Top 10 Favorite Operas

[PaulR]

Well, Rigoletto is a cool opera

[kishnevi]

Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel (Tate or Pritchard)
Mozart: Marriage of Figaro (Solti)
Puccini: Turandot (Pavarotti/Karajan)
Verdi: Otello (Domingo/Mehta)
Offenbach: Tales of Hoffman (Doming/Sutherland)
Rimsky-Korsakov: Sadko (Philips/Gergiev, despite the stage noise)
Britten: Turn of the Screw (Pears/Britten)
Dvorak: Rusalka (Mackerras or Neumann)
Donizetti: Lucia di Lamermoor (Pav/Sutherland/Bonynge)
Bizet: Carmen (Domingo/Solti)

Off the Bench: Monteverdi: Orfeo (I only know Gardiner, and enjoy it)
Twelfth Man Standing: Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (Karajan or Haitink)
Lucky Thirteen Bellini: Norma (Sutherland/Horne/Bonynge)
Then I would have to repeat composers: Don Giovanni (Davis), Il Travatore (Domingo/Mehta), La Boheme (Pav/Freni/Karajan), etc...

I did not include any operetta. If I did that, the list would change dramatically.

Did you mean Domingo/Karajan or Pavarotti/Mehta for that Turandot?

[mc ukrneal]

Did you mean Domingo/Karajan or Pavarotti/Mehta for that Turandot?

Ooops! Pavarotti/Mehta. The Domingo is ok (liu is standout in that one by Barbara Hendricks), but I prefer the Pavarotti overall.

[Octave]

Bonus thanks to those who indulged my "preferred recordings" request.  Otherwise I am totally adrift and will be conducting searches until dawn!

[North Star]

Bonus thanks to those who indulged my "preferred recordings" request.  Otherwise I am totally adrift and will be conducting searches until dawn!

I would do that if I knew several recordings of any of them.

[kishnevi]

Ooops! Pavarotti/Mehta. The Domingo is ok (liu is standout in that one by Barbara Hendricks), but I prefer the Pavarotti overall.

Yes.  That recording may be, not merely my favorite recording of Turandot, and not merely my favorite recording of  any Puccini opera,  but my favorite recording of any opera.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Bonus thanks to those who indulged my "preferred recordings" request.  Otherwise I am totally adrift and will be conducting searches until dawn!

Oops, meant to do this, so:

Britten: Billy Budd (either Britten's own recording [first choice] or Hickox)
Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini (Davis/Philips)
Haas: Sarlatan (the only one on Decca)
Janacek: Cunning Little Vixen (Mackerras even over Gregor on Supraphon [more orchestral presence])
Handel: Agrippina (I think we know which one )
Prokofiev: Semyon Kotko (Gergiev's, but honestly any of Gergiev's Prokofiev opera)
Wagner: Parsifal (Knappertsbusch '62 on Philips, in such wonderful sound! But I prefer the original CD issue over the remaster.)
Berg: Wozzeck (Dohnanyi)
Smetana: The Bartered Bride (Kosler w/ the superlative Benackova)
Shostakovich: The Nose (a long OOP live recording my Armin Jordan. Instead try Gergiev or Rozhdestvensky)

[Tsaraslondon]

Agonisingly difficult, and I could probably have come up with an all Verdi list. I'm afraid I couldn't reduce it to just 10, so made it a baker's dozen.

I sometimes think people take this kind of list as an opportunity for them to brag about their knowledge of the most obscure pieces they can find. If all the operas on my list are popular and fairly regularly performed, then that is because they are all masterpieces that have withstood the test of time. They are also all works that have the capacity to uplift and transform in some way. The Wagnerites will no doubt be aghast at the omission of any of his operas, but, though I admit Wagner is not really my thing, they might take comfort from the fact that, if the list extended to 20, then Wagner would definitely figure (probably at least "Tristan und Isolde"). No Puccini either. I enjoy most of his operas enormously, but Puccini, for me, never has that capacity for compassion so evident in the work of Verdi and Mozart, and so misses out.

Bellini: Norma (Callas/Simionato/Del Monaco/Zaccaria:Votto live La Scala 1955)
Beethoven: Fidelio (Dernesch/Vickers/Keleman/Ridderbusch/Van Dam;Karajan)
Berlioz: Les Troyens (Veasey/Lindholm/Vickers/Glossop;C Davis)
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (Callas/Di Dtefano/Panerai/Zaccaria;Karajan Live Berlin 1955)
Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro (Schwarzkopf/Moffo/Cossotto/Taddei/Wachter;Giulini)
Mozart: Cosi fan Tutte (Schwarzkop/Ludwig/Kraus/Taddei/Berry;Bohm)
Mozart: Don Giovanni (Sutherland/Schwarzkopf/Sciutti/Alva/Wachter/Taddei/Frick;Giulini)
Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin (Vishnevskaya/Lemeshev/Belov/Petrov;Khaikin)
Tchaikovsky: Queen of Spades (Guleghina/Borodina/Arkhipova/Grigorian/Chernov;Gergiev)
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (Schwarzkopf/Ludwig/Stich-Randall/Gedda/Wachter/Edelman;Karajan)
Verdi: La Traviata (Callas/Valetti/Zanasi;Rescigno Live Covent Garden 1958)
Verdi: Don Carlo (Caballe/Verrett/Domingo/Milnes/Raimondi;Giulini)
Verdi: Otello (Rysanek/Vickers/Gobbi;Serafin)

[kyjo]

I sometimes think people take this kind of list as an opportunity for them to brag about their knowledge of the most obscure pieces they can find.

What a presumptuous and untrue thing to say. Exactly what fault do you find with people preferring more obscure operas to the tried-and-true warhorses? No one ever doubted the "greatness" of the operas you like; we're just all wired differently in our tastes. I mean how boring would the world be if all we liked were the top 10 most-performed or recorded operas?

[North Star]

I sometimes think people take this kind of list as an opportunity for them to brag about their knowledge of the most obscure pieces they can find. If all the operas on my list are popular and fairly regularly performed, then that is because they are all masterpieces that have withstood the test of time. They are also all works that have the capacity to uplift and transform in some way. The Wagnerites will no doubt be aghast at the omission of any of his operas, but, though I admit Wagner is not really my thing, they might take comfort from the fact that, if the list extended to 20, then Wagner would definitely figure (probably at least "Tristan und Isolde"). No Puccini either. I enjoy most of his operas enormously, but Puccini, for me, never has that capacity for compassion so evident in the work of Verdi and Mozart, and so misses out.

I don't really see what obscurity has to do with bragging. I didn't list any Verdi/Puccini/Bellini/Wagner/Strauss because I have been avoiding opera after being overexposed to it involuntarily in childhood, and have come to opera through composers whose other music I've first discovered. I certainly intend to listen to their works, though.

[Tsaraslondon]

You must reduce it to 10 with introspection, that might be the only value that it adds to you, otherwise useless(not for others)

Then, with the utmost reluctance, I will drop Figaro, for, though it is probably a greater masterpiece than either Don Giovanni or Cosi, I don't love it quite so much. Lucia, I suppose I could live without (though not without Callas's rendition of the title role), and Onegin, undoubtedly Tchaikovsky's masterpiece in the genre, but the darkness of Queen of Spades attracts me more.

I find it obvious and they are in majority here but I guess they need some outlet too. I don't want to weaken it's meaning but your last sentence I quoted is not completely true as popularity and quality are not always the same thing especially in art

I certainly agree with that, but I think all the works I have chosen are, though popular, of the highest quality too. I have been enjoying opera for the best part of 40 years now, have seen and heard my fair share of obscure and neglected works, alongside modern works that never again saw the light of day. No doubt a few years ago, my list would have been very different, but, if the operas I have chosen have popularity on their side, they all have something in them, like all great music, that somehow uplifts and stirs my very soul, though admittedly there are a lot more not on my list that can do the same. 10, after all, is a very small number.

[Tsaraslondon]

What a presumptuous and untrue thing to say. Exactly what fault do you find with people preferring more obscure operas to the tried-and-true warhorses? No one ever doubted the "greatness" of the operas you like; we're just all wired differently in our tastes. I mean how boring would the world be if all we liked were the top 10 most-performed or recorded operas?

I'm very sorry. My comment was, in no way, meant as a swipe at you. Your list is obviously well considered and a reflection of your own musical preferences. It was a general comment, not leveled at anyone in particular and I apologise if it caused any offence.

[kyjo]

I'm very sorry. My comment was, in no way, meant as a swipe at you. Your list is obviously well considered and a reflection of your own musical preferences. It was a general comment, not leveled at anyone in particular and I apologise if it caused any offence.

No need to apologize! I did not take offense to your comment; I just thought it seemed a tad rash.

[Karl Henning]

You should put what each fact, opinion, belief and prejudice mean into perpective . Most of the posts thrown around even do not qualify as opinions, let alone facts. They are merely belief or prejudice. You can easily research a fact and verify its truth and opinions are judgements on facts. Conflicts begin from this point on because belief is an end product of cultural and/or personal faith, morality, and/or values. Sometimes these beliefs can be really far out if not directly connected up with other aspects, such as prevailing attitudes towards the function and use of music in society. That is easily noticable if you look at Scandanivan or Far East culture from West. That is respectable. But prejudice  has no place in argumentation and that's what's plaguing these "forum"s. It's a half-baked opinion based on insufficient or unexamined evidence, you can easily test them. It ranges from careless oversimplification to reflecting a narrow-minded view of the things. What's hard is to contest something formed by yourself or accepted from your environment including your friends, the internet and if they are formed by yourself it's easy to be noticed as you most of the time reflect your prejudices on others, i.e. tagging others with what you are. So it's futile, more often than not, to try to discuss facts in these ambiguous environments as the facts can be seen prejudice and vice versa easily. The most educated and trained can be blamed for ignorance while the most ignorant can be the lead. If you yourself live in a narrow world without realizing, it's inevitable to see others' worlds self-defined. That must be why the level of discussions are on the floor... 

Ergo, let everyone alone...until the next step of evolution 

This is one of my Top 10 Favorite Posts. Today, anyway 

[vandermolen]

Opera is a blind spot for me, but here are the ones I enjoy .

Mussorgsky: Boris Gudunov
Vaughan Williams: The Pilgrim's Progress
Vaughan Williams: Riders to the Sea
Rutland Boughton: The Immortal Hour (not sure if it counts as opera)

Er...that's it....

[kyjo]

Opera is a blind spot for me, but here are the ones of enjoy .

Mussorgsky: Boris Gudunov
Vaughan Williams: The Pilgrim's Progress
Vaughan Williams: Riders to the Sea
Rutland Boughton: The Immortal Hour (not sure if it counts as opera)

Er...that's it....

I recall being quite impressed by the Boughton. VW's operas came as rather of a disappointment to me compared to his magnificent symphonies, but it's been a while since I've heard them.

[kishnevi]

Opera is a blind spot for me, but here are the ones of enjoy .


Vaughan Williams: The Pilgrim's Progress
Vaughan Williams: Riders to the Sea

Er...that's it....

I dug out the EMI RVW 30CD box yesterday, of which I never completed the first run through last year, and, G-d willing,  will be giving those two, along with Sir John in Love and Love in the Stocks, maiden listens sometime in the next week or so.

[Christo]

Opera is a blind spot for me, but here are the ones of enjoy .
Er...that's it....

[Brahmsian]

I'll give this a shot (not in any order):

Strauss, R. - Salome  (Ewing/Covent Garden/Downes - Kultur DVD) and/or (Cheryl Studer/Sinopoli/Berlin Deutsche Oper Orchestra - DG CD)

Shostakovich - Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Westbroek/Royal Concertgebouw/Jansons - Opus Arte DVD)

Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin (Fleming/Hvorostovsky/Vargas/Met Opera/Gergiev - Decca DVD)

Beethoven - Fidelio (Fischer-Dieskau/Sotin/Kollo/Janowitz/Popp/Vienna PO/Berstein - DG CD)

Mozart - Don Giovanni (Skovhus/Corbelli/Brewer/Hadley/Lott/Focile/Chiummo/Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Chorus/Mackerras - Telarc CD) and/or (Carlos Álvarez/Franz-Josef Selig/Adrianne Pieczonka/Michael Schade/Anna Caterina Antonacci/Ildebrando d'Arcangelo/Angelika Kirchschlager/Lorenzo Ragazzo/Vienna State Opera Chorus and Orchestra/Muti -  Arthaus Musik DVD)

Mozart - The Magic Flute (Hendricks/Hadley/Allen/Lloyd/Anderson/Steinsky/Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Chorus/Mackerras - Telarc CD)

Wagner - Parsifal (Karajan - DG CD not sure if there is a DVD?)

Wagner - Tristan und Isolde (Windgassen/Nilsson/Chor und Orchester der Bayreuter Festspiele/Bohm - DG CD)

Wagner - Siegfried (Solti Ring - Decca CD)

Wagner - Die Walkure (Solti Ring - Decca CD)

[Lisztianwagner]

Wagner - Parsifal
Wagner - Tristan und Isolde
Wagner - Siegfried
Wagner - Die Walkure

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