodwinds and brass.  The Kyrie especially has a unique, unearthly, timeless beauty, looking far back to Palestrina and far forward to Pärt (among other Medieval and Renaissance and contemporary choral composers).  However, I concede that this may be "advanced listening" for one unaccustomed to choral music or vocal music in general.