Many will be surprised that I have started this thread, as I'm no opera buff. First of all, let me tell about my experience with opera. I tend to gravitate towards impressionist or expressionist operas, as they usually focus less on vocal pyrotechnics and more on orchestral contributions to the overall effect. I listen to operas from an orchestral rather than a vocal standpoint, which puts me in the minority, but I'm fine with that. :) To be perfectly honest, I can't stomach opera written before Wagner (Verdi included!). Some of my favorite composers-Shostakovich, Prokofiev, VW and Britten-wrote operas who I don't care for much. Also, there are many composers I love-such as Rimsky, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Dvorak, Respighi, Schreker and Zemlinsky-whose operas I have, for some odd reason, never bothered to investigate but have a good chance of liking. One composer's operas who I think I would enjoy but haven't been recorded is Atterberg. As of now, my list would look like:
1. Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
2. Debussy: Pelléas et Melisande
3. Ravel: L'enfant et les sortilèges
4. Bartok: Bluebeard's Castle
5. Janacek: Káťa Kabanová
6. Cras: Polyphème (a must-hear for lovers of Pelléas)
7. Merikanto: Juha
8. Melartin: Aino
9. Szymanowski: King Roger
10. Martinu: Juliette
Honorable mentions: Langgaard: Antikrist, Bantock: Omar Khayyám (sometimes considered a secular oratorio), Delius: Koanga, Kokkonen: The Last Temptations
Please keep in mind that there are a lot of operas I have not yet heard and this list is only comprised of my favorites that I have heard so far.
Revised to include favorite recording.
Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen Karajan
Wagner Parsifal Karajan
Wagner Lohengrin Bychkov
Mozart Die Zauberflöte Klemperer
Debussy Pelléas et Melisande (me and Mr. Pink are on the same page here :D ) Karajan
Schoenberg Moses und Aron Solti
Weber Der Freischütz (Mrs. Rock would kill me if I didn't list this one 8) ) Keilberth
Strauss Der Rosenkavalier Solti
Strauss Elektra Solti
Donizetti Lucia di Lammermoor Karajan Live Berlin 1955
Sarge
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on September 17, 2013, 01:29:29 PM
Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen
Wagner Parsifal
Wagner Lohengrin
Mozart Die Zauberflöte
Debussy Pelléas et Melisande (me and Mr. Pink are on the same page here :D )
Schoenberg Moses und Aron
Weber Der Freischütz (Mrs. Rock would kill me if I didn't list this one 8) )
Strauss Der Rosenkavalier
Strauss Elektra
Donizetti Lucia di Lammermoor
Sarge
I'm looking for Salome on that list. Something wrong with my version of Chrome, I think.
(Alpha by opera title)
Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle - Favorite recordings: Haitink (EMI), Boulez (DG), Boulez (Sony), Solti (Decca, DVD)
R. Strauss: Elektra - Solti (Decca)
Verdi: Falstaff - Davis (LSO Live)
R. Strauss: Die Frau Ohne Schatten - Sawallisch (EMI)
Janáček: Jenůfa - Mackerras (Decca), Haitink (Erato)
Janáček: Káťa Kabanová - Mackerras (Decca)
Berg: Lulu - Levine (Met Opera)
Verdi: Otello - Levine (DG, DVD), Muti's new CSO Resound recording comes out Sep. 24 (the live performance was terrific)
Britten: Peter Grimes - Runnicles (DG, DVD)
R. Strauss: Salome - Böhm (DG, DVD), Schønwandt (Chandos)
Berg: Wozzeck - Metzmacher (EMI), Levine (Met Opera, DVD)
--Bruce
Oh well. 10 is impossible without limiting to one per composer
(no particular order)
Berlioz Les Troyens
Janáček: Cunning Little Vixen
Britten: Peter Grimes
Prokofiev: The Fiery Angel
Ravel: L'enfant et les sortilèges
Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle
Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina
Martinu: Juliette
Szymanowski: Król Roger
Berg: Wozzeck
Quote from: kyjo on September 17, 2013, 01:19:20 PM
1. Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
2. Debussy: Pelléas et Melisande
3. Ravel: L'enfant et les sortilèges
4. Bartok: Bluebeard's Castle
5. Janacek: Káťa Kabanová
6. Cras: Polyphème (a must-hear for lovers of Pelléas)
7. Merikanto: Juha
8. Melartin: Aino
9. Langgaard: Antikrist
10. Martinu: Juliette
I think I must hear these...
Great list, and dang, have to revise mine to include the Britten.
--Bruce
Quote from: North Star on September 17, 2013, 01:49:54 PM
Szymanowski: Król Roger
Damn, I knew I was forgetting one and that is it! Kudos for mentioning it, North Star! A mesmerizing work. It'll take
Antikrist's place in my top 10.
Quote from: Scarpia on September 17, 2013, 01:42:39 PM
I'm looking for Salome on that list. Something wrong with my version of Chrome, I think.
If the poll were "Top 10 Operas To See Live" then, yeah, Salome would be top of the list 8)
Sarge
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on September 17, 2013, 01:54:45 PM
If the poll were "Top 10 Operas To See Live" then, yeah, Salome would be top of the list 8)
Sarge
:P
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on September 17, 2013, 01:54:45 PM
If the poll were "Top 10 Operas To See Live" then, yeah, Salome would be top of the list 8)
Sarge
It's that riveting Jochanaan part, isn't it. 8) ;D
--Bruce
Quote from: Brewski on September 17, 2013, 01:52:19 PM
Great list, and dang, have to revise mine to include the Britten.
--Bruce
Right back at you,
Bruce! I only remembered to include the Berg after I saw your post. :)
Quote from: kyjo on September 17, 2013, 01:53:00 PM
Damn, I knew I was forgetting one and that is it! Kudos for mentioning it, North Star! A mesmerizing work. It'll take Antikrist's place in my top 10.
Excellent,
Kyle!
Karlo
Monteverdi: Orfeo
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
Rameau: Castor et Pollux
Mozart: The Magic Flute
Berg: Lulu
Berg: Wozzeck
Prokofiev: The Fiery Angel
Britten: Death in Venice
Britten: Midsummer Nights Dream
Glass: Beauty and the Beast
Quote from: North Star on September 17, 2013, 01:51:56 PM
I think I must hear these...
Indeed, seeing that our tastes in opera are largely congruent, I'd think you'd really enjoy them! Here's the links:
[asin]B000GNOHIC[/asin] [asin]B00000378Z[/asin] [asin]B000065DV1[/asin]
Have you heard the Cras, Karlo? I assume you have since you didn't underline it in my post. It's a gorgeous work. :)
Quote from: TheGSMoeller on September 17, 2013, 01:59:58 PM
Rameau: Castor et Pollux
That's no. 11 on my list 8)
Great list (wrote that with a z first...), Greg!
I'm so relieved no one has listed a Rossini opera yet! :P
Quote from: kyjo on September 17, 2013, 02:02:00 PM
Indeed, seeing that our tastes in opera are largely congruent, I'd think you'd really enjoy them! Here's the links:
[asin]B000GNOHIC[/asin] [asin]B00000378Z[/asin] [asin]B000065DV1[/asin]
Have you heard the Cras, Karlo? I assume you have since you didn't underline it in my post. It's a gorgeous work. :)
Unfortunately I left it without underlining only because I've never heard of the work or composer, but will look into it.
The Langgaard in particular is pretty high on my list. And
Juha too, I've heard bits of it, and it, along with the
Melartin (dealing probably with much the same matter, based on the title?) are of course especially interesting to me because I'm Finnish. I suppose you haven't heard Madetoja's
Juha, since it's more romantic in style?
Quote from: North Star on September 17, 2013, 02:02:57 PM
That's no. 11 on my list 8)
Great list (wrote that with a z first...), Greg!
Great!
And thank you!
Some of mine will undoubtedly match Kyle's and some will not :)
(in no particular order) -
Bartok: Bluebeard's Castle
Martinu: Juliette
Janacek: Káťa Kabanová
Ravel: L'enfant et les sortilèges
Berg: Wozzeck
Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Wagner: Das Rheingold
Schoenberg: Die Glückliche Hand
Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina
Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites
If one avoids baroque opera which I'm very fond of, my list would be very similar to Kyjo's, except for the two Finnish operas, which I don't know. I would add Lady Macbeth from Mentsk, and Boris Godunov (or perhaps Eugen Onegin), however.
Quote from: North Star on September 17, 2013, 02:09:20 PM
Unfortunately I left it without underlining only because I've never heard of the work or composer, but will look into it.
The Langgaard in particular is pretty high on my list. And Juha too, I've heard bits of it, and it, along with the Melartin (dealing probably with much the same matter, based on the title?) are of course especially interesting to me because I'm Finnish. I suppose you haven't heard Madetoja's Juha, since it's more romantic in style?
You should definitely check out the Cras! It's quite similar in style to
Pelleas, and nearly equally as beautiful. I've heard Madetoja's
Juha, but it's been a long while since I have. I'll have to dig it out sometime. If I recall, it's more folksy and romantic than Merikanto's opera of the same name.
I enjoy Mussorgsky's two operas quite a bit, as well as Borodin's Prince Igor.
Two operas on my current to-listen-to list: Hartmann's Simplicius Simplicissimus and Martin's Der Sturm, which I just bought a recording of Simplicius Simplicissimus but Der Sturm is in my possession but hasn't been listened to yet.
Quote from: kyjo on September 17, 2013, 02:33:09 PM
You should definitely check out the Cras! It's quite similar in style to Pelleas, and nearly equally as beautiful.
I know it, and have mentioned its awesomeness here a couple of times this year.
Quote from: The new erato on September 17, 2013, 02:46:02 PM
I know it, and have mentioned its awesomeness here a couple of times this year.
Quote from: kyjo on September 17, 2013, 02:33:09 PM
You should definitely check out the Cras! It's quite similar in style to Pelleas, and nearly equally as beautiful. I've heard Madetoja's Juha, but it's been a long while since I have. I'll have to dig it out sometime. If I recall, it's more folksy and romantic than Merikanto's opera of the same name.
Yes, that sounds about right.
OK, I'll check the
Cras!
Quote from: sanantonio on September 17, 2013, 03:06:22 PM
The one comment about someone being relieved that no one has listed Rossini was unfortunate.
I was merely joking. :) But really, I can't stand Rossini's operas, and Verdi's do little more for me. Puccini I can take, and there are some nice parts in his operas (especially
Turandot), but I still haven't come to fully appreciate them either. I'm just not a big fan of all the vocal pyrotechnics and the mere "accompaniment" role that the orchestra plays in a lot of Italian operas.
Using the first things to pop into the head approach:
Schoenberg: Erwartung and Moses und Aron
Rachmaninov: The Covetous Knight
Busoni: Doctor Faust
Hindemith: Cardillac
Strauss: Elektra
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde and Götterdämmerung
Prokofiev: The Fiery Angel
Poulenc: Dialogues of the Carmelites
Quote from: Cato on September 17, 2013, 03:14:24 PM
Using the first things to pop into the head approach:
Schoenberg: Erwartung and Moses und Aron
Rachmaninov: The Covetous Knight
Busoni: Doctor Faust
Hindemith: Cardillac
Strauss: Elektra
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde and Götterdämmerung
Prokofiev: The Fiery Angel
Poulenc: Dialogues of the Carmelites
Haven't heard the Rachmaninov, Busoni or the Hindemith; I hope to rectify that! Are you sure Schoenberg's
Erwartung is an opera? I've always seen it described as a "monodrama".
Quote from: sanantonio on September 17, 2013, 03:21:27 PM
Opera is about the voices, not the orchestra. Sure, the best operas use the orchestra in imagintive and effective ways, but really, the orchestra is the accompaniment. I could tell by the lists that the works chosen were by people who like lush orchestral writing, but not so much opera, for itself. If you don't like Italian opera, face it, you're not an opera fan.
I don't consider myself an opera fan per se, but, as I have made clear, there are a number of operas which I do enjoy. It's just that I approach opera differently than you do. For me, the orchestral writing and amount of involvement it has either makes or breaks an opera. Be thankful I'm in a good mood tonight or I would be a bit more vicious with you! >:D
I don't think i've even been to 10 operas i like, heh. Pretty much all the ones i did like were by Mozart (Nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan tutte, Zauberflöte... never seen Don Giovanni, wasn't as impressed with La Clemenza di Tito). Plus Schoenberg's Erwartung, which isn't a proper opera. There's also Feldman's Neither, which i didn't like at all when i first heard it, but which haunted me from that day forward (and still is with me today), which i suppose is an endorsement of a sort.
As for Wagner, Puccini, Rossini, Zandonai, Saint-Saëns and Gounod (all the others i've seen live that i can recall), i'd happily go the rest of my life without ever hearing a note of them again ;)
For operas i haven't seen but like the music of, there's some lovely music in Stockhausen's Licht (though i'm still not convinced about the whole of any of those operas—not that one gets the chance to evaluate them properly more than once a decade), and i also enjoyed my cd recordings of Mitterer's Massacre, Enno Poppe's Interzone, Lachenmann's Das Mädchen, Ton-That Tiêt's L'arbalète magique, Shostakovich's The Nose and Langgaard's Antikrist. Of course, how much one can judge from a CD recording is limited. Operas are supposed to be performed.
As you may have already gathered i'm about as far from an opera fan as possible, but i can think of at least one person whom if they wrote an opera i would go see it with no questions asked, that being Georges Aperghis. Also possibly Charles-Valentin Alkan.
I'm hard pressed to come up with 10. I blame my monolingualism and short attention span.
The Cunning Little Vixen
Marriage of Figaro
Nixon in China
Fidelio
Bluebeard's Castle
Quote from: kyjo on September 17, 2013, 03:18:25 PM
Haven't heard the Rachmaninov, Busoni or the Hindemith; I hope to rectify that! Are you sure Schoenberg's Erwartung is an opera? I've always seen it described as a "monodrama".
If it is performed by an opera company like the Metropolitan, then it must be at least something of an opera! ;)
Only one singer, hence "Monodrama." Still, there are settings and actions described, so a c. 40-minute mini-opera.
Mozart is a given, so:
Britten: Billy Budd
Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini
Haas: Sarlatan
Janacek: Cunning Little Vixen
Handel: Agrippina
Prokofiev: Semyon Kotko
Wagner: Parsifal
Berg: Wozzeck
Smetana: The Bartered Bride
Shostakovich: The Nose
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on September 17, 2013, 01:54:45 PM
If the poll were "Top 10 Operas To See Live" then, yeah, Salome would be top of the list 8)
That still applies even though Nilsson is gone?
(http://img.cdandlp.com/2013/01/imgL/115832819.jpg)
Salome
Wozzeck
Don Giovanni
Turandot
Tosca
La Traviata
Tristan und Isolde
Kullervo (Saulinen)
Berlioz: Trojan
Prokofiev: Fiery Angel
Handel: Ariodante
Mozart: Nozze di Figaro
Rossini: La Cenerentola
Bellini: Norma
Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg
Mussourgsky: Boris Godunov
Verdi: Falstaff
Leoncavallo: I Pagliacci
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier or Die Frau ohne Schatten (kind of a coin-toss)
Britten: Peter Grimes
operas that got winnowed off the list:
Monteverdi--Orfeo
Gluck--Orfeo ed Euridice
Donizetti--L'Elisir d'Amore
Verdi--Otello
Puccini--Turandot
Gilbert and Sullivan--The Mikado
Berg – Wozzeck
Berg – Lulu
Wagner – Tristan und Isolde
Wagner – Parsifal
Mussorgsky – Boris Godunov
Verdi – Falstaff
Berlioz – Les Troyens
Janacek – Kat'a Kabanova
Mozart – Le Nozze di Figaro
Strauss – Der Rosenkavalier
Quote from: sanantonio on September 17, 2013, 03:21:27 PMIf you don't like Italian opera, face it, you're not an opera fan.
By the same token, if a person doesn't like German symphonic music, then they must not be fans of symphonies. Utter hogwash, sanantonio. There's a lot of different kinds of opera composers just like there's a lot of different kinds symphonic composers. To each his own.
Personally, I can't stand the Italians either when it comes to opera. I don't like their over-reliance on the vocals and they just get way out-of-hand for my tastes. I like the way, for example, Wagner integrated a strong musical presence with equally strong vocal performance. The two were a true marriage and on many occasions the music completely takes over and gives us orchestral fans something to chew on. The same held true with composers after Wagner. The vocals are important in an opera but they're not more important than the music itself, otherwise, you would just have a bunch of vocalists standing on stage with nothing to fall back on.
Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on September 17, 2013, 07:10:57 PM
Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten
Blast. I'd thought of Schatten but promptly forgot it.
QuoteGluck--Orfeo ed Euridice
Oh, yes, another good one is Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride.
Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel (Tate or Pritchard)
Mozart: Marriage of Figaro (Solti)
Puccini: Turandot (Pavarotti/Karajan)
Verdi: Otello (Domingo/Mehta)
Offenbach: Tales of Hoffman (Doming/Sutherland)
Rimsky-Korsakov: Sadko (Philips/Gergiev, despite the stage noise)
Britten: Turn of the Screw (Pears/Britten)
Dvorak: Rusalka (Mackerras or Neumann)
Donizetti: Lucia di Lamermoor (Pav/Sutherland/Bonynge)
Bizet: Carmen (Domingo/Solti)
Off the Bench: Monteverdi: Orfeo (I only know Gardiner, and enjoy it)
Twelfth Man Standing: Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (Karajan or Haitink)
Lucky Thirteen Bellini: Norma (Sutherland/Horne/Bonynge)
Then I would have to repeat composers: Don Giovanni (Davis), Il Travatore (Domingo/Mehta), La Boheme (Pav/Freni/Karajan), etc...
I did not include any operetta. If I did that, the list would change dramatically.
Quote from: mc ukrneal on September 17, 2013, 08:42:23 PM
Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel.
Was my first opera I ever saw live, such a wonderful expeirence. Great pick, Neal.
Mozart - Magic Flute
Handel - Agrippina
Handel - Ariodante
Handel - Giulio Cesare
Moore - Ballad of Baby Doe
Copland - The Tender Land
Beethoven - Fidelio
R. Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier
Shostakovich - Lady Macbeth
Weinberg - The Passenger
Quote from: TheGSMoeller on September 17, 2013, 08:50:42 PM
Was my first opera to ever saw live, such a wonderful expeirence. Great pick, Neal.
One of my first as well. I like to recommend this opera as a way to test interest in the genre. Being in German, it doesn't have the stigma that Italian opera sometimes has, it is a story most people know, and it doesn't last overly long.
Always the nuisance, I feel compelled by compulsion to request that contributors revise their lists with very brief notes on a strongly preferred recording for each or some of their selections, if one stands out as a massive favorite for a given opera. No ASIN links/images are necessary.
I only ask for posterity's sake. Do it if the spirit moves you!
Not an opera fan - I prefer the music in them. ;) Operas that I enjoyed, partly because I saw them in live performances:
Wagner - Parsifal
Borodin - Prince Igor
Dvořák - Rusalka
Janáček - Jenůfa
Janáček - Z mrtvého domu (From the House of the Dead)
Respighi - La Fiamma
Respighi - Maria egiziaca
Gershwin - Porgy and Bess
Vaughan Williams - The Pilgrim's Progress
Barber - Anthony and Cleopatra
I'm giving you 15. One per composer and in no particular order (runners-up in parentheses):
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde)
R. Strauss: Elektra (Salome, Die Frau ohne Schatten)
Schreker: Die Gezeichneten
Zemlinsky: Eine florentinische Tragödie (Der Zwerg)
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni)
Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle
Szymanowski: Król Roger
Berlioz: Les Troyens
Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin
Korngold: Die tote Stadt (Das Wunder der Heliane)
Vaughan Williams: The Pilgrim's Progress
Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites
Puccini: Tosca
Offenbach: Les contes d'Hoffmann (La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein)
Few more than ten, I'm weak.
Monteverdi - L'incoronazione di Poppea
Lully - Armide
Lully - Roland
Rameau - Zoroastre
Rameau - Les Boreades
Gluck - Iphigenie en Tauride
Mozart - Cosi fan tutte
Verdi - Il Trovatore
Verdi - Otello
Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin
Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov
Debussy - Pelleas et Melisande
Strauss - Salome
Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier
Poulenc - Les mamelles de Tiresias
Stravinsky - Oedipus Rex
Quote from: Octave on September 17, 2013, 10:14:57 PM
Always the nuisance, I feel compelled by compulsion to request that contributors revise their lists with very brief notes on a strongly preferred recording for each or some of their selections, if one stands out as a massive favorite for a given opera. No ASIN links/images are necessary.
I only ask for posterity's sake. Do it if the spirit moves you!
Poppea Jaroussky/De Niese/Christie DVD, Armide Herreweghe 2, Roland Rousset, Zoroastre Christie, Boreades Gardiner on CD or Christie DVD, Gluck Minkowski, Cosi my favorite is Della Casa Bohm but is seriously cut so not really a recommendation, Trovatore Mehta, Otello Del Monaco live, either Scala Votto or Serafin RAI, both '54 I think, neither sounding great, Onegin Hvorostovsky/Bychkov + Nortsov/Kozlovsky/Melik-Pashayev on Naxos, Boris that is really tough maybe Gergiev 2 version box, Pelleas Boulez DVD + one of the older French recordings like Desormiere or Inghelbrecht, Salome Welitsch '49, Der Rosenkavalier Kleiber DVD either one, Poulenc Denise Duval/Cluytens, Stravinsky himself in stereo + Ozawa DVD.
Quote from: Drasko on September 18, 2013, 02:10:32 AM
Few more than ten, I'm weak.
Poulenc - Les mamelles de Tiresias
Fun one that (I've seen it live).
Many favorites here among the pre-Tchaikovsky crowd though I would have included Monteverdi's Orfeo + a handful of Handel (nice alliteration if I'm permitted to point it out).
Quote from: The new erato on September 18, 2013, 02:28:04 AM
Many favorites here among the pre-Tchaikovsky crowd though I would have included Monteverdi's Orfeo + a handful of Handel (nice alliteration if I'm permitted to point it out).
I was thinking about including Orfeo.
As for Handel, beyond discs of arias I just can't seem to get into him. I've tried operas, cantatas ... but in longer stretches he just bores me to tears, and that's strange give that I enjoy immensely operas that many find far more boring (like recitative heavy, aria light French tragedies lyriques or early Venetian stuff for that matter).
#11 - Rimsky-Korsakov: The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya
Quote from: Cato on September 18, 2013, 03:10:52 AM
#11 - Rimsky-Korsakov: The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya
I feel very lucky to have seen this staged, some ten years ago when Valery Gergiev brought several Kirov productions to the Met - a thrilling experience.
Just checked the Met's archive - for
any Rimsky-Korsakov - and they have done
Le Coq d'Or (on an interesting double-bill with
Cavalleria Rusticana) and (believe it or not)
Sadko, but the last show of either was...
1932. :o
--Bruce
Quote from: Octave on September 17, 2013, 10:14:57 PM
Always the nuisance, I feel compelled by compulsion to request that contributors revise their lists with very brief notes on a strongly preferred recording for each or some of their selections, if one stands out as a massive favorite for a given opera. No ASIN links/images are necessary.
I only ask for posterity's sake. Do it if the spirit moves you!
Monteverdi: Orfeo -
René Jacobs/Concerto Vocale/Harmonia MundiPurcell: Dido and Aeneas -
Currentzis/MusicAeterna/AlphaRameau: Castor et Pollux -
Kevin Mallon/Ensemble Aradia/NaxosMozart: The Magic Flute -
René Jacobs/Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin/Harmonia MundiBerg: Lulu -
Boulez/Opera de Paris/DGBerg: Wozzeck -
Ingo Metzmacher/Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg/EMIProkofiev: The Fiery Angel -
Neeme Jarvi/Gothenburg Symphony/DGBritten: Death in Venice -
Richard Hickox/City of London Sinfonia/ChandosBritten: Midsummer Nights Dream -
Richard Hickox/City of London Sinfonia/VirginGlass: Beauty and the Beast -
Reisman/Philip Glass Ensemble/Nonesuch
Quote from: Christo on September 17, 2013, 10:43:27 PM
Not an opera fan - I prefer the music in them. ;) Operas that I enjoyed, partly because I saw them in live performances:
Wagner - Parsifal
Borodin - Prince Igor
Dvořák - Rusalka
Janáček - Jenůfa
Janáček - Z mrtvého domu (From the House of the Dead)
Respighi - La Fiamma
Respighi - Maria egiziaca
Gershwin - Porgy and Bess
Vaughan Williams - The Pilgrim's Progress
Barber - Anthony and Cleopatra
Nice list, Johan! Interesting to see Respighi made it onto your list. I've been meaning to investigate his operas for quite some time. Where would you recommend starting? :)
Can't believe I forgot about Enescu's masterful Oedipe:
[asin]B000005GJC[/asin]
The overwhelmingly enthusiastic Amazon reviews say it all. A couple say that it is the greatest opera of the 20th century, and I think they've got a point! It's a highly dramatic and original work with lots of colorful impressionism and even some expressionism thrown in there. If you like his Symphony no. 3, you'll love Oedipe!
Quote from: kyjo on September 18, 2013, 11:12:21 AM
Nice list, Johan! Interesting to see Respighi made it onto your list. I've been meaning to investigate his operas for quite some time. Where would you recommend starting? :)
Thanks, Kyle! :) I myself always had a special liking for 'late' Respighi, mid 1920s till his death. That includes his three final operas, Maria egiziaca (Mary from Egypt), La Fiamma, and also Lucrezia, finished by Elsa Respighi I think. To be honest: I never heard the other ones, as I don't hear operas that often at all. These woke my interest when I heard Maria egeziaca, and that's still were I would turn to first. It's very much in his late 'mystic neo-classicist' style that I like most. ;)
Quote from: Christo on September 18, 2013, 12:06:41 PM
Thanks, Kyle! :) I myself always had a special liking for 'late' Respighi, mid 1920s till his death. That includes his three final operas, Maria egiziaca (Mary from Egypt), La Fiamma, and also Lucrezia, finished by Elsa Respighi I think. To be honest: I never heard the other ones, as I don't hear operas that often at all. These woke my interest when I heard Maria egeziaca, and that's still were I would turn to first. It's very much in his late 'mystic neo-classicist' style that I like most. ;)
Thanks, Johan! :) I think I'll start with this well-received recording of
La Fiamma, as the (only?) recording of
Maria egiziaca is terribly expensive and the Marco Polo recording of
Lucrezia had received some middle-of-the-road ratings due to the performances:
[asin]B000003066[/asin]
The temptation of including all Wagner's operas is very strong, but I'll put only some of them....
Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen
Wagner Tristan und Isolde
Wagner Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Mozart Le Nozze di Figaro
Bizet Carmen
Strauss Salomé
Berg Wozzeck
Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin
Debussy Pelléas et Mélisande
Ravel L'enfant et les sortilèges
My top 10 (and favorite recordings)
1) Mozart - Don Giovanni (Giulini/EMI)
2) Puccini - Il Trittico (Pappano/EMI)
3) Handel - Giulio Cesare (Minkowski/DG)
4) Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov (Abbado/Sony)
5) Verdi - Don Carlo (Solti/Decca)
6) Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin (Solti/Decca)
7) Offenbach - Les Contes d'Hoffman (Bonynge/Decca)
8. Rossini - La Cenerentola (Chailly/Decca)
9) Janacek - Jenufa (Mackerras/Decca)
10) Rameau - Platée (Minkowski/Erato)
1) Shostakovich-Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District
2) Shostakovich-The Nose
3) Weinberg-The Passenger
4) Verdi-La Traviata
5) Berlioz-Les Troyens
6) Musorgsky-Boris Godunov (his own, not Rimsky's)
7) Musorgsky-Khovanshchina (Shostakovich orchestration)
8) Verdi-Rigoletto
9) Gluck-Orphee ed Euridice
10) Rossini-The Barber of Seville.
Quote from: PaulR on September 18, 2013, 06:24:16 PM
8) Verdi-Rigoletto
Ah, don't you love it when you put a parenthese after an 8 and it becomes a "cool" emoticon? :D
Well, Rigoletto is a cool opera :P
Quote from: mc ukrneal on September 17, 2013, 08:42:23 PM
Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel (Tate or Pritchard)
Mozart: Marriage of Figaro (Solti)
Puccini: Turandot (Pavarotti/Karajan)
Verdi: Otello (Domingo/Mehta)
Offenbach: Tales of Hoffman (Doming/Sutherland)
Rimsky-Korsakov: Sadko (Philips/Gergiev, despite the stage noise)
Britten: Turn of the Screw (Pears/Britten)
Dvorak: Rusalka (Mackerras or Neumann)
Donizetti: Lucia di Lamermoor (Pav/Sutherland/Bonynge)
Bizet: Carmen (Domingo/Solti)
Off the Bench: Monteverdi: Orfeo (I only know Gardiner, and enjoy it)
Twelfth Man Standing: Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (Karajan or Haitink)
Lucky Thirteen Bellini: Norma (Sutherland/Horne/Bonynge)
Then I would have to repeat composers: Don Giovanni (Davis), Il Travatore (Domingo/Mehta), La Boheme (Pav/Freni/Karajan), etc...
I did not include any operetta. If I did that, the list would change dramatically.
Did you mean Domingo/Karajan or Pavarotti/Mehta for that Turandot?
Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on September 18, 2013, 07:56:17 PM
Did you mean Domingo/Karajan or Pavarotti/Mehta for that Turandot?
Ooops! Pavarotti/Mehta. The Domingo is ok (liu is standout in that one by Barbara Hendricks), but I prefer the Pavarotti overall.
Bonus thanks to those who indulged my "preferred recordings" request. Otherwise I am totally adrift and will be conducting searches until dawn!
Quote from: Octave on September 18, 2013, 09:47:30 PM
Bonus thanks to those who indulged my "preferred recordings" request. Otherwise I am totally adrift and will be conducting searches until dawn!
I would do that if I knew several recordings of any of them.
Quote from: mc ukrneal on September 18, 2013, 09:00:43 PM
Ooops! Pavarotti/Mehta. The Domingo is ok (liu is standout in that one by Barbara Hendricks), but I prefer the Pavarotti overall.
Yes. That recording may be, not merely my favorite recording of Turandot, and not merely my favorite recording of any Puccini opera, but my favorite recording of
any opera.
Quote from: Octave on September 18, 2013, 09:47:30 PM
Bonus thanks to those who indulged my "preferred recordings" request. Otherwise I am totally adrift and will be conducting searches until dawn!
Oops, meant to do this, so:
Britten: Billy Budd (either Britten's own recording [first choice] or Hickox)
Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini (Davis/Philips)
Haas: Sarlatan (the only one on Decca)
Janacek: Cunning Little Vixen (Mackerras even over Gregor on Supraphon [more orchestral presence])
Handel: Agrippina (I think we know which one ;D)
Prokofiev: Semyon Kotko (Gergiev's, but honestly any of Gergiev's Prokofiev opera)
Wagner: Parsifal (Knappertsbusch '62 on Philips, in such wonderful sound! But I prefer the original CD issue over the remaster.)
Berg: Wozzeck (Dohnanyi)
Smetana: The Bartered Bride (Kosler w/ the superlative Benackova)
Shostakovich: The Nose (a long OOP live recording my Armin Jordan. Instead try Gergiev or Rozhdestvensky)
Agonisingly difficult, and I could probably have come up with an all Verdi list. I'm afraid I couldn't reduce it to just 10, so made it a baker's dozen.
I sometimes think people take this kind of list as an opportunity for them to brag about their knowledge of the most obscure pieces they can find. If all the operas on my list are popular and fairly regularly performed, then that is because they are all masterpieces that have withstood the test of time. They are also all works that have the capacity to uplift and transform in some way. The Wagnerites will no doubt be aghast at the omission of any of his operas, but, though I admit Wagner is not really my thing, they might take comfort from the fact that, if the list extended to 20, then Wagner would definitely figure (probably at least "Tristan und Isolde"). No Puccini either. I enjoy most of his operas enormously, but Puccini, for me, never has that capacity for compassion so evident in the work of Verdi and Mozart, and so misses out.
Bellini: Norma (Callas/Simionato/Del Monaco/Zaccaria:Votto live La Scala 1955)
Beethoven: Fidelio (Dernesch/Vickers/Keleman/Ridderbusch/Van Dam;Karajan)
Berlioz: Les Troyens (Veasey/Lindholm/Vickers/Glossop;C Davis)
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (Callas/Di Dtefano/Panerai/Zaccaria;Karajan Live Berlin 1955)
Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro (Schwarzkopf/Moffo/Cossotto/Taddei/Wachter;Giulini)
Mozart: Cosi fan Tutte (Schwarzkop/Ludwig/Kraus/Taddei/Berry;Bohm)
Mozart: Don Giovanni (Sutherland/Schwarzkopf/Sciutti/Alva/Wachter/Taddei/Frick;Giulini)
Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin (Vishnevskaya/Lemeshev/Belov/Petrov;Khaikin)
Tchaikovsky: Queen of Spades (Guleghina/Borodina/Arkhipova/Grigorian/Chernov;Gergiev)
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (Schwarzkopf/Ludwig/Stich-Randall/Gedda/Wachter/Edelman;Karajan)
Verdi: La Traviata (Callas/Valetti/Zanasi;Rescigno Live Covent Garden 1958)
Verdi: Don Carlo (Caballe/Verrett/Domingo/Milnes/Raimondi;Giulini)
Verdi: Otello (Rysanek/Vickers/Gobbi;Serafin)
Quote from: Tsaraslondon on September 19, 2013, 11:36:01 PM
I sometimes think people take this kind of list as an opportunity for them to brag about their knowledge of the most obscure pieces they can find.
What a presumptuous and untrue thing to say. Exactly what fault do you find with people preferring more obscure operas to the tried-and-true warhorses? No one ever doubted the "greatness" of the operas you like; we're just all wired differently in our tastes. I mean how boring would the world be if all we liked were the top 10 most-performed or recorded operas?
Quote from: Tsaraslondon on September 19, 2013, 11:36:01 PM
I sometimes think people take this kind of list as an opportunity for them to brag about their knowledge of the most obscure pieces they can find. If all the operas on my list are popular and fairly regularly performed, then that is because they are all masterpieces that have withstood the test of time. They are also all works that have the capacity to uplift and transform in some way. The Wagnerites will no doubt be aghast at the omission of any of his operas, but, though I admit Wagner is not really my thing, they might take comfort from the fact that, if the list extended to 20, then Wagner would definitely figure (probably at least "Tristan und Isolde"). No Puccini either. I enjoy most of his operas enormously, but Puccini, for me, never has that capacity for compassion so evident in the work of Verdi and Mozart, and so misses out.
I don't really see what obscurity has to do with bragging. I didn't list any Verdi/Puccini/Bellini/Wagner/Strauss because I have been avoiding opera after being overexposed to it involuntarily in childhood, and have come to opera through composers whose other music I've first discovered. I certainly intend to listen to their works, though.
Quote from: Annie on September 20, 2013, 03:18:52 AM
You must reduce it to 10 with introspection, that might be the only value that it adds to you, otherwise useless(not for others)
Then, with the utmost reluctance, I will drop Figaro, for, though it is probably a greater masterpiece than either Don Giovanni or Cosi, I don't
love it quite so much. Lucia, I suppose I could live without (though not without Callas's rendition of the title role), and Onegin, undoubtedly Tchaikovsky's masterpiece in the genre, but the darkness of Queen of Spades attracts me more.
Quote from: Annie on September 20, 2013, 03:18:52 AM
I find it obvious and they are in majority here but I guess they need some outlet too. I don't want to weaken it's meaning but your last sentence I quoted is not completely true as popularity and quality are not always the same thing especially in art
I certainly agree with that, but I think all the works I have chosen are, though popular, of the highest quality too. I have been enjoying opera for the best part of 40 years now, have seen and heard my fair share of obscure and neglected works, alongside modern works that never again saw the light of day. No doubt a few years ago, my list would have been very different, but, if the operas I have chosen have popularity on their side, they all have something in them, like all great music, that somehow uplifts and stirs my very soul, though admittedly there are a lot more not on my list that can do the same. 10, after all, is a very small number.
Quote from: kyjo on September 20, 2013, 02:27:43 AM
What a presumptuous and untrue thing to say. Exactly what fault do you find with people preferring more obscure operas to the tried-and-true warhorses? No one ever doubted the "greatness" of the operas you like; we're just all wired differently in our tastes. I mean how boring would the world be if all we liked were the top 10 most-performed or recorded operas?
I'm very sorry. My comment was, in no way, meant as a swipe at you. Your list is obviously well considered and a reflection of your own musical preferences. It was a general comment, not leveled at anyone in particular and I apologise if it caused any offence.
Quote from: Tsaraslondon on September 20, 2013, 10:25:02 AM
I'm very sorry. My comment was, in no way, meant as a swipe at you. Your list is obviously well considered and a reflection of your own musical preferences. It was a general comment, not leveled at anyone in particular and I apologise if it caused any offence.
No need to apologize! I did not take offense to your comment; I just thought it seemed a tad rash. :)
Quote from: Annie on September 23, 2013, 04:35:48 AM
You should put what each fact, opinion, belief and prejudice mean into perpective . Most of the posts thrown around even do not qualify as opinions, let alone facts. They are merely belief or prejudice. You can easily research a fact and verify its truth and opinions are judgements on facts. Conflicts begin from this point on because belief is an end product of cultural and/or personal faith, morality, and/or values. Sometimes these beliefs can be really far out if not directly connected up with other aspects, such as prevailing attitudes towards the function and use of music in society. That is easily noticable if you look at Scandanivan or Far East culture from West. That is respectable. But prejudice >:D has no place in argumentation and that's what's plaguing these "forum"s. It's a half-baked opinion based on insufficient or unexamined evidence, you can easily test them. It ranges from careless oversimplification to reflecting a narrow-minded view of the things. What's hard is to contest something formed by yourself or accepted from your environment including your friends, the internet and if they are formed by yourself it's easy to be noticed as you most of the time reflect your prejudices on others, i.e. tagging others with what you are. So it's futile, more often than not, to try to discuss facts in these ambiguous environments as the facts can be seen prejudice and vice versa easily. The most educated and trained can be blamed for ignorance while the most ignorant can be the lead. If you yourself live in a narrow world without realizing, it's inevitable to see others' worlds self-defined. That must be why the level of discussions are on the floor... ::)
Ergo, let everyone alone...until the next step of evolution :o :D :laugh:
This is one of my Top 10 Favorite Posts. Today, anyway 8)
Opera is a blind spot for me, but here are the ones I enjoy .
Mussorgsky: Boris Gudunov
Vaughan Williams: The Pilgrim's Progress
Vaughan Williams: Riders to the Sea
Rutland Boughton: The Immortal Hour (not sure if it counts as opera)
Er...that's it.... ::)
Quote from: vandermolen on September 23, 2013, 03:07:38 PM
Opera is a blind spot for me, but here are the ones of enjoy .
Mussorgsky: Boris Gudunov
Vaughan Williams: The Pilgrim's Progress
Vaughan Williams: Riders to the Sea
Rutland Boughton: The Immortal Hour (not sure if it counts as opera)
Er...that's it.... ::)
I recall being quite impressed by the Boughton. VW's operas came as rather of a disappointment to me compared to his magnificent symphonies, but it's been a while since I've heard them.
Quote from: vandermolen on September 23, 2013, 03:07:38 PM
Opera is a blind spot for me, but here are the ones of enjoy .
Vaughan Williams: The Pilgrim's Progress
Vaughan Williams: Riders to the Sea
Er...that's it.... ::)
I dug out the EMI RVW 30CD box yesterday, of which I never completed the first run through last year, and, G-d willing, will be giving those two, along with
Sir John in Love and
Love in the Stocks, maiden listens sometime in the next week or so.
Quote from: vandermolen on September 23, 2013, 03:07:38 PM
Opera is a blind spot for me, but here are the ones of enjoy .
Er...that's it.... ::)
;) :D
I'll give this a shot (not in any order):
Strauss, R. - Salome (Ewing/Covent Garden/Downes - Kultur DVD) and/or (Cheryl Studer/Sinopoli/Berlin Deutsche Oper Orchestra - DG CD)
Shostakovich - Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Westbroek/Royal Concertgebouw/Jansons - Opus Arte DVD)
Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin (Fleming/Hvorostovsky/Vargas/Met Opera/Gergiev - Decca DVD)
Beethoven - Fidelio (Fischer-Dieskau/Sotin/Kollo/Janowitz/Popp/Vienna PO/Berstein - DG CD)
Mozart - Don Giovanni (Skovhus/Corbelli/Brewer/Hadley/Lott/Focile/Chiummo/Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Chorus/Mackerras - Telarc CD) and/or (Carlos Álvarez/Franz-Josef Selig/Adrianne Pieczonka/Michael Schade/Anna Caterina Antonacci/Ildebrando d'Arcangelo/Angelika Kirchschlager/Lorenzo Ragazzo/Vienna State Opera Chorus and Orchestra/Muti - Arthaus Musik DVD)
Mozart - The Magic Flute (Hendricks/Hadley/Allen/Lloyd/Anderson/Steinsky/Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Chorus/Mackerras - Telarc CD)
Wagner - Parsifal (Karajan - DG CD not sure if there is a DVD?)
Wagner - Tristan und Isolde (Windgassen/Nilsson/Chor und Orchester der Bayreuter Festspiele/Bohm - DG CD)
Wagner - Siegfried (Solti Ring - Decca CD)
Wagner - Die Walkure (Solti Ring - Decca CD)
Quote from: ChamberNut on October 05, 2013, 05:51:20 AM
Wagner - Parsifal
Wagner - Tristan und Isolde
Wagner - Siegfried
Wagner - Die Walkure
+1
Quote from: sanantonio on September 17, 2013, 03:21:27 PM
If you don't like Italian opera, face it, you're not an opera fan.
I don't agree with this at all. I'm sorry, but this does not even make sense, to be honest?! ???
Quote from: ChamberNut on October 05, 2013, 06:07:43 AM
I don't agree with this at all. I'm sorry, but this does not even make sense, to be honest?! ???
I agree, Ray. A most absurd statement.
1. Wagner: Der Ring
2. Puccini: La Boheme
2. Puccini: La Rondine
2. Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte
2. Mozart: Don Giovanni
2. Handel: Giulio Cesare
2. Rameau: Les Indes Galantes
2. Lully: Cadmus & Hermione
2. Massenet: Manon
2. Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier
(There are nine all jostling for the no. 2 slot.)
Since reading Octave's post, I've modified my listing to include some recommended recordings.
Thanks as always....my 'purchases' posts gonna be blowin up.
Quote from: Octave on October 05, 2013, 06:57:24 AM
Thanks as always....my 'purchases' posts gonna be blowin up.
;D Are you sampling DVDs, or CDs for opera? Most of my experience listening to opera has been solely on CD, so far anyway. :)
Quote from: kyjo on October 05, 2013, 06:13:54 AM
I agree, Ray. A most absurd statement.
I wouldn't say it's a totally absurd statement........I wouldn't necessarily say that one must like Italian Opera to like it, but one would have to appreciate it in order to appreciate it as a genre since most pre-Romantic operas were Italian operas.
Quote from: ChamberNut on October 05, 2013, 07:02:46 AM
;D Are you sampling DVDs, or CDs for opera? Most of my experience listening to opera has been solely on CD, so far anyway. :)
I have never seen even one video production of an opera! :-[
It actually seems ideal, video. Especially with an "uncompressed" audio in Blu-Ray option. If the staging is distasteful to me, I can turn off the TV and enjoy uncompressed (or less compressed, PCM) sound....easy. But somehow I have not gotten to this point yet. I like my opera acousmatic. In fact, I haven't even followed libretti for most of the operas I've heard yet; I know, it sounds crazy. This stems from 1.) a conviction that eyes are aristocrats of the bloodflow, and 2.) a desire to hear the music at least a couple times before I know what what's going on.
But definitely I am eager to check out video productions. Some items languishing in the cart are a Schreker recommended somewhat recently, Langgaard's ANTIKRIST, a well-spoken-of (Christie?) Handel's GIULIO CAESAR, Weinberg's PASSENGER, and Gardiner's Debussy's PELLEAS (though I have heard bad things about the U.S. dvd's sound that apparently do not apply to the Euro edition). Still hoping the Boulez/Chereau RING appears on Blu_Ray before physical media vanish from earth.
Do we have a thread for favorite opera video productions (music, staging, or both)?
Quote from: sanantonio on September 17, 2013, 03:21:27 PM
Opera is about the voices, not the orchestra. Sure, the best operas use the orchestra in imagintive and effective ways, but really, the orchestra is the accompaniment. I could tell by the lists that the works chosen were by people who like lush orchestral writing, but not so much opera, for itself. If you don't like Italian opera, face it, you're not an opera fan.
Quote from: ChamberNut on October 05, 2013, 06:07:43 AM
I don't agree with this at all. I'm sorry, but this does not even make sense, to be honest?! ???
Quote from: kyjo on October 05, 2013, 06:13:54 AM
I agree, Ray. A most absurd statement.
Not entirely absurd. What San Antonio is objecting to is a sentiment similar to, "I like Italian food, but not pasta with tomato sauce." In other words, says SA, since Italian opera is so dominant and central to the tradition and history of opera, to reject it is in effect to reject the genre altogether.
Not that I entirely agree with SA either. Opera is about a lot of things: the voices, the orchestra, the (sometimes preposterous) dramatic action, the often spectacular stagings complete with elaborate costumes worn by casts of thousands including any animals (human and non) the director cares to bring on stage, the gay subculture of the opera queens obsessed with their favorite sopranos (think Terrence McNally's "The Lisbon Traviata"), the sense of ridiculous expense and prestige that goes along with the entire enterprise. Even in the 18th century, Samuel Johnson referred to opera as "an exotic and irrational entertainment, which has always been combated, and always has prevailed." Greatly oversimplifying, the history of opera has always been a push and pull between the forces that celebrate the power and agility of the human voice for its own sake (Handel, Bellini, Rossini) and those who attempt to purge the excesses from the genre and focus on the dramatic (Gluck, Debussy, Mussorgsky). It is not so much that Kylo is not an opera fan, but that he is on the one side of the axis.
But as for this exchange —
Quote from: Tsaraslondon on September 19, 2013, 11:36:01 PM
I sometimes think people take this kind of list as an opportunity for them to brag about their knowledge of the most obscure pieces they can find.
Quote from: kyjo on September 20, 2013, 02:27:43 AM
What a presumptuous and untrue thing to say.
— methinks Mr. Kylo is being disingenuous, having already staked out his position here as Keeper of the Obscure Flame. But even granting his own premises, his rejection of Verdi because of the alleged emphasis on "vocal pyrotechnics" is an inaccurate description of the composer's achievement. Verdi even in his early days, when his use of the orchestra was relatively undeveloped, was far more interested in dramatic truth than vocalism for its own sake. Verdi's
ruvidezza, already present in Nabucco, was an emphatic rejection of the smooth bel canto tradition of Bellini and Donizetti, and even Gilda's Caro nome from Rigoletto is not just some coloratura twittering in the stratosphere but a characterization of a naïve young girl experiencing first love.
As for Verdi's later career, it's quite obvious that as he matured he developed in all kinds of ways – harmonically, dramatically, orchestrally – that left his early style way behind. His orchestral mastery in the final operas – Don Carlo, the revised Simon Boccanegra, Aida, Otello, Falstaff — matches any composer's, and to dismiss Verdi without acknowledging as much is to misrepresent his progress.
Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on September 23, 2013, 05:04:45 PM
I dug out the EMI RVW 30CD box yesterday, of which I never completed the first run through last year, and, G-d willing, will be giving those two, along with Sir John in Love and Love in the Stocks, maiden listens sometime in the next week or so.
Seeing 'Pilgrim's Progress' live in London (twice) was an overwhelming experience. Hope you enjoy it.
Quote from: vandermolen on October 05, 2013, 09:48:47 AM
Seeing 'Pilgrim's Progress' live in London (twice) was an overwhelming experience.
I can imagine. It's on my (quite short) "would travel abroad to see live" list.
:laugh:
Quote from: Wanderer on October 05, 2013, 12:15:03 PM
I can imagine. It's on my (quite short) "would travel abroad to see live" list.
Pity you missed it in London recently (first full staging since the 1950s!) The other performance I saw was even more moving: a semi-staged version with Richard Hickox conducting. His son played the Woodcutter's Boy. All very poignant in view of Hickox's death not long after.
I didn't have time earlier to put together particular favourite versions, so here they all are again, with the problem remedied.
1. Wagner: Der Ring
On CD: Solti
On DVD: Chereau/Boulez
2. Puccini: La Boheme
On CD: Pavarotti/Freni/Karajan
On DVD: Raimondi/Freni/Karajan 1965 movie
2. Puccini: La Rondine
On CD: Gheorghiu/Alagna/Pappano
On DVD: Gheorghiu/Alagna/MET 2009 and also Arteta/Haddock/Washington 1999 (both are exquisite)
2. Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte
On DVD: Persson/Vondung/Hytner Glyndebourne. Possibly the most perfect Opera DVD I own
2. Mozart: Don Giovanni
On DVD: Raimondi/Kanawa/Losey movie
2. Handel: Giulio Cesare
On DVD: Connolly/de Niese/Christie Glyndebourne
2. Rameau: Les Indes Galantes
On DVD: de Niese/Rivenq/Petibon/Christie Paris Opera
2. Lully: Cadmus & Hermione
On DVD: Dumestre/Lazar's astounding historical C17th re-creation
2. Massenet: Manon
On CD: Gheorghiu/Alagna/Pappano
On DVD: Dessay/Villazon/McVicar
2. Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier
On DVD: Jones/Fassbaender/Popp/Kleiber
(There are nine all jostling for the no. 2 slot.)
1. Wagner: Ring
2. Wagner: Parsifal
3. Wagner: Tristan
4. Wagner: Lohengrin
5. Puccini: Fanciulla del West
6. Puccini: Tosca
7. Verdi: Aida
8. Verdi: Simon Boccanegra
9. Verdi: Don Carlos
10. Richard Strauss: Salome
Not necessarily in order.
In no particular order, and contents shift, but the first six are constants.
Magic Flute
Cosi
Four Saints in Three Acts, Virgil Thomson
Facing Goya, Michael Nyman
Sweeney Todd, Sondheim ( technically not an opera but then neither is Flute)
Threepenny Opera, Weill
Valkyrie
Julius Caesar, Handel
Orpheus ed Eurydice, Gluck
Der Mond, Orff
My choices also change a lot although ring and parsifal are always unsurpassed. I didn't add Wagner's meistersinger and fliegenden holländer because I thought I had more than enough Wagner operas already. Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, Falstaff and Rigoletto I had to cut also. Unfortunately I couldn't make room for Mozart's Don Giovanni and Zauberflöte. I love many lesser-performed operas too though, including Die Liebe der Danae (even though the libretto is so bad that I think even I would write better stuff) and Rachmaninov's Miserly knight. Some other operas that I couldn't fit were for ex. Elektra, Faust (by Gounod), Thaïs, Golden cockerel, Turandot, Queen of Spades, Freischütz and Fidelio.
I have but four:
1. La Traviata
2. Die Zauberflote
3. Le Nozze di Figaro
4. La Boheme
Quote from: Ken B on May 22, 2014, 06:57:04 PM
In no particular order, and contents shift, but the first six are constants.
Magic Flute
Cosi
Four Saints in Three Acts, Virgil Thomson
Facing Goya, Michael Nyman
Sweeney Todd, Sondheim ( technically not an opera but then neither is Flute)
Threepenny Opera, Weill
Valkyrie
Julius Caesar, Handel
Orpheus ed Eurydice, Gluck
Der Mond, Orff
Your list is better than mine, especially because you have the Weill and Orff included.
I have a few Nyman operas and really like them, but was unaware that Facing Goya was an opera. Will locate it for a listen.
Only counting operas I've actually seen, because CDs don't count:
6. Carmen
5. Beatrice et Benedict
4. La boheme
3. Die Zauberflote
2. Don Giovanni
1. Falstaff
Here, four operas I haven't seen:
Kat'a Kabanova
L'enfant et les sortileges
Les Troyens
Hansel und Gretel
And an opera I saw part of in the Houston Opera's "too broke to hire soloists" choral compilation concert, but haven't seen or heard in full, but the excerpt was flat-out amazing: Khovanshchina.
Quote from: Brian on May 23, 2014, 10:41:36 AM
And an opera I saw part of in the Houston Opera's "too broke to hire soloists" choral compilation concert, but haven't seen or heard in full, but the excerpt was flat-out amazing: Khovanshchina.
Curious, who did the orchestration for
Khovanshchina (if you know)?
some German-Austrian favorites...
Don Giovanni
Marriage of Figaro
Cosi
Magic Flute
Solome
Elektra
Rosenkavalier
Tristan & Isolde
Così fan tutte
(Böhm 1962 ... also Böhm live 1974, Gardiner live 1992, Busch 1934/35)
Die Zauberflöte
(Furtwängler live 1951, Sawallisch 1972, Gardiner 1996 ... also Klemperer 1964 for the amazing singing, but it doesn't work really ... also quite like Haitink 1981 and Christie 1995, while Karajan wastes that terrific ensemble, wish EMI had chosen Furtwängler to conduct ... and Böhm while having the finest Tamino ever is let down big time by the inappropriate ladies)
Le nozze di Figaro
(Kleiber 1955 ... also Giulini 1959, Böhm 1968)
Don Giovanni
(Krips 1955)
La Traviata
(Callas/Ghione)
La Bohème
(Beecham 1956)
L'Orfeo
(Gardiner, 1985)
Tosca
(Callas/Di Stefano/Gobbi/de Sabata 1953)
Salome
(Solti 1962)
honourable mention:
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
(Krips 1966 ... also Krips 1950, Beecham 1956, Jochum 1965)
Much left to explore though ... but really I can't imagine those four Mozart ones ever falling out of the top ten - the most beautiful music I've ever heard! And I want to hear (and have at hand) more versions than mentioned, really trying to boil down to favourites.
I should update a little:
Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen
Wagner Tristan und Isolde
Wagner Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Mozart Le Nozze di Figaro
Bizet Carmen
Strauss Salomé
Berg Wozzeck
Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin
Ravel L'enfant et les sortilèges
Janáček Jenůfa
Quote from: Lisztianwagner on August 20, 2014, 08:19:55 AM
I should update a little:
Mozart Le Nozze di Figaro
Bizet Carmen
Berg Wozzeck
Ravel L'enfant et les sortilèges
Janáček Jenůfa
*pounds the table* 8)
Quote from: North Star on August 20, 2014, 09:16:46 AM
*pounds the table* 8)
You don't seem to be a great fan of German opera, Karlo, don't you? ;)
Quote from: Lisztianwagner on August 20, 2014, 10:26:23 AM
You don't seem to be a great fan of German opera, Karlo, don't you? ;)
Parsifal,
Elektra &
Die Frau Ohne Schatten are the ones I've heard from those two, but I do intend to hear more. But of course I am more familiar with Czech, French & Russian opera. 8)
Let's try this again, limited to 1 per composer
Wagner: Ring (technically 4 operas but oh well)
Puccini: Fanciulla del West
Strauss: Salome
Mozart: Don Giovanni
Verdi: Simon Boccanegra
Massenet: Thaïs
Rachmaninov: Miserly knight
Beethoven: Fidelio
Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini
Debussy: Pelleas et Melisande
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
Handel: Alcina
Mozart: Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro
Beethoven: Fidelio
Verdi: Ballo in Maschera
Wagner: Walküre, Tristan
Strauss: Salome
Bartok: Duke Bluebeard's Castle
From the ones I've heard thus far, these stand out:
Weber: Der Freischütz
Wagner: Götterdämmerung
Verdi: Aida
Vaughan Williams: The Poisoned Kiss
Strauss: Salome
Saint-Saëns: Samson et Dalila
Puccini: Turandot
Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana
Langgaard: Antikrist
Janáček: Jenůfa
Only one per composer?!!! ??? Augh, 'cause I'm a big fan of Verdi, Puccini, Mozart and others. :'( Well, I'll try:
Mozart - Le Nozze or Magic Flute..... :( [She breaks out into a sweat....]
Verdi - Aughhhh! With my back up against the wall, I'll blurt out Otello
Puccini - Torn between Boheme and Tosca...o.k., Boheme
R. Strauss - Der Rosen (Sorry Salome!) :(
Purcell - Dido
Janacek - Jenufa?
Meyerbeer - Gli Ugonotti
Wagner - hmmm...if only one, Tristan?
Donizetti - Lucia
Bellini - Norma
Gluck - Orphée et Eurydice
O.k., so I went one over! ::)
PD
If I'm only allowed one opera per composer, this is going to be difficult. I could almost fill my top ten with the operas of Verdi, but, well let's see. In no particular order
Verdi: Don Carlo
Bellini: Norma (as long as Callas is singing the title role)
Donizetti: Anna Bolena (ditto)
Berlioz: Les Troyens
Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande
Britten: Peter Grimes
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
Beethoven: Fidelio
Mozart: Don Giovanni
R.Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier
Tchaikovsky: Queen of Spades
Yes, I know I went one over too.
With apologies to Bizet, Offenbach, Puccini, Rossini, Janacek, Massenet and the operettas of Johann Strauss and Lehar.
Quote from: Tsaraslondon on October 22, 2022, 01:17:35 AM
If I'm only allowed one opera per composer, this is going to be difficult. I could almost fill my top ten with the operas of Verdi, but, well let's see. In no particular order
Verdi: Don Carlo
Bellini: Norma (as long as Callas is singing the title role)
Donizetti: Anna Bolena (ditto)
Berlioz: Les Troyens
Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande
Britten: Peter Grimes
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
Beethoven: Fidelio
Mozart: Don Giovanni
R.Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier
Tchaikovsky: Queen of Spades
Yes, I know I went one over too.
With apologies to Bizet, Offenbach, Puccini, Rossini, Janacek, Massenet and the operettas of Johann Strauss and Lehar.
;D
I'll update trying to choose just one opera per composer too; in no particular order:
Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen
Mozart Le Nozze di Figaro
Bizet Carmen
Strauss Salomé
Berg Wozzeck
Ravel L'enfant et les sortilèges
Janáček Jenůfa
Beethoven Fidelio
Zemlinsky Der Zwerg
Bartók Bluebeard's Castle
I wasn't sure if Schönberg's Erwartung could be counted as an opera, so I left it out......
Lots of basic opera repertoire left for me to discover yet (hence not 10) but the ones that stood out for me the most so far are, more or less in order:
Wagner - Parsifal
Gluck - Orfeo Ed Eurydice
Puccini - Tosca (leaving La Bohème out pains me)
Pergolesi - La Serva Padrona
Verdi - La Traviata
Bizet - Carmen
Mozart - Magic Flute
From the limited amount that I've heard:
Barber: Vanessa
Bartok: Bluebeard's Castle
Beethoven: Fidelio
Bizet: Carmen
Dvorak: Rusalka (Dimitrij is also fabulous)
Hanson: Merry Mount
Mozart: Don Giovanni (had the privilege of playing it recently!)
Janacek: Jenufa
Poulenc: Dialogue des Carmelites
Puccini: Turandot
There's so many composers whose operatic output I need to explore much further: Wagner, Strauss, Verdi, Respighi, Zemlinsky, Schreker, Korngold, Weber, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Massenet, Berlioz, Vaughan Williams, Britten, Smetana....
Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on October 22, 2022, 01:54:27 AM
;D
I could do a top ten Verdi, but actually it would just be al the operas he wrote from
Rigoletto onwards, plus
Macbeth. Oh, hang on that's twelve!. Ok can't do it.
Quote from: Tsaraslondon on October 22, 2022, 10:55:39 AM
I could do a top ten Verdi, but actually it would just be al the operas he wrote from Rigoletto onwards, plus Macbeth. Oh, hang on that's twelve!. Ok can't do it.
I love Verdi....I get it. ;D And, after your post, I was thinking "Darn! I should have picked Don Carlos...so may great arias and duets there"...Verdi was so brilliant though, too much to choose from in terms of themes and music and arias and duets and...an amazing composer. :)
PD
Mozart - Die Zauberfloete
Weber - Der Freischuetz
Auber - Fra Diavolo
Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia
Donizetti - L'elisir d'amore
Bellini - La sonnambula
Verdi - La traviata
Thomas - Mignon
Bizet - Carmen
Puccini - La boheme
(I'm firmly in the camp that considers that opera is first and foremost about singing. I have often heard the argument that if you take out the singing from Wagner, you're still left with great orchestral music, while if you do the same with Verdi all you're left is orchestral oom-pah-pah; this might be true but misses the point of opera completely: if you take singing out of opera you're left with no opera at all.)
Quote from: Florestan on October 23, 2022, 07:39:16 AM
Mozart - Die Zauberfloete
Weber - Der Freischuetz
Auber - Fra Diavolo
Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia
Donizetti - L'elisir d'amore
Bellini - La sonnambula
Verdi - La traviata
Thomas - Mignon
Bizet - Carmen
Puccini - La boheme
(I'm firmly in the camp that considers that opera is first and foremost about singing. I have often heard the argument that if you take out the singing from Wagner, you're still left with great orchestral music, while if you do the same with Verdi all you're left is orchestral oom-pah-pah; this might be true but misses the point of opera completely: if you take singing out of opera you're left with no opera at all.)
The Magic Flute really is an amazing opera complete with fun, tenderness, and thrills (like the Queen of the Night's aria). So many good ones on your list.
Auber's I don't know. What do you like about it (without revealing too much about the plot!)?
PD
p.s. Massenet's
Manon is also a lovely opera. I adore the aria "Adieu, nôtre petite table". Particularly as sung by Victoria de los Angeles. :)
Quote from: kyjo on October 22, 2022, 05:18:59 AM
From the limited amount that I've heard:
Barber: Vanessa
Bartok: Bluebeard's Castle
Beethoven: Fidelio
Bizet: Carmen
Dvorak: Rusalka (Dimitrij is also fabulous)
Hanson: Merry Mount
Mozart: Don Giovanni (had the privilege of playing it recently!)
Janacek: Jenufa
Poulenc: Dialogue des Carmelites
Puccini: Turandot
There's so many composers whose operatic output I need to explore much further: Wagner, Strauss, Verdi, Respighi, Zemlinsky, Schreker, Korngold, Weber, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Massenet, Berlioz, Vaughan Williams, Britten, Smetana....
Great list, Kyle. I too haven't heard a lot of opera - one trick is finding the time! I don't like to listen to music in bits and pieces - and finding two or three hours of uninterrupted time can be quite difficult.
From the ones I've heard, though, I can come up with ten favorites:
Berg: Wozzeck (I did an in-depth study of it in college, including attending a concert performance by the Cleveland Orchestra, and I've been in love with it ever since.)
Britten: Peter Grimes
Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (I can't choose just one!)
Janacek: Jenufa
Strauss: Elektra
Bartok: Bluebeard's Castle
Poulenc: Dialogue des Carmelites
Gershwin: Porgy and Bess
Smetana: The Bartered Bride
Quote from: classicalgeek on October 24, 2022, 04:10:46 PM
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (I can't choose just one!)
But it's right that way,
Der Ring can't be divided! ;D
Quote from: kyjo on October 22, 2022, 05:18:59 AM
From the limited amount that I've heard:
Barber: Vanessa
Bartok: Bluebeard's Castle
Beethoven: Fidelio
Bizet: Carmen
Dvorak: Rusalka (Dimitrij is also fabulous)
Hanson: Merry Mount
Mozart: Don Giovanni (had the privilege of playing it recently!)
Janacek: Jenufa
Poulenc: Dialogue des Carmelites
Puccini: Turandot
There's so many composers whose operatic output I need to explore much further: Wagner, Strauss, Verdi, Respighi, Zemlinsky, Schreker, Korngold, Weber, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Massenet, Berlioz, Vaughan Williams, Britten, Smetana....
I'd say that you remind me,
Kyle, only it's something I've particularly looked forward to, in the
Mitropoulos box:
Barber's Vanessa. I believe I recall that
Paul (
springrite) is an enthusiast....
Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on October 23, 2022, 11:11:46 AM
Auber's I don't know. What do you like about it (without revealing too much about the plot!)?
Sorry for the belated reply,
PD.
Fra Diavolo is a charming and witty
opéra-comique, brimming with memorable tunes, exuding good humour and
joie de vivre --- a perfect embodiment of the French modern-yet-not-Romantic musical esthetics of the 1830s. Give it a try.
Quote from: Florestan on October 26, 2022, 09:45:15 AM
Sorry for the belated reply, PD.
Fra Diavolo is a charming and witty opéra-comique, brimming with memorable tunes, exuding good humour and joie de vivre --- a perfect embodiment of the French modern-yet-not-Romantic musical esthetics of the 1830s. Give it a try.
Thanks!
PD
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on October 26, 2022, 08:53:42 AM
I'd say that you remind me, Kyle, only it's something I've particularly looked forward to, in the Mitropoulos box: Barber's Vanessa. I believe I recall that Paul (springrite) is an enthusiast....
You won't be disappointed, Karl! Anyone who enjoys Barber's soulful lyricism can't afford to miss his single most substantial work. I've also listened to a bit of his other opera,
Antony and Cleopatra (which had a rather disastrous premiere, IIRC), and it was quite excellent as well.
In a rather similar passionately neo-romantic vein as Barber's operas is Alwyn's
Miss Julie, which now has two recordings on Lyrita and Chandos.