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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsWhat is your favorite opera and why?
Here ya go!
22 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited | |
Magic Flute | |
1 (5%) |
|
La Boheme | |
1 (5%) |
|
Marriage of Figaro | |
1 (5%) |
|
Aida | |
1 (5%) |
|
Madam Butterfly | |
1 (5%) |
|
Turandot | |
3 (14%) |
|
Other (please name it) | |
14 (64%) |
|
0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided. | |
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Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll |
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)ironflange
(7,781 posts)NRaleighLiberal
(60,024 posts)Not huge on opera, but Madame Butterfly, along with Don Giovanni, probably are at the top.
More of a Shostakovich and Mahler listener myself (for classical - heavy on jazz and ambient too)
judesedit
(4,443 posts)fierywoman
(7,696 posts)judesedit
(4,443 posts)Sorry. I'm definitely no opera buff, but I do love Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman. is Les Mis an opera? Or Fiddler on the Roof? I like them, too
fierywoman
(7,696 posts)why they aren't considered operas.)
judesedit
(4,443 posts)jmowreader
(50,566 posts)...Fiddler is a musical rather than an opera because there is a lot of spoken dialogue in it. An opera has all the dialogue sung.
fierywoman
(7,696 posts)unblock
(52,352 posts)peacefreak2.0
(1,023 posts)The Magic Flute. It was performed at the Royal Opera House in London. It was only a few years ago. My friend and I have gone to a few others by local companies. I am sorry that COVID got in the way of seeing more.
unblock
(52,352 posts)Pirates of Penzance maybe
yellowdogintexas
(22,278 posts)I would go to a live production even if first graders were performing it
check out the version with Eric Idle as Koko
I rest my case
Stuart G
(38,449 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,887 posts)But The Magic Flute is a pretty close second. I'm also a big fan of the early Baroque proto-operas like Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and The Return of Ulysses.
cyclonefence
(4,483 posts)It's the best opera ever.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,887 posts)Some of the best ensemble vocal composition ever. Nobody did opera better than Mozart, before or since, and Don Giovanni was his best.
lunasun
(21,646 posts)All good
What are some of your favs?
elleng
(131,176 posts)The melodies have been with me forever. Here's an example:
Here's the whole shebang:
yellowdogintexas
(22,278 posts)JudyM
(29,293 posts)fierywoman
(7,696 posts)Why? Maybe because it contains all the bat-shit crazy elements opera is noted for ... AND it's got strong political/feminist issues going on.
Cattledog
(5,919 posts)cayugafalls
(5,645 posts)I was typing mine up while you posted...lol.
Rock on...
cayugafalls
(5,645 posts)The Who invented Rock Opera, so of course there are 2 of theirs in the list as they did it best.
Honorable mention; The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Jesus Christ Superstar, Bat Out of Hell (Meat Loaf)
IcyPeas
(21,910 posts)BeyondGeography
(39,385 posts)The love story hangs together and theres never a dull moment. Three absolutely great singing roles Violetta/Alfredo/Germont. The Callas/Lisbon recording for maximum Violetta impact.
Tragedy abounds; ie when father is torn apart by his sons choices in life:
First Speaker
(4,858 posts)...just stupendous, overwhelming. Verdi is a genius in Shakespeare's own neighborhood...
choie
(4,111 posts)CTyankee
(63,912 posts)elleng
(131,176 posts)a version from La Scala.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)unfortunate circumstances. I was traveling in Northern Italy and my passport got stolen so I took a train to Milan where there is an American Consulate to obtain an emergency passport. At the time it cost $100 (in dollars, no Euros and no checks or credit cards!). I learned some things on that trip about what NOT to do again!).
I was surprised that LaScala was so small (maybe I was expecting Lincoln Center!).
elleng
(131,176 posts)Glad I didn't lose my passport; spent junior year of college in England, and traveled to the continent a few times (including Moscow, in the bad old days; had a keeper, and did get to the ballet.)
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)in office and we get the pandemic under control.
elleng
(131,176 posts)DID visit Barcelona, with family, a side-trip from trip around France, when kids were young, daughter entering kindergarten.
choie
(4,111 posts)I remember torturing my mother at 16 years old trying to sing Tosca while playing the piano. Uffa!
ProudMNDemocrat
(16,808 posts)Cried during Act 4 of The Marriage of Figaro.
My second favorite was Puccini's TOSCA.
mia
(8,363 posts)CTyankee
(63,912 posts)Tanuki
(14,923 posts)a few seasons ago. I loved it!
FM123
(10,054 posts)I found it hauntingly beautiful, I wept....
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)elleng
(131,176 posts)FM123
(10,054 posts)broiles
(1,370 posts)Lunabell
(6,117 posts)Last edited Mon Nov 30, 2020, 01:22 AM - Edit history (1)
Contemporary and brilliant. I've known this Opera backwards and forwards since it first hit the scene. I was a born again Christian then, atheist now. But the story, the dance and the message swept me away when I first saw it live.
choie
(4,111 posts)If I ever start losing my memory (god forbid) I know the one thing I'll remember is the lyrics and music of "Heaven on their Minds"!
frazzled
(18,402 posts)From Berg's Wozzeck and Lulu to Schoenberg's Moses und Aron. And even into the 21st century with John Adams's Dr. Atomic. This aria sung by the baritone Gerald Finley (based on John Donne's "Batter My Heart, Three-personed God" ) is absolutely heart-rending in person. The doubt and guilt of having created the atomic bomb.
Chipper Chat
(9,695 posts)The duets send chills down my spine.
MyOwnPeace
(16,940 posts)"Mimi!!!!!!! Mimi!!!!!!!! "La Boheme"
However, the SINGLE, most AMAZING piece from any opera, anywhere:
the "Quartet" from "Rigoletto"
But, there's THIS (Magic Flute) - just the most AMAZING aria!
I'm sorry - but it is just SO unfair to as for a "favorite!"
CurtEastPoint
(18,668 posts)and the money shot is at about 2:28
DoBotherMe
(2,340 posts)And tears
RobinA
(9,896 posts)all time favorite pieces of music,
Celerity
(43,581 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,887 posts)This one just kills me.
Harker
(14,049 posts)It starts with a bang, 'Recondita armonia' being sung shortly after the beginning...
Loathesome villain in Scarpia, artistic, loyal heroine in opera singer Floria Tosca... 'Vissi d'arte' one of my favorite Puccini tearjerkers, and he gets me at least once every time.
Cavaradossi working to undermine a despotic regime...
'E lucevan le stella', a powerful testament to the desire to live life with love...
Art, love, drama, tragedy - all in one beautiful, precious composition.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)Harker
(14,049 posts)There's a thousand ways to go in opera.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)MrsMatt
(1,660 posts)a production where the singer missed the mattress and fell to the stage floor. Fractured her pelvis.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)MrsMatt
(1,660 posts)It was quite eerie, when the opera's finale concluded, the curtain remained closed. No curtain call, and then the house lights came up, and we were informed to exit the theatre.
58Sunliner
(4,414 posts)johnp3907
(3,733 posts)Because it sounds like a Dostoevsky novel.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,887 posts)with Martti Talvela as Boris. It's by far the best recording I've heard of this magnificent opera, which is the Russian-est music I know of.
hurl
(938 posts)by Philip Glass. This one probably drives most people nuts, but it changed music for me.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,887 posts)hurl
(938 posts)Definitely, and 'Short Ride in a Fast Machine' is another great Adams piece.
Aristus
(66,469 posts)I know it's just supposed to be a preliminary to the main Ring operas of "Die Walkure", "Siegfried", and "Gotterdammerung". But it's significant for introducing many of the musical motifs that will grow and develop throughout the four-opera cycle.
The impossibly grand and majestic Valhalla theme.
The mournful "Renunciation Of Love" motif. Retired Seattle Opera General Director Speight Jenkins calls it the "Embrace Of Destiny" motif. It's first introduced by Rhinemaiden Wellgunde when singing about the renunciation of love, the condition by which someone can forge an all-powerful Ring from the Rhine gold. But a number of other characters later in the drama sing the theme in situations not related to the renunciation of love.
That brief, heartbreaking moment when Fasolt sings of having the Goddess of Love, Freia, in his household; accompanied sweetly by the oboe, it reveals the tender heart beneath the rough exterior, and makes the audience sympathize with him, in opposition to his evil brother, Fafner.
The sinister, atmospheric hammering of the Nibelungs on their anvils, a reminder that the once carefree metalsmiths have been enslaved by Alberich and his Ring of Power.
There's a lot of incredible stuff packed into two and a half hours.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,887 posts)IcyPeas
(21,910 posts)I saw this when I was about 18 years old and never forgot it. it's a satire of a societys obsession with money, its shallowness, and its hypocrisy, lust and greed. A topic that is understandable in today's world as it was in Brecht's 30s Germany.
Iggo
(47,574 posts)Here's why...
Laffy Kat
(16,388 posts)As I'm most familiar with the music. I had a good friend who was in the Colorado Chorus and gave me free tickets to the rehearsals for many seasons, so I've seen quite a few. I also really like "Samson and Deliah" because it was such a fun production.
Baltimike
(4,148 posts)NameAlreadyTaken
(982 posts)If only for the collection of classic songs.
jmowreader
(50,566 posts)And sadly, it's for the most pedestrian of reasons: Peter Grimes is in English. I don't have to sit there with a translated libretto trying to figure out what the hell is going on, because I can't speak any French or Italian and my German and Russian are limited to military terms. If you want to order an artillery barrage I can fix you right up, but if you want to order lunch...well, once we get past "bol'shoj Mac, kartofel i pivo, pozhalusta" I'm pretty much screwed.
Glorfindel
(9,739 posts)the plot is light-hearted and effervescent and the music is utterly enchanting. A close runner-up for me is Engelbert Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel." It's really not just for children!
Thanks for such an interesting question, CTyankee.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)I am mentally exhausted by the administration. Music brief tho it may be, always saves me.
yellowdogintexas
(22,278 posts)I love that two composers with distinctly different styles made use of the same characters in two wonderful works.
MrsMatt
(1,660 posts)worked for an opera company and once attended a rehearsal where the two singers performing "Mira, o Norma" were in such perfect harmony, I got goosebumps. Doesn't happen often.
yellowdogintexas
(22,278 posts)I saw it live several years ago and nearly killed myself laughing