Thread: your 'opera's most treasured moment'.....

....for me, it's when Violetta, in deep, fearful lamenting, decides to shun Alfredo's true love, and live life for pleasure, ending in the vortex of dissipation...."Of joy I'll Die!"

Then enters Alfredo, singing happily, as from afar.......(approaching, beneath Violetta's balcany.

And here's my magical moment

Violetta softly croons, "Oooohh."

I absolutely love this moment in 'La Triviata', and is just a part that makes this my favorite (next to Norma) opera

You forgot that she says "ooohhh... amore!"
I also love that moment.

Act III of "The Marriage of Figaro" when Susanna walks in, thinks Figaro is marrying Marcellina, and decks him. Hilarious.

Goosebumping moments for me:

The "oooooh.... amore" above mentioned in La Traviata
The last line of Les Troyens - "Troy is over, now Rome!"
Lucia's mad scene
Montserrat Caballé singing Casta Diva in her Orange performance of Norma
Otello's first line, Esultate! - and also from Otello, Desdemona's last moments on this earth, when she prays, and when she sings the Willow song
The funeral march in The Twilight of the Gods
The Liebestod in Tristan und Isolde
Je crois entendre encore in Les pêcheurs de perles
The death scene in Pélleas et Mélisande
The death scene in War and Peace
Che gelida manina in La Bohème
The presentation of the rose in Der Rosenkavalier
Thais' Méditation
The line "I'll not forget" at the end of The Rake's Progress

This is what I can remember right now. I love opera so much that there are countless goosebumping moments for me.

I could go on and on here, but if I were to name one it would either be the Finale from Act IV of Le Nozze di Figaro or the entire Act II of Tristan und Isolde from "Isolde! Geliebte!" on.

Enescu's Oedipe (come on, you make this sort of thread and expect my first contribution to not be about this?) has a part near the beginning of the fourth act, where just prior Antigone is helping Oedipus walk (being his eyes and the like, since the third act has him gouging his out; the fourth act is some time after). There follows a dialogue between Antigone and Oedipus during which Oedipus asks Antigone about various details of the scenery, and to each question Antigone answers "Yes." Then there's a lengthy pause, and Oedipus breaks the silence with "Nous sommes arrivés!" and right at the end of it the orchestra comes in with gorgeous music. To me it's one of the most beautiful moments of the score, a sort of culmination and resolution of all that went before.

Oh, and I'd love to include some scene from L'amour de loin, but seeing as that whole opera is just plain gorgeous I can't think of one in particular (if pressed I might go for the heart-breaking final contribution from Jaufré; I don't know the French right now, but in English it goes something like "What more can I ask of life?").

Originally Posted by Almaviva

Goosebumping moments for me:

The "oooooh.... amore" above mentioned in La Traviata
The last line of Les Troyens - "Troy is over, now Rome!"
Lucia's mad scene
Montserrat Caballé singing Casta Diva in her Orange performance of Norma
Otello's first line, Esultate! - and also from Otello, Desdemona's last moments on this earth, when she prays, and when she sings the Willow song
The funeral march in The Twilight of the Gods
The Liebestod in Tristan und Isolde
Je crois entendre encore in Les pêcheurs de perles
The death scene in Pélleas et Mélisande
The death scene in War and Peace
Che gelida manina in La Bohème
The presentation of the rose in Der Rosenkavalier
Thais' Méditation
The line "I'll not forget" at the end of The Rake's Progress

This is what I can remember right now. I love opera so much that there are countless goosebumping moments for me.

What have we got here? a stunning list for sure - a few last lines, a mad scene leading to death, a handful of death scenes, a funeral march, and a Liebestod... hmm... it's no wonder we say the human race is obsessed with death!

Which reminds me... a couple great damnation scenes... the Ride to the Abyss in La Damnation de Faust, the Commendatore scene from DG, etc. I'm feeling too cliché right now...

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the ending lament of Dido though, which ranked #1 on a BBC 3's listener poll of favorite arias.

I do love the death scene in Mitridate....I also have a weak spot for La Cenerentola when she sings Una volta c'era un re.... Plus I recently saw L'Italiana in Algeri and the Act 1 finale made me giggle, it was so FAST and comical.

Originally Posted by Air

What have we got here? a stunning list for sure - a few last lines, a mad scene leading to death, a handful of death scenes, a funeral march, and a Liebestod... hmm... it's no wonder we say the human race is obsessed with death!

Well, I did include a hymn to love at first sight in Der Rosenkavalier, and Violetta's first encounter with true love in La Traviata. Eros and Thánatos... yep, the two great forces in play in the human condition. Opera is great, isn't it?

Which reminds me... a couple great damnation scenes... the Ride to the Abyss in La Damnation de Faust, the Commendatore scene from DG, etc. I'm feeling too cliché right now...

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the ending lament of Dido though, which ranked #1 on a BBC 3's listener poll of favorite arias.

All three above could have made my list. Like I said, I just listed the ones I could remember at that moment, it wasn't an all inclusive list. The Ride to the Abyss is part of why I was advocating for La Damnation de Faust so much in our top 100 thread. It's one of my favorites.

Mine happens to be in La Traviata, too, but it's a different moment. When Violetta has been visited by Alfredo's father and has decided to make the sacrifice (and Alfredo knows nothing about it) and embraces Alfredo for the last time, her "Amami, Alfredo! Amami, quant'io t'amo!", the Niagara begins - I just have to think of it without the music and get tears in my eyes. Still, I am not sure if I answered to the question you asked. This for me is the most touching moment in opera. I have to think if the the most treasured moment would be different!

For me it's got to be "Contessa perdono" from Figaro.

I can't come close to putting it as well as this author from a blog:

Then, over this seething mass of menacing voices, a single soprano is heard, soaring like the wing of a seagull over a raging sea. The Countess comes forward, revealing herself. The courtiers are amazed - how can this be? The Count stands dumbstruck, realising the trick that has been played on him. The music falls away in bewilderment, dwindling into hushed confusion, then coming to a stop.

There, at that most dramatic of moments, there is an instant of absolute silence. The fate of the world hangs in balance. The audience, like the characters on stage, wait with bated breath. What will the Count do now?

The song, when it returns, shatters the spell of the last four acts completely. It's as though you had broken through the laughter and merriment of everything that had passed, and stepped suddenly into a different, more serious opera. The Count's voice, half moan, half cry, echoes through the silenced auditorium with all the remorse and yearning that the human soul is capable of. "Contessa, perdono", he sings, and the music soars like a wounded bird, then, ashamed of its own presumption, sinks wearily, guiltily back to earth.

It is the Countess who rescues it. It is her purer soprano that lifts the entire audience beyond the reach of gravity, her rising cadences that finally achieve that perfection we have all been waiting for. As the others slowly join in, drawn by the tranquility of her theme, the song becomes more than just a closing chorus for the opera, it becomes a hymn of peace, an anthem of soft contentment. The Contessa's voice shall rise above these liquid voices, her song clearer and sharper than that of the others, but it is in their gentleness that you lie floating, the tears coming unbidden to your eyes.

If there is beauty in the world, if there is forgiveness, then surely this is what it sounds like. This is what we have all hoped for - that at the end of all the playfulness and confusion, at the end of all the loves and deceits and jests, there shall be a judgement gentle enough to harm no one. It is the most the human spirit can dream of. It is more than we could ever deserve.

Wotan's farewell to Brunnhilde in Act three of Die Walkure

To add a few more:

Sieglinde's outburst: "O hehrstes Wunder!", when she learns that she is expecting Siegmund's child. Never mind the incestuous liaison.

The final trio of Der Rosenkavalier, and the final duo.

Abigail's "Salgo già del tron aurato" from Nabucco.

"Wie schön ist doch die Musik" from the end of Die schweigsame Frau.

Originally Posted by danslenoir

For me it's got to be "Contessa perdono" from Figaro.

I can't come close to putting it as well as this author from a blog:

Then, over this seething mass of menacing voices, a single soprano is heard, soaring like the wing of a seagull over a raging sea. The Countess comes forward, revealing herself. The courtiers are amazed - how can this be? The Count stands dumbstruck, realising the trick that has been played on him. The music falls away in bewilderment, dwindling into hushed confusion, then coming to a stop.

There, at that most dramatic of moments, there is an instant of absolute silence. The fate of the world hangs in balance. The audience, like the characters on stage, wait with bated breath. What will the Count do now?

The song, when it returns, shatters the spell of the last four acts completely. It's as though you had broken through the laughter and merriment of everything that had passed, and stepped suddenly into a different, more serious opera. The Count's voice, half moan, half cry, echoes through the silenced auditorium with all the remorse and yearning that the human soul is capable of. "Contessa, perdono", he sings, and the music soars like a wounded bird, then, ashamed of its own presumption, sinks wearily, guiltily back to earth.

It is the Countess who rescues it. It is her purer soprano that lifts the entire audience beyond the reach of gravity, her rising cadences that finally achieve that perfection we have all been waiting for. As the others slowly join in, drawn by the tranquility of her theme, the song becomes more than just a closing chorus for the opera, it becomes a hymn of peace, an anthem of soft contentment. The Contessa's voice shall rise above these liquid voices, her song clearer and sharper than that of the others, but it is in their gentleness that you lie floating, the tears coming unbidden to your eyes.

If there is beauty in the world, if there is forgiveness, then surely this is what it sounds like. This is what we have all hoped for - that at the end of all the playfulness and confusion, at the end of all the loves and deceits and jests, there shall be a judgement gentle enough to harm no one. It is the most the human spirit can dream of. It is more than we could ever deserve.

This is beautiful. I agree with every word.

I also agree with Herkku about the trio near the end of Der Rosenkavalier.

Siegfried forges Nothung while Mime conspires