What are your 'Top 5 Favorite Operas'? Opera is not a genre I gravitate towards very often, but when I do I almost always reach for one of these five favorites:
Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle
Berg: Wozzeck
Janáček: Káťa Kabanová
Ravel: L'enfant et les sortilèges
Szymanowski: King Roger
Honorable mentions: Berg's Lulu, Janáček's From the House of the Dead, Britten's Death in Venice, Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Martinů's Julietta, Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, Strauss' Elektra
Quote from: Thatfabulousalien on October 10, 2016, 08:25:51 PM
Oh yay, I get to make a list!!
Ok, I'm not the biggest opera fanatic but these operas mean a lot to me and have effected me in someway or another:
Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle (I'll probably say this is my favourite forever!)
Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre
Stockhausen's Licht
Harry Partch's Delusion of the Fury (If that counts too!)
Wagner's Ring Cycle
Feldman's Neither (Though it's sort of a melodrama)
Schoenberg's Moses and Aaron
Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex
Interesting list. You haven't heard any of Janáček's operas?
Quote from: Thatfabulousalien on October 10, 2016, 08:37:19 PM
To be honest, I've only dabbled into his string quartets. But a recommendation could change that? 8)
You should definitely check out any of his mature operas:
Jenufa through
From the House of the Dead.
Verdi ; Don Carlo
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
Puccini: Tosca.
Verdi: La Traviata.
Puccini: La Boheme
Limiting to 5....
Britten: Albert Herring
Adams: Nixon in China
Berg: Wozzeck
Ligeti: Le Grand Macabre
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
But also....
Brett Dean: Bliss
Britten: Peter Grimes
Britten: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos
Glass: Einstein on the Beach
Glass: Akhnaten
Wagner: Ring Cycle
Wagner: Tannhäuser
Beethoven: Fidelio
Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte
Handel: Giulio Cesare
Quote from: Thatfabulousalien on October 10, 2016, 08:54:35 PM
I'm just looking through his works list at the moment and it appears I have heard the Glagolitic Mass and Sinfonietta. And I forgot he was the one who composed The Cunning Little Vixen (which I haven't heard, but I see mentioned now and then).
Ohh yes! The two operas you mention have very interesting plots, thanks Mirror Image, I'll be listening to quite a bit of him this week!! :D
I have a feeling you would like the plots (and hopefully the music, too ;) ) of
Brouček and
Makropulos Case. Also, the
Violin Concerto is probably his greatest orchestral score, based on the same material that is used in
The House of the Dead, only in a much more condensed form, of course. The later, the better (and more) is a good rule of thumb with
Janáček. I'd say check out the last three, and the fifth first -
House,
Vixen,
Makropulos, and
Brouček.
Difficult question, I don't listen to much opera (outside barque) any longer. Some that have impressed me much, are (post-baroque):
Gluck: Orfeo and Euridice
Mozart: Magic Flute
Tchaikovsky: Eugen Onegin (my favorite Tchaikovsky work)
Verdi: Otello
Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth
Wozzeck is great as well, it's been too long since I've seen it. Pelleas and Melisande too. Oddballs like Hindemith's Cardillac and Harmonie der Welt, Floyd's Susannah and Street Scene by Weill deserve a mention as well....and I suspect I should dig up some of Janaceks works that I haven't listened to in ages.
If it has to be only five:
- Richard Wagner: Parsifal
- Richard Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
- W. A. Mozart: Don Giovanni
- Claude Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande
- Giuseppe Verdi: Falstaff
The runner-ups would include Wozzeck and Lulu, The Ring and Tristan, Così and Figaro, Elektra, Fidelio, Enescu's Oedipe, Busoni's Doktor Faust, Dallapiccola's Il Prigioniero, and many, many more...
Only 5? Ok, I'll play
Wagner's Ring
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
Verdi: Falstaff
Mozart: Don Giovanni
More or less in that order
Debussy ~ Pelleas
Wagner ~ Tristan
Puccini ~ Tosca
Verdi ~ Otello
Monteverdi ~ Orfeo
;)
In chronological order
Mozart - Don Giovanni
Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia
Weber - Der Freischütz
Bellini - La sonnambula
Bizet - Carmen
Purcell: Dido & Aeneas
Mozart: Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro
Beethoven: Fidelio
Wagner: Tristan & Isolde
Don Giovanni
Don Carlos
Tristan und Isolde
Elektra
Peter Grimes
Mike
Quote from: Florestan on October 11, 2016, 01:24:18 AM
Weber - Der Freischütz
+1. Kleiber for your favourite recording, perhaps? I've always meant to hear, but so far haven't, the version Berlioz did for the Paris Opéra, with recitatives composed by him.
Other than that for me: Monteverdi
L'Orfeo, Wagner
Die Walküre, Britten
Peter Grimes, Tippett
The Midsummer Marriage.
Quote from: DaveF on October 11, 2016, 02:10:41 AM
+1. Kleiber for your favourite recording, perhaps?
You bet. One of the most glorious recordings ever made.
Kubelik and Boehm are not bad either. Joseph Keilbert is praised too but have never heard it.
Quote
I've always meant to hear, but so far haven't, the version Berlioz did for the Paris Opéra, with recitatives composed by him.
Has it been recorded? Did he tamper with the score too? ???
I think it has been recorded but I have never heard it. The most famous bit is of course Berlioz orchestration of "Invitation to the Dance" that served as ballett (obligatory in Paris) for the French version.
[asin]B00000JQET[/asin]
Quote from: Jo498 on October 11, 2016, 02:49:54 AM
I think it has been recorded but I have never heard it. The most famous bit is of course Berlioz orchestration of "Invitation to the Dance" that served as ballett (obligatory in Paris) for the French version.
[asin]B00000JQET[/asin]
I suspected it. Freischuetz sung in French and with ballet scenes --- much as I like Berlioz, I´m afraid I shall pass on this one. ;D
Quote from: Florestan on October 11, 2016, 02:34:52 AM
Did he tamper with the score too? ???
No, surely not. Berlioz revered Weber, and had harsh words for other tamperers (hurling abuse at orchestra and conductor in an early Paris performance that used flutes instead of piccolos). Equally to the point, he probably wasn't being paid to do that.
Sadly, that recording is a bit too expensive (in Europe) and too unrecommended to entice me.
Le nozze di Figaro
Don Giovanni
Prometeo
Luci miei traditrici
Neither
Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern
Quote from: DaveF on October 11, 2016, 02:57:56 AM
No, surely not. Berlioz revered Weber, and had harsh words for other tamperers (hurling abuse at orchestra and conductor in an early Paris performance that used flutes instead of piccolos). Equally to the point, he probably wasn't being paid to do that.
I also think it was a labor of love but I am not sure it's more than a historical curiosity today. I quite like the orchestral version of "Aufforderung", the grandfather of all orchestral waltzes, though.
There is at least another one by Weingartner who didn't like Berlioz' orchestration for some reason; in any case Weingartner tampered a little more and brought all the waltz themes together in double or triple counterpoint or some such feat in the end
Only 5? 8) Well, maybe this time I will follow the rules! $:)
Alphabetically...
Doktor Faust - Busoni
Cardillac - Hindemith
The Fiery Angel - Prokofiev
The Invisible City of Kitezh... - Rimsky-Korsakov
Erwartung - Schoenberg
Elektra - R. Strauss
Goetterdaemmerung - Wagner
Sorry, no Italians, no Frenchmen!
Okay, so I tried to follow the rule, I really tried! 0:) And I did say "maybe" ! 8)
Quote from: Cato on October 11, 2016, 03:53:45 AM
Only 5? 8) Well, maybe this time I will follow the rules! $:)
Cardillac - Hindemith
The Fiery Angel - Prokofiev
The Invisible City of Kitezh... - Rimsky-Korsakov
I like those three a lot as well.
Among my five will have to be Meistersinger, Troyens, Falstaff, Wozzeck, and Figaro.
Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen
Wagner Parsifal
Wagner Lohengrin
Mozart Die Zauberflöte
Strauss Der Rosenkavalier
Sarge
Quote from: Cato on October 11, 2016, 03:53:45 AM
The Fiery Angel - Prokofiev
+1 A gripping work! Will be on my (long) list of runner-ups. Another one, which AFAIK has not been mentioned yet by anyone, would be
Les Troyens...
One very interesting phenonmenon: in general, there does not seem to be much love lost on
Giuseppe Verdi the composer (I for one have serious reservations about his art). And yet,
Falstaff appears in several of the lists submitted (incluiding mine). A perfect opera IMHO. :) To be fair, so does
Otello (of which I'm not that fond of)...
The Fiery Angel
Le nozze di Figaro
Cunning Little Vixen
Les Troyens
L'enfant et les sortilèges
Quote from: Thatfabulousalien on October 10, 2016, 08:54:35 PM
I'm just looking through his works list at the moment and it appears I have heard the Glagolitic Mass and Sinfonietta. And I forgot he was the one who composed The Cunning Little Vixen (which I haven't heard, but I see mentioned now and then).
Ohh yes! The two operas you mention have very interesting plots, thanks Mirror Image, I'll be listening to quite a bit of him this week!! :D
Sounds like a plan. Happy listening, my friend! :)
TO SEE LIVE
1. Falstaff
2. Don Giovanni
3. Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
4. Die Zauberflöte
5. Beatrice et Benedict
TO JUST LISTEN
1. Falstaff
2-5. Let's just say Berlioz and Janacek and leave it at that
Hon. Mention: Carmen
I really need to listen to the complete Grimes and Troyens, rather than the excerpts, sometime soon. Also all the Janacek I haven't heard.
Found a Top 10 poll we did a few years ago, has changed a little, although I will say that these top 3 will never change...
Monteverdi: Orfeo
Mozart: The Magic Flute
Berg: Wozzeck
Seeing Wagner's Parsifal a few years ago performed live really changed my perspective on the piece, as many live performances can easily do, especially with Operas when you're immersing yourself into a fully staged production. Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten has become one of my most listened to operas of the past few years, such a magical work. So I'll save my last two spots for the these two operas I've listened to the most the past few years.
Quote from: Brian on October 11, 2016, 06:19:22 AM
I really need to listen to the complete Grimes and Troyens, rather than the excerpts, sometime soon. Also all the Janacek I haven't heard.
Lyric Opera of Chicago is performing
Troyens later this season. 5 hours of opera! You can do it!
Quote from: North Star on October 11, 2016, 06:08:56 AM
The Fiery Angel
Le nozze di Figaro
Cunning Little Vixen
Les Troyens
L'enfant et les sortilèges
Fine list!
Quote from: TheGSMoeller on October 11, 2016, 06:21:55 AM
Lyric Opera of Chicago is performing Troyens later this season. 5 hours of opera! You can do it!
One of the pinnacles of our experiences in both the Met, and Symphony Hall (a concert performance, natch). Do not hesitate,
Brian!
Quote from: North Star on October 11, 2016, 06:08:56 AM
The Fiery Angel
Le nozze di Figaro
Cunning Little Vixen
Les Troyens
L'enfant et les sortilèges
Great list, yes,
were it not for the fact that there's no Wagner on it !!! >:(
Well, I guess we can still be friends,
Karlo ;)
;D ;D
Quote from: ritter on October 11, 2016, 06:28:58 AM
Great list, yes, were it not for the fact that there's no Wagner on it !!! >:(
Hadn't thought of that. Now, I like the list better yet! 0:)
(Just kidding
Rafael.)
Quote from: Cato on October 11, 2016, 03:53:45 AM
The Fiery Angel - Prokofiev
Quote from: ritter on October 11, 2016, 05:31:29 AM
+1 A gripping work! Will be on my (long) list of runner-ups.
I first heard it over 50 years ago in a French version on some fairly scratched records from the public library. (I found the French difficult to follow in the libretto: all those letters and they just disappear somehow when voiced! ;))
"Gripping" is a good adjective for the opera!
Quote from: Cato on October 11, 2016, 03:53:45 AM
Cardillac - Hindemith
The Fiery Angel - Prokofiev
The Invisible City of Kitezh... - Rimsky-Korsakov
Quote from: The new erato on October 11, 2016, 04:39:17 AM
I like those three a lot as well.
Kitezh has some simply glorious moments: the first time I heard it was also over 5 decades ago, and I believe the set of records had come in from the Soviet Union some time in the 1950's, which I found unusual, given the status of Khrushchev etc. in the U.S. and the West in general back then.
If you have not yet heard
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in
Cardillac, you must!
(http://www.apesound.de/out/pictures/master/product/1/cardillac.jpg)
And believe it or not, my all-boys Catholic high school had enough opera lovers for debates on e.g.
Wagner vs.
Rimsky, or
Janacek vs.
Britten (both of whose works were being recorded more often in the early stereo days). While the plebeians ??? might debate e.g. the Beatles vs. the Beach Boys (the Californians win, of course), we (probably there were 8 of us, so, not a majority! ;)) had slightly different interests at the time!
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on October 11, 2016, 06:24:33 AM
Fine list!
Cheers,
Karl.
Quote from: ritter on October 11, 2016, 06:28:58 AM
Great list, yes, were it not for the fact that there's no Wagner on it !!! >:(
Well, I guess we can still be friends, Karlo ;)
;D ;D
I recall liking
Parsifal very much. I don't think I've gotten further than the first two from Ring. Fine music in there, for sure, but it is rather long. ::)
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on October 11, 2016, 06:29:50 AM
Hadn't thought of that. Now, I like the list better yet! 0:)
(Just kidding Rafael.)
*chortle*
One of these days (really) I'll sit down with the Ring properly.
(Not until I'm done with the symphony, though.)
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on October 11, 2016, 06:29:50 AM
Hadn't thought of that. Now, I like the list better yet! 0:)
(Just kidding Rafael.)
Well, once again, I suppose
we can also still be friends. ;)
But don't despair,
Karlo and
Karl: you'll eventually see th light :) :) :)
Quote from: North Star on October 11, 2016, 06:33:41 AM
I recall liking Parsifal very much. I don't think I've gotten further than the first two from Ring. Fine music in there, for sure, but it is rather long. ::)
Wagner operas are like
Bruckner symphonies: they're too long but, if they were any shorter, they wouldn't be as good :D
Quote from: ritter on October 11, 2016, 06:40:04 AM
Well, once again, I suppose we can also still be friends. ;)
I rely on it!
Quote from: North Star on October 11, 2016, 06:33:41 AMFine music in there, for sure, but it is rather long. ::)
As opposed to Berlioz's
Les Troyens (one of your favorite operas) being short? Come on, Karlo. ::)
Only 5 !!! So one by composer
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
Puccini: Turandot
Verdi: La Traviata
Wagner: Parsifal
Poulenc: le dialogue des carmélites
I cant believe there is no Mozart on this list !!!!
Quote from: Thatfabulousalien on October 10, 2016, 08:25:51 PMBartok's Bluebeard's Castle (I'll probably say this is my favourite forever!)
For this, we shall remain friends forever. :) Seriously, dude, that
is my favorite opera from anyone. I'm still in the midst of collecting as many recordings I can find --- I
almost own them all except for the ones that never made it to CD and older mono recordings, which I can't listen to without gritting my teeth. ;D
Quote from: Cato on October 11, 2016, 06:32:46 AM
And believe it or not, my all-boys Catholic high school had enough opera lovers for debates on e.g. Wagner vs. Rimsky, or Janacek vs. Britten (both of whose works were being recorded more often in the early stereo days). While the plebeians ??? might debate e.g. the Beatles vs. the Beach Boys (the Californians win, of course), we (probably there were 8 of us, so, not a majority! ;)) had slightly different interests at the time!
What´s the situation at the Catholic high school where you teach? ;D
For lists this short, I limit it to one per composer.
Bizet: Carmen
Britten: Peter Grimes
Janáček: Jenůfa
Puccini: La bohème
Verdi: Don Carlos
Quote from: Spineur on October 11, 2016, 06:51:21 AM
Only 5 !!! So one by composer
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
Puccini: Turandot
Verdi: La Traviata
Wagner: Parsifal
Poulenc: le dialogue des carmélites
I cant believe there is no Mozart on this list !!!!
Nice list.
;)
Gluck - Orfeo et Euridyce (Original Viennese version)
Mozart - Le nozze di Figaro
Mozart - Don Giovanni
Haydn - Armida
Bizet - Carmen
That was pretty easy, actually. 0:)
8)
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on October 11, 2016, 07:39:40 AM
Gluck - Orfeo et Euridyce (Original Viennese version)
Mozart - Le nozze di Figaro
Mozart - Don Giovanni
Haydn - Armida
Bizet - Carmen
That was pretty easy, actually. 0:)
8)
A perfect line up, although I´d substitute
La fedelta premiata for
Armida. :)
Quote from: Florestan on October 11, 2016, 07:44:40 AM
A perfect line up, although I´d substitute La fedelta premiata for Armida. :)
Yes, I was torn there. But some of the arias in
Armida are downright beautiful. Another fine little opera is the burletta
L'Infedeltà Delusa, which is not only highly musical but pretty funny. Well, once again the numeric restriction hurt me... :D
8)
Quote from: Florestan on October 11, 2016, 07:44:40 AM
A perfect line up, although I´d substitute La fedelta premiata for Armida. :)
The Haydn one I most enjoy (and the only one I've seen on stage) is
La vera Costanza...
"
Che burrasca, che tempesta,
che paura, che terrore,
batte ancora in petto il core,
posso appena respirar" :)
Impossible to list just five. I'm giving you 20, one per composer and in no particular order (runners-up in parentheses):
Beethoven: Fidelio
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, Die Entführung aus dem Serail)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde)
R. Strauss: Elektra (Salome, Die Frau ohne Schatten)
Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin
Janáček: Jenůfa (Káťa Kabanová)
Puccini: Tosca (Turandot)
Schreker: Die Gezeichneten
Zemlinsky: Eine florentinische Tragödie (Der Zwerg)
Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle
Szymanowski: Król Roger
Berlioz: Les Troyens
Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Korngold: Die tote Stadt (Das Wunder der Heliane)
Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia
Vaughan Williams: The Pilgrim's Progress
Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites
Offenbach: Les contes d'Hoffmann (La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein)
Bizet: Carmen
Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov
Other favourites:
Saint-Saëns: Samson et Dalila
Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande
Berg: Wozzeck
Berg: Lulu
Janáček: From the House of the Dead
Janáček: Cunning Little Vixen
Schoenberg: Moses und Aron
Gazzaniga: Don Giovanni
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
Puccini: La bohème
R. Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos
Wagner: Tannhäuser
Busoni: Doktor Faust
Langgaard: Antikrist
Nielsen: Maskarade
Monteverdi: L'Orfeo
Weber: Der Freischütz
Bellini: La sonnambula
Shostakovich: The Nose
Tchaikovsky: Pique Dame
Lully: Atys
Boito: Mefistofele
Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana
Verdi: Don Carlos
Verdi: La Traviata
Leoncavallo: I Pagliacci
Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore
Prokofiev: The Fiery Angel
Rachmaninov: The Miserly Knight
Rimsky-Korsakov: The Invisible City of Kitezh
Borodin: Prince Igor
Dukas: Ariane et Barbe-bleue
Chausson: Le roi Arthus
Gounod: Roméo et Juliette
Haydn: Orlando paladino
Vivaldi: Orlando furioso
Vivaldi: Griselda
Rossini: Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra
Quote from: Florestan on October 11, 2016, 07:15:38 AM
What´s the situation at the Catholic high school where you teach? ;D
Well, I am now teaching Latin at a Catholic grade school, but for 25 years I was at an all-boys Catholic high school in northern Ohio. Operas were an unknown quantity outside of my German classroom! 8)
To be sure, my experience 50 years ago was undoubtedly anomalous even then. But I have not stopped introducing my students to music: I have used
Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex and excerpts from
Mozart's Apollo et Hyacinthus in my Latin classes here, along with religious works by
Bruckner,
Franck, etc.
In chronological order:
Monteverdi: L'Orfeo
Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
Berg: Wozzeck
Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress
For the many of you who chose no italian operas, its like going to france without drinking one glass of wine or to the oktoberfest without having a single beer !
Quote from: Spineur on October 11, 2016, 11:01:41 AM
For the many of you who chose no italian operas, its like going to france without drinking one glass of wine or to the oktoberfest without having a single beer !
The problem is the limit of five. If it had been 10, Lucia, Masked Ball, Butterfly, Puritani or Cavalleria Rusticana might have made my cut.
Sarge
Quote from: Spineur on October 11, 2016, 11:01:41 AM
For the many of you who chose no italian operas, its like going to france without drinking one glass of wine or to the oktoberfest without having a single beer !
Operas in Italian or operas by Italian composers?
Quote from: Cato on October 11, 2016, 06:32:46 AM
If you have not yet heard Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in Cardillac, you must!
(http://www.apesound.de/out/pictures/master/product/1/cardillac.jpg)
Oh yes I have had the LP set for decades. Though the relatively recent Nagano DVD is superb in its own way.
Quote from: Thatfabulousalien on October 11, 2016, 11:10:36 AM
Very very VERY good to know, because that work means a real lot to me. Without one of my most beloved Masterworks, on my top 10 list (of music in general) without a question! :D ;D
After I've heard your suggested Janacek, I'll put that on again!! :)
Sounds like a plan! 8)
The problem is that we are only allowed five. But let me try:
Strauss: Elektra
Mozart: Don Giovanni
Berg: Wozzeck
Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
Wagner: Ring
Puccini: Fanciulla del West
Verdi: Simon Boccanegra
R. Strauss: Elektra
Debussy: Pelleas et Melisande
Quote from: Thatfabulousalien on October 11, 2016, 11:12:31 AM
I'm really surprised I forgot Busoni's Dr Faust, because I'm a huge fan of his music.
:-[
(well not quite as much as SOME composers, but you get the drift)
Again, as with
Cardillac, the performance to hear (or at least
I think so 0:) ) is from
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau:
[asin]B00000E4E2[/asin]
Tristan and Der Ring if the latter is four.
If Der Ring is one other are Parsifal, Salome and Elektra.
I think that is five people who have included Elektra, similar to the number for Don Giovanni. I think it is interesting that Elektra gets so many endorsements. It is not as though people can whistle along with the famous tunes. I don't think there is a full disc of excerpts of it. But it is such an immersive experience and works very well in sound only as an opera of the mind. It is also what I think of as an opera for adults, which looks seriously at the human condition.
I was fortunate to hear Nilsson live in it and in her prime. Pretty shattering.
Mike
I would go with:
Mozart: Marriage of Figaro
Verdi: Otello
Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel
Puccini: Turandot
Britten: Turn of the Screw
Hard to leave others off, but that is my list for today. Don't ask me tomorrow! :)
Quote from: mc ukrneal on October 13, 2016, 07:22:18 PM
I would go with:
Mozart: Marriage of Figaro
Verdi: Otello
Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel
Puccini: Turandot
Britten: Turn of the Screw
Hard to leave others off, but that is my list for today. Don't ask me tomorrow! :)
Of all the Britten, that is an interesting choice. Why that one?
Eh, I'll do 15 so I won't feel bad for leaving one out.
Monteverdi - L'Orfeo
Rameau - Les Boreades
Mozart - Così fan tutte
Berlioz - Les Troyens
Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov
Wagner - Parsifal
Verdi - Falstaff
Debussy - Pelléas et Mélisande
Bartók - Bluebeard's Castle
Berg - Wozzeck
Ravel - L'enfant et les sortilèges
Poulenc - Les mamelles de Tirésias
Stravinsky - The Rake's Progress
Messiaen - Saint François d'Assise
Sciarrino - Luci mie traditrici
My list
Nozze di Figaro
Falstaff
Turandot
Meistersinger von Nurnberg
Barbiere di Siviglia
That may be a boring list, but I've loved them all since I first heard them as a teen.
As I typed, I realized all five are, if not comic operas, operas with happy endings.
Mozart: Idomeneo( as good as the Da Ponte operas and the Magic Flute, or any opera by any other composer for that matter); La Clemenza di Tito is another favorite, but mostly for the music.
Wagner: Die Walküre
Purcell: Dido& Aeneas
Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle
Quote from: Thatfabulousalien on October 13, 2016, 07:18:11 PM
Would Xenakis' Oresteia count as an opera?
I'm listening to it now, it's another work I've been highly fond of for a long time!
:)
I'd have to examine it once more to be sure, because it's been a while. But it always seemed to be leaning a little more towards the cantata/oratorio end of things.
Anyway... I know that it would go:
1.
LICHT2.
LuluAnd then I'd have to think way harder about the rest...
Quote from: knight66 on October 13, 2016, 04:02:27 AM
Elektra...I was fortunate to hear Nilsson live in it and in her prime. Pretty shattering.
Mike
Indeed. Saw her (and Solti) at Covent Garden, June 1972.
Sarge
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on October 14, 2016, 12:09:21 PM
Indeed. Saw her (and Solti) at Covent Garden, June 1972.
Sarge
No, Not with Solti, but it was in a small theatre which provided for overwhelming waves of sound.
I was lucky years later to sing in a couple of Solti performances, galvanising.
Mike
Glad to see all the love for L'Orfeo, it's on my list as well.
The rest goes something like this:
Handel – Rinaldo (who would've guessed..)
Martinů – Julietta
Glass – Akhnaten
Britten – Gloriana
Quote from: Rinaldo on October 14, 2016, 04:17:25 PM
Glad to see all the love for L'Orfeo, it's on my list as well.
It's my favorite opera as well, though I consciously avoided baroque operas, since that would have filled my list and made it impossible to choose. And I find baroque opera (particularly the high baroque seria) seriously different from later opera, so I found it valid to exclude the genre.
Quote from: Rinaldo on October 14, 2016, 04:17:25 PM
Glad to see all the love for L'Orfeo, it's on my list as well.
The rest goes something like this:
Handel – Rinaldo (who would've guessed..)
Martinů – Julietta
Glass – Akhnaten
Britten – Gloriana
Great list, Rinaldo. and Orfeo will always be a top choice for me as well. And every recording I've heard, and DvD/BRDisc I've seen, all offer a completely unique sound and emotional tone.
Not familiar with Handel's you listed but will seek it out. And I've always found Gloriana to have one the most powerful finales.
My three favorite operas would be:
Peter Grimes
Boris Goodenough
Tosca
Four and five would depend on which side of the bed I got up from that morning. They could come from the following:
Doctor Atomic
Nixon in China
Vanessa
Bluebeard's Castle
Lulu
Wozzeck
Benvenuto Cellini
Carmen
Les Troyens
Billy Budd
Aniara (One of the best sci/fi operas)
Rusalka
Porgy and Bess
Bomarzo (I just discovered this opera by Ginastera)
Susannah
Fiery Angel
Turandot
Snow Maiden
Barber of Saville
Der Rosenkavalier
Electra
Salome
Oedipus Rex (Stravinsky)
Eugene Onegin
There are a bunch of others.
Quote from: arpeggio on October 15, 2016, 05:26:04 AM
Aniara (One of the best sci/fi operas)
What are the others?
Although I have never heard it, Tod Machover composed an opera based on the Phillip K. Dick novel Valis.
Two of the others that I am familiar with:
Sallinen: The King Goes Forth To France
Janacek: The Makropoulos Affair is based on a play by Capek (The writer who created the work Robot)
Those are some that I can think of off the top of my head.
Quote from: arpeggio on October 15, 2016, 05:26:04 AM
Aniara (One of the best sci/fi operas)
So there are more? I am aware that there is a sort of Sci-Fi part in an opera by Philip Glass (The Voyage, I think, but I can't remember which act), but I can't think of any others
Quote from: Thatfabulousalien on October 15, 2016, 03:11:58 PM
Licht my friend, Licht! 8)
More experimental theatre than Sci-Fi....I wouldn't be surprised if Stockhausen even believed most of its content as completely factual (didn't he say once that he was from a planet orbiting Sirius and was brought to Earth to save music?)
My 5 are (in no particular order):
Die Walkure
Parsifal
Elektra
Rosenkavalier
Marriage of Figaro
Menotti: Help! Help! The Globolinks is a children's opera with aliens (who can only be fought with non-electronic music)
Quote from: TheGSMoeller on October 15, 2016, 04:50:16 AMNot familiar with Handel's you listed but will seek it out. And I've always found Gloriana to have one the most powerful finales.
When it comes to
Rinaldo, I'm highly biased, as it was my first introduction to baroque opera, but I still think it contains an amazing array of the most moving, memorable tunes Handel has written. The well-known aria
Lascia ch'io pianga is just the tip of the iceberg.
https://www.youtube.com/v/3IqzuaQ5OJA
(the whole performance can be seen here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy4tgFXU-N8))
As for
Gloriana, my favourite moment (and also one of my favourite arias) is the achingly beautiful 2nd lute song that Essex sings to the Queen in the first act. Those descending notes with the violin joining in.. goosebumps every time.
https://www.youtube.com/v/uLPMeCt_JKw
Quote from: Rinaldo on October 16, 2016, 05:35:20 AM
When it comes to Rinaldo, I'm highly biased, as it was my first introduction to baroque opera, but I still think it contains an amazing array of the most moving, memorable tunes Handel has written. The well-known aria Lascia ch'io pianga is just the tip of the iceberg.
Seconded. One of the most glorious and splendid Baroque operas.
I think Ariodante may be my favorite.
Quote from: Rinaldo on October 16, 2016, 05:35:20 AM
As for Gloriana, my favourite moment (and also one of my favourite arias) is the achingly beautiful 2nd lute song that Essex sings to the Queen in the first act. Those descending notes with the violin joining in.. goosebumps every time.
https://www.youtube.com/v/uLPMeCt_JKw
Yes, this particular section is absolutely exquisite. I first heard the
2nd Lute Song on a Edward Gardner recording on Chandos where he conducts the
Gloriana Suite, but he kept this particular movement in-tact and it's so gorgeous.
(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0003/148/MI0003148476.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)
There are very few operas that I'm familiar with in their entirety.
I'm rather enamoured of Glass' Akhnaten, Satyagraha, The Photographer and Les Enfants Terribles; Feldman's Neither; Adams' Nixon ... I guess that's six. ;D
But there are moments that I value highly from a vast array of operas.
Quote from: Reckoner on October 16, 2016, 09:27:16 AM
There are very few operas that I'm familiar with in their entirety.
I'm rather enamoured of Glass' Akhnaten, Satyagraha, The Photographer and Les Enfants Terribles; Feldman's Neither; Adams' Nixon ... I guess that's six. ;D
But there are moments that I value highly from a vast array of operas.
Glass' Einstein?
Quote from: GioCar on October 16, 2016, 09:37:10 AM
Glass' Einstein?
Sure, just not as much as some others. :)
Quote from: The new erato on October 16, 2016, 05:57:07 AM
I think Ariodante may be my favorite.
That's another great one, no doubt. As is Agrippina, which might actually be the one I enjoy most.
I'm not particularly into opera, but the following list had had an effect on me:
Wagner: Parsifal, Borodin: Prince Igor, Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov, Weinberg: The Passenger, Hindemith: The Long Christmas Dinner
:-)
Quote from: Spineur on October 11, 2016, 11:01:41 AM
For the many of you who chose no italian operas, its like going to france without drinking one glass of wine or to the oktoberfest without having a single beer !
It's like playing basketball without a black guy: perfectly normal, but some stereotyping poster's going to get weird about it ;)
Quote from: Thatfabulousalien on October 10, 2016, 08:25:51 PM
Harry Partch's Delusion of the Fury (If that counts too!)
Schoenberg's Moses and Aaron
Excellent choices!
Concerning
Karl Birger-Blomdahl's science fiction opera:
Quote from: Thatfabulousalien on October 15, 2016, 02:37:12 PM
I just discovered Aniara actually, I'm looking forward to hearing it today! :D
So, what is your verdict?
Falstaff
Otello
Rosenkavalier
Zauberflote
Turandot
Quote from: jessop on October 10, 2016, 09:13:05 PM
Limiting to 5....
Britten: Albert Herring
Adams: Nixon in China
Berg: Wozzeck
Ligeti: Le Grand Macabre
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
But also....
Brett Dean: Bliss
Britten: Peter Grimes
Britten: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos
Glass: Einstein on the Beach
Glass: Akhnaten
Wagner: Ring Cycle
Wagner: Tannhäuser
Beethoven: Fidelio
Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte
Handel: Giulio Cesare
I might add
Britten: Turn of the Screw
Adès: The Tempest
Berg: Lulu
Gershwin - Porgy and Bess
Busoni - Dr Faust
Weill - Dreigroschenoper
Szymanowski - King Roger
Partch - Delusion of the fury
Bartok's Blueabeard's Castle is an opera only in a very limited sense: two singers, no action, the simplest decor imaginable. It's a fantastic work, but I don't think of it as an opera.
Turandot
Aïda
Il Trovatore
Norma
Die Walküre
Then:
Il Prigionero (Dallapiccola)
Elektra
Lohengrin
Dead Man Walking (Heggie)
Greek (Turnage)
Dialogues des Carmélites (Poulenc)
Fervaal (d'Indy)
Die Zauberflöte
Don Giovanni
King Roger (Szymanowski)
They all could move up the ladder, which generally happens when I listen to them. :D
Quote from: André on December 11, 2016, 07:32:53 AM
Bartok's Blueabeard's Castle is an opera only in a very limited sense: two singers, no action, the simplest decor imaginable. It's a fantastic work, but I don't think of it as an opera.
It's true that the action of
Bluebeard's Castle is stagnant, but this doesn't exclude it from being an opera because of the lack of action. It's a different breed of opera with the psychological drama being the most poignant feature (besides the incredible music itself).
I'm not an opera fan, really, but I love La Boheme. Then it's a three-way tie for second place: Die Zauberflote, La Traviata (though it's mainly for "Di Provenza"), and Le Nozze di Figaro.
I can't think of a fifth.
A few recent mentions of King Roger........I might go see that next year when Opera Australia is putting on a production 8)
Quote from: jessop on December 11, 2016, 05:01:57 PM
A few recent mentions of King Roger........I might go see that next year when Opera Australia is putting on a production 8)
You definitely should! It's an amazing piece. As you know I'm not an opera fan, but I remain absolutely impressed by it.
Check out this excerpt --- if you don't find this gorgeous or appealing, then this opera definitely isn't for you:
https://www.youtube.com/v/014AESt5Fy4
Quote from: Mirror Image on December 11, 2016, 05:19:18 PM
You definitely should! It's an amazing piece. As you know I'm not an opera fan, but I remain absolutely impressed by it.
Check out this excerpt --- if you don't find this gorgeous or appealing, then this opera definitely isn't for you:
https://www.youtube.com/v/014AESt5Fy4
It certainly is beautiful! I don't know the whole opera but I think I may have heard this somewhere before without realising what it was from :)
Quote from: jessop on December 11, 2016, 05:27:32 PM
It certainly is beautiful! I don't know the whole opera but I think I may have heard this somewhere before without realising what it was from :)
Glad you enjoyed, Jessop. 8)
Quote from: Thatfabulousalien on December 19, 2016, 06:31:37 PM
Just a random thought, but Bartok's Bluebeard, Schoenberg's Erwartung and Feldman's Neither all in one program would be so emotionally overpowering imho. They're all very emotionally intense psychological dramas, with really powerful music. I love each dearly though, but could you imagine that! :'(
The Bartok and Schoenberg have been performed together a number of times in recent years. You'd probably have a hard time asking them to augment that with the Feldman, though...it's already a draining night!
In 2011, NY City Opera did a program called "Monodramas," with the Schoenberg (interestingly staged, as if the action were occurring in reverse), the Feldman (beautiful production, never to be seen again), and a 10-minute piece by John Zorn called Machine de l'Être. It was quite an evening, one of the last from NY City Opera before the company went bust and then made a comeback later, into its current form.
--Bruce