Thread: Which opera would you recommend to a beginner?

Hello, everyone I am new to this forum and this is my first post.

I've been following some threads on this forum for quite a time now and I am very impressed and happy to have found a place where true opera lovers are gathered. As I am completely new to the field of opera, I was hoping that maybe you could recommend something to me.

I started to listen and watch opera very recently, to my great surprise, because I must admit I was never a fan of operatic singing and never thought I would be drawn to it one day. I only listened occasionally to a couple of very recognizable and rather "obvious" pieces like "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" from Carmen or "Belle nuit, o nuit d'amour" from Les Contes d'Hoffmann. I play piano and I like classical music a lot, it's just opera that I never really used to like...

Until one day, about a month ago I became suddenly fascinated with Queen of the Night's "Der Holle Rache" aria from Die Zauberflote. I remembered hearing it long time ago when I watched the famous Milos Forman's film Amadeus and I started to search for this aria on youtube. I came across the very well known (I guess) performance by Diana Damrau in 2003 production at Covent Garden and it completely blew me away! I would never expect any operatic piece to have such an impact on me, I couldn't resist watching and hearing it over and over again and the acting and the interpretation of this role had me overwhelmed.

After that I searched a litlle for Die Zauberflote, read a synopsis and became very interested. Luckily I could find the whole opera on youtube, exactly the one with Damrau and I watched it despite the fact the quality was not great, in fact the whole act 2 has video and sound badly synchronized, but anyway I was so drawn do it that it didn't matter and I watched the whole thing. And I fell immediately in love with it.

As I was curious what other productions of Die Zauberflote might be like, I watched 2 more versions that were available on youtube, one from 2001 Paris with Piotr Beczala and Desiree Rancatore and then the one form Salzburg Festival conducted by Muti. They didn't appeal to me as much as the first one, I definitely preferred the rather dark and "serious" staging, but anyway I fount it to be a wonderful experience and also I discovered that I love the music itself more and more every time. Die Zauberflote became my little addiction, I would search the internet for all availabale renditions and would listen and watch my favourite fragments repeatedly.

Naturally I wanted to try out some other operas and I chose Carmen because I already knew some fragments. I was very lucky to find a new MET production with Elina Garanca and Roberto Alagna on youtube and I loved it for the most part. I was utterly impressed by such pieces as "Pres des remparts de Seville" or "Les tringles des sistres tantaient" and now I am listening to them very often.

Today I have just watched MET's Don Pasquale with Anna Netrebko and I also liked it a lot. I didn't find the music so compelling as in the two operas I watched previously but it was definitely worth it just for the magnificent cast and it was a very enjoyable experience on the whole.

Right now I am a little confused. I would definitely want to continue my adventure with opera after this little introduction I have had. But I don't have the slightest idea what to decide on, there is some much to choose from, even on youtube...

What could you recommend to a newbie like myself? I lived in many years with a conviction that opera is boring and I will never get to like it. Now I see that it has changed, however I guess there are some operas in existence that could easily discourage me. I assume I have a rather simple taste... I have described briefly what I liked - what do you think could be the next step one for me? I must admit that I'm a little bored by long recitatives that drag on, especially male ones. I tried to watch Le Nozze di Figaro but for some reason I gave up after the first act. Maybe it wasn't a particularly good day for me or something, I don't really know. Or perhaps I chose badly. The one I started watching was Salzburg production conducted by Harnoncourt, with Netrebko and Dorothea Roschmann.

I assume I am rather floating towards newer productions because the video and sound quality seem better, but maybe it is just my feeling. And also, I noticed that I am automatically more willing to see an opera that has a singer I already know and like in it, rather than to one where the whole cast is completely new to me.

As I don't want to spend much money on DVD's - unfortunately they are quite expensive - and there doesn't seem to be anything particularly interesting going on in the opera theatre where I live, could you recommend any particular production watchable online? I know there are really many. Or perhaps some CD recordings which in your opinion are worth having? As for now, however, I think the best way for me to be accquainted with a new thing is to watch a DVD, perhaps a CD after that to get to know the music better.

I would be most grateful to hear some of your suggestions. Thank you very much in advance.

Also, I am very sorry for any mistakes. English is not my mother tongue and I have not used it for quite a long time. I hope it is not so awful to read...

With best regards,
ningen

Hello ningen & welcome to the forum.

Your English is excellent but your question is almost impossible to answer! It sounds like you have made the sort of start many of us make. We find a singer or an aria that we really like & the interest develops from there. Mine was an interest in José Carreras and I started collecting his CDs, first collections of arias then opera CDs.

My favourite operas are in Italian & my favourite composer is Verdi so my recommendation would be La traviata or Rigoletto but everyone is different & you may not like these at all.

There are lots of complete operas on YouTube & we have a thread. Another thread which you might like is about some of our opera journeys.

Good luck with your journey!

Humperdinck - Hansel and Gretel - if you don't know it, the music is gorgeous (H was a copyist for Wagner, so the orchestration is a plush and rich romanticism but mixed with the style of Austrian folk song) - Richard Strauss conducted the premiere around the turn of the century to rave reviews in Vienna. The best recording, hands down, is with Anna Moffo as Gretel, she only recorded it once, so find hers and you've got it. It's one of the few operas that is difficult to turn off once you start listening! Just writing about it makes me want to put it on.

a good start

You have made a great start - If you like Zauberflote you may have fertile ears for other Mozart operas and then nirvana will be yours. But not necessarily - I know people who can't stand Mozart operas but love Zauberflote.
To test it though I would next go for Die Entfuhrung Aus Dem Serail. Try to get the recording by Karl Bohm (70s) or see the DG video version with Bohm which is excellent. The music is bubbly and brilliant - all the arias are superb. If you like that - take a break from Mozart and go for Verdi and Puccini - Traviata/Il Trovatore by the former are fantastic - Boheme and Turandot by the latter are full of wonderful music. Then see if you like the three Mozart/Daponte operas - if you like those - welcome to heaven.

I gotta go with sospiro, La Traviata and Rigoletto, because the arias are fine music; you may end up singing them in the shower. The Magic Flute is great as a forerunner of Broadway musical comedy, but those Verdi works are a step beyond as music. You may not be 'advanced' enough for Berlioz's Les Troyens, but maybe you ought to go for it anyway; storyline, arias and instrumental music are all first class. And then... Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex makes amazingly effective use of a pretty dumb plot.

Originally Posted by LordBlackudder

a good start

How exactly is that an opera?

Originally Posted by Hilltroll72

You may not be 'advanced' enough for Berlioz's Les Troyens, but maybe you ought to go for it anyway; storyline, arias and instrumental music are all first class.

I've a bit of a Les Troyens obsession at the moment & would recommend it to anybody. And this is the DVD to get.

R. Strauss - Elektra
R. Wagner - Das Rheingold
C. Debussy - Pelléas et Mélisande

The problem with the version of Le Nozze that you tried is that it is dark and depressing. Try this version:

Playlist Le Nozze di Figaro



Die Entfuhrung aus dem serail:



La Traviata:



Rigoletto

Originally Posted by Hilltroll72

I gotta go with sospiro, The Magic Flute is great as a forerunner of Broadway musical comedy, but those Verdi works are a step beyond as music.

Utter nonsense.
I suggest you listen and make up your own mind.

Warning: If you choose to play the following video, you will encounter the most beautiful, passionate, exhausting, and inexhaustible music ever written. The beauty of all other music will be dulled in comparison. You may search to the ends of the earth to find something else as beautiful: your search will be in vain.

The choice is yours.

Hilltroll72- I gotta go with sospiro, The Magic Flute is great as a forerunner of Broadway musical comedy, but those Verdi works are a step beyond as music.

stomanek- Utter nonsense. I suggest you listen and make up your own mind.[/QUOTE]

Utter nonsense indeed! I love La Traviata as much as anyone. It was the first opera I ever saw (In Zeffirelli's classic film version with Placido Domingo and Maria Stratas) and I couldn't get Un dì, felice, eterea out of my head for weeks. I feel the same even now after hearing the work again. But to suggest that The Magic Flute... or any of Mozart's major operas are in any way a step beneath/behind Verdi is absolute nonsense. The only operas I'd place on the same level (let alone above) Mozart's 4 greatest operas (Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan tutte, and The Magic Flute) are Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, the Ring Cycle, and Parsifal... and it looks like I am not alone: all 4 of Mozart's greatest operas made the top twenty on Talk Classical's list of "greatest" operas:

The Talk Classical Top 272 Most Recommended Operas

While according to Operabase.com the top 6 most performed operas are as follows:

1. Mozart- Die Zauberflote
2. Mozart- Don Giovanni
3. Verdi- La Traviata
4. Mozart- Le nozze di Figaro
5. Puccini- La Boheme
6. Mozart- Cosi fan tutte

Broadway musical?

Mozart's operas are musically flawless and dramatically flawed. When you realize this you're free to enjoy them.

Britten's Albert Herring is a fun one to start off with, but once you really want to get into opera, Tristan und Isolde (the version that Couchie has recommended) is the ultimate expierience for any opera fan.