Although I am very conversant with Mozart's instrumental music, I've never really developed much of taste for Opera. I've tried to recite that but my explorations have been limited my wife's disinterest in Opera, which makes an evening at the Opera a squirmer for her. I have seen Don Giovanni at the Met and The Magic Flute in Chicago, but never been fortunate enough to see Figaro or Cosi.
I would therefore like to try some video productions to see if I can develop an appreciation. I realize it's a poor substitute for the theater, but I'm not getting any younger and I'd like to start somewhere.
I'm particularly interested in the Da Ponte Operas as a starting point, and I'd like to start with "traditional" stagings, and not Regietheater. I am making no judgement of the relative merits of these approaches--as an Opera Neophyte it would be impertinent to do so--but I' prefer to absorb the "basics"
before I get adventurous.
I would also prefer to start with recordings in modern sound, preferably surround sound (although I will settle for Stereo). I realize that in general the quality of singing was better in decades of past than we might have today, but again I'll leave those explorations for later.
So I therefore was hoping that I might get some useful recommendations for videos of the Da Ponte Operas from the sophisticated folks who post in the Opera Forum.
I would therefore like to try some video productions to see if I can develop an appreciation. I realize it's a poor substitute for the theater, but I'm not getting any younger and I'd like to start somewhere.
I'm particularly interested in the Da Ponte Operas as a starting point, and I'd like to start with "traditional" stagings, and not Regietheater. I am making no judgement of the relative merits of these approaches--as an Opera Neophyte it would be impertinent to do so--but I' prefer to absorb the "basics"
before I get adventurous.
I would also prefer to start with recordings in modern sound, preferably surround sound (although I will settle for Stereo). I realize that in general the quality of singing was better in decades of past than we might have today, but again I'll leave those explorations for later.
So I therefore was hoping that I might get some useful recommendations for videos of the Da Ponte Operas from the sophisticated folks who post in the Opera Forum.