Top 10 Favorite Operas

[PaulR]

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)?

[johnshade]

some German-Austrian favorites...

Don Giovanni
Marriage of Figaro
Cosi
Magic Flute
Solome
Elektra
Rosenkavalier
Tristan & Isolde

[king ubu]

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.

[Lisztianwagner]

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

[North Star]

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* 

[Lisztianwagner]

*pounds the table* 

You don't seem to be a great fan of German opera, Karlo, don't you?

[North Star]

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. 

[Jaakko Keskinen]

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

[Jo498]

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

[Symphonic Addict]

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

[Pohjolas Daughter]

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

[Tsaraslondon]

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.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

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.

[Lisztianwagner]

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......

[Papy Oli]

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

[kyjo]

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....

[Tsaraslondon]

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.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

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.    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

[Florestan]

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.)

[Pohjolas Daughter]

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.