Opera Unleashed

[mmichaelson]

Ok YRH, this is right up your alley!!!!

New to the world of opera, I am curious to find out what operas strike home with people, and which ones are popular.

I have recently become quite attached to Aida and The Barber of Seville.

What do you more seasoned veterans prefer?

[Nicole Marie]

Elixir of Love! Donizetti can do no wrong for me. But I do enjoy some of the operettas like Offenbach's La Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein.

[Shapley]

I don't know what the seasoned veterans like, but I like The Pearl Fishers, and Carmen.

They are the only two that I've heard in their entiriety that I enjoyed, but then I haven't heard many in their entiriety.

V/R
Shapley

[OperaTenor]

Saxy, if there was only one opera you could ever hear(or see - opera really is best when watched), it's......it's......

TURANDOT!!!


Actually, there are several good operas which serve as good introductions for the novice, if you will. The shows Shap mentioned are excellent(obviously a Bizet fan), and the shows H.R.H. mentioned are as well. In addition, Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), La Boheme , Tosca , Madama Butterfly , Lucia di Lammermoore , Rigoletto , and La Traviata are good ones, off the top of my head. However, I'm a rabid Puccini fan, and don't particularly care for Verdi, as a rule(hi, GC), so, like anything else, opinions vary.

Whenever you do listen to, or better yet, see an opera, I urge you to read the synopsis first to familiarize yourself with the story. Now, be prepared, the stories are not particularly good as a rule, but they enhance the experience, you then being able to discern just what the singers are getting all worked up about.

I enjoy watching a good opera almost as much as performing in one.



<small>[ 09-02-2004, 08:43 PM: Message edited by: OperaTenor ]</small>

[bignaf]

I as usual in these discussions agree with OT. I love Turandot (I hope those riddles aren't too hard...).
all the important beginner operas were mentioned except for Magic Flute and Don Giovanni by Mozart, and Il Trovatore and Otello by Verdi. don't touch Wagner yet...

[shostakovich]

I like Shapley's choices. In addition, I'd add Prince Igor and Boris Godunov, since I'm a Russophile. A lightweight with pretty tunes is Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. I'll leave the GOOD Puccini operas for someone else to elaborate on.
Shos

OOPS! I just re-read the thread and noticed that OT DID mention the good ones in italics.
Shouldn't all Italian operas be written in italics?? :confused: :confused:

<small>[ 09-03-2004, 12:22 AM: Message edited by: shostakovich ]</small>

[barfle]

Turandot probably has the best music, but the characters are not appealing in the least, with the possible exception of Lu, who dies about 2/3 of the way through.

Prince Igor has both great music and a decent story. Unfortunately, I've only seen it on laser disc. If it ever shows up in DC, I'm going. I don't feel this piece has anything to detract from it.

Fideleo, Beethoven's only opera, has characters you can care about, and pretty good music.

[piqaboo]

originally posted by Shostakovich:
Shouldn't all Italian operas be written in italics??

LOL - most excellent!

[treebeau]

Molto bene.

And may I just add a quip of my own.

I can never follow the logic of computer programs that were written by Italian programmers...
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too much spaghetti code. (ba dump bump)

Regards,
Tim B.

<small>[ 09-03-2004, 04:09 PM: Message edited by: treebeau ]</small>

[Shapley]

Programmers humour.