[helenora]

It struck me the fact that when we speak and think about opera we first think about arias, duos, trios, etc, about our dearest soloist singers, primas, etc but CORO is such an indispensable part of any opera at least traditional opera ( well, now no talk about singspiel and other different types)

and I find them wonderful, in many operas they play different functions from commenting the action to being a moving engine of very same action. It's very interesting if we think about chorus as a character of opera - non-personified character ( not in a sense of how many characters are in a chorus, but in a pure sense of chorus itself as being a character of an opera as such ).

well, your comments and your favorite choruses from operas or may be operas you are listening now are welcome

 

[Loge]

Wagner wrote some great choruses and in the tradition of grand opera I will go with Hagen's call.

 

[sospiro]

I love choruses! (great thread btw )

So hard to choose but I'll start with the soldiers' chorus from Faust.

 

[Sloe]

My favourite is Inno del Sole from Pietro Mascagni´s opera Iris:

 

[nina foresti]

Mefistofele
Romeo et Juliette
Faust (not the Soldier's Chorus)
Tosca

 

[Woodduck]

Lohengrin has magnificent choral scenes, but my favorite chorus is in the final scene of Parsifal: the way it steals in quietly, swells and ascends, and disappears into the ether... When it's over I have to look around to be sure I haven't been beamed up to a different planet.

 

[graziesignore]

My favorite chorus in Il trovatore is not the Anvil Chorus, but rather the chorus of Di Luna's men right before they drag in Azucena.

It's more easy to think of favorite choral moments rather than choral pieces... the off-stage mob in Simon Boccanegra; "Perdonata!" at the end of Stiffelio; and this surely has to be one of the Met chorus' finest hours...

 

[Buoso]

My favorite chorus in Il trovatore is not the Anvil Chorus, but rather the chorus of Di Luna's men right before they drag in Azucena.

Oooh. I do love Or Co Dadi, mi fra Poco and in fact the work of the chorus in Il Trovatore is flawless on Verdi's part throughout . My personal favourite might not strictly be a chorus chorus but is by far my favourite piece with choral work in all of Verdi (and overall in opera as well) as it's just so cleverly done

I really don't know how Verdi managed to put sarcasm so exactly into musical form but he did. Other parts of Un Ballo in Maschera have great choral moments as well Verdi really had a great grasp on Choruses. Of the Verdi operas I have seen so far I don't think there is a weak choral moment in them at all.

 

[Bellinilover]

Here is one of my favorite opera choruses:

And here's another -- from Wagner's TANNHAUSER:

 

[Don Fatale]

Opera wouldn't be the same without stirring choruses, which might explain why baroque and earlier leaves many opera fans non-plussed.

For operatic chorus lovers I recommend Boito's Mefistofele which has many great scenes. I saw a performance this year in Prague where the chorus clearly loved the work and got more applause than the soloists. The Juhe chorus is brilliant.

Moments in Tannhauser, Lohengrin, Gotterdammerung are magnificient of course.

The one from Verdi's Nabucco isn't bad, and of course Beethoven's Fidelio. If these don't bring tear to the eye I don't know what will.

 

[nina foresti]

For operatic chorus lovers I recommend Boito's Mefistofele which has many great scenes. II saw a performance this year in Prague where the chorus (and audience) clearly loved their work and got more applause than the soloists. The Juhe chorus is such a joy.

I am green with envy. In my lifetime I believe I will never get to see the one opera I wanted to see more than any other but I doubt the Met will ever actually stage it again.
Time's too short for me.

 

[Don Fatale]

I am green with envy. In my lifetime I believe I will never get to see the one opera I wanted to see more than any other but I doubt the Met will ever actually stage it again.
Time's too short for me.

So you don't want to know that I saw 3 productions in 3 countries last year then? Alas, this coming season only has the worst of them returning - Munich's lousy production. Budapest's is fantastic. When they revive it you simple most go, and stay for several performances. I really hope you can make it happen.

Has the Met ever performed it?

(Another Mefistofele distraction, but it makes a change from Wagner).

 

[helenora]

Oooh. I do love Or Co Dadi, mi fra Poco and in fact the work of the chorus in Il Trovatore is flawless on Verdi's part throughout . My personal favourite might not strictly be a chorus chorus but is by far my favourite piece with choral work in all of Verdi (and overall in opera as well) as it's just so cleverly done

I really don't know how Verdi managed to put sarcasm so exactly into musical form but he did. Other parts of Un Ballo in Maschera have great choral moments as well Verdi really had a great grasp on Choruses. Of the Verdi operas I have seen so far I don't think there is a weak choral moment in them at all.

yeah, absolutely agree about Verdi´s choruses and this scene is sarcastic indeed

 

[Pugg]

I do like the "chorus" scene's at Flora's from La Traviata, the gypsies and dancers and the another one coming to mind, the wedding guest in Lucia, just before she going bananas she is going banana's.
Can't choose really, so lets say 99% is okay.

 

[sospiro]

Some really great suggestions here!

Don Carlo Auto da Fe

 

[Guest]

There are allready a few very wonderful choruses posted here.I like to add this one.

 

[Guest]

Great fun,I like it!

 

[Guest]

Monteverdi is a must!

 

[Guest]

One more from Charpentier. oeps ! this is not an opera,sorry

 

[Meyerbeer Smith]

Choruses and ensembles are often the high points of opera.

From Reyer's Sigurd: