Opera lovers, what are your favorites?

[Dana in OR]

I would like to buy some opera recordings for my ipod. I am a novice and am overwhelmed! :confused: Recommendations would be welcome.

[Tutor]

I'm not an expert by any means, but I really enjoy Don Giovanni.

[Sue G in PA]

La Boheme (my favorite), Madame Butterfly, La Traviata, Tosca, Aida, Don Giovanni.

[CLHCO]

Let me think...
Do you have an era you particularly like? Romantic? Classical? 20th Century?

Classical you can't go wrong with Mozart. Magic Flute, Marriage of Figaro, etc. Romantic greats are Barber of Seville, La Traviata, Carmon, La Boheme, and many more.

I love Menotti for 20th Century. There are others but I'm not as familiar with that era.

[CLHCO]

Yeah, those too. What she said. ;)

[Liz CA]

I would like to buy some opera recordings for my ipod. I am a novice and am overwhelmed! :confused: Recommendations would be welcome.

nt

[Rachel]

I love opera.......

I am a huge Mozart fan (from birth I believe) so like someone else mentioned you can't go wrong with any of his stuff.....Don Giavonni, Magic Flute

But, my absolute favorite is La Boheme followed by Aida

[Lucy in Australia]

it contains the piece "Nessun Dorma" which Pavarotti was famous for. My other faves are Aida, La Boheme & La Traviata.

The best thing to do, though, is to familiarise yourself with a few operas so that you know the story line & the characters. The opera becomes much more enjoyable when you know what they're singing & why. I use a similar website to the one below (mine is an Australian-based one) to teach my boys enough to know the basic story line & characters of a few operas. That way they don't laugh at me so much when watch Turandot & cry a lot :rolleyes:

http://www.azopera.com/learn.php

[Jean in Newcastle]

My personal favorite - "Carmen" - strong story line, strong music some of which you will probably recognize.

I also like "The Magic Flute". There is a children's book I read with the kids a few years ago ("The Magic Flute" retold by Anne Gatti) that gave me a sense of the story line and some of the musical motifs. It helped me to understand and appreciate the music a lot better!

[Amy in Orlando]

Opera is a fairly new "thing" of mine. I love Turandot, La Triviata and Madame Butterfly. I also have a cd of Maria Callas that I adore - her voice is just miraculous (sp?). http://www.amazon.com/Maria-Callas-Voice-Century-Carlo/dp/B00000631B/ref=pd_bbs_sr_8?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1204094926&sr=8-8

[Colleen]

I can't choose any one opera that's my favorite. All those mentioned here are wonderful ~ Turandot, La Boheme, etc. Verdi's Nabucco is lesser known, but I enjoy both the music and the storyline (the exile of the Jews to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar [Nabucco]). Another good one that's not commonly mentioned is Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.

By the way, I highly recommend the book Ticket to the Opera by Phil Goulding. Very accessible for the amateur listener.:)

[Lorna]

Anything done by the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
I second Mozart as a starter and then build up the stamina for Wagner.

[Kristiana]

I love Lucia too! And of course Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, La Boheme, and Carmen are all pretty easy-listening.

One of my favorite albums for opera is called The Ultimate Mozart Album--Mozart's greatest love songs, I prefer it to listening to an entire opera score.

[readwithem]

Anything done by the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
.

I second this :)

Also you might go see some of the productions the Met is simulcasting this season -


http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/broadcast/hd_events.aspx

[Dana in OR]

I'm ready to jump in now. Itunes lets you buy a song or two and then discounts the album they came from if you want the whole thing. And there are so many opera podcasts I want to try!

A funny - now that I'm baking Artisan bread and started cooking my own marinara sauce, my kids have started asking me, "Are we Italian?" LOL. The opera in the background ought to be the final straw.

When I was a kid my parents used to play opera and I would just roll my eyes, but I think somewhere deep down I know a lot of the major works, I just don't know them by name.

Thanks again for the recommendations.

[Karin]

Ones I haven't seen mentioned that I'd like to add, if you really enjoy choral music, are Norma and I Puritani. I have others I like, but most of them have already been mentioned. I personally don't care for Wagner, but if you really get into opera, you may. I wouldn't start there, though! One of my all time favourite operia arias, although I've never seen the opera itself, is Ach So Fromm, Ach So Traut from the opera Martha.

[cin]

Phantom of the Opera.

[Wendi]

:

[Dana in OR]

I think it's wonderful and appreciate your responses so much.

[GothicGyrl]

Phantom of the Opera, Cats and I'm not sure this qualifies, but it is a Gilbert and Sullivan production--Pirates of Penzance.

Those are the only three really. I do adore Pavoratti and the like, but those three are my only favorites.

And for further discussion (or argument)--I do NOT like the Sara Brightman/Michael what'shisname version. I adore the Gerry Butler version (which Webber did as well)..

[HeatherH]

Maybe try Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti. Sung in English, visit of the Magi story. I sure like it!

Humming along here. . . . .;)

[HSMom2One]

I adore Andrea Bocelli (http://www.google.com/musica?aid=G8xat6rH-gH&sa=X&oi=music&ct=result)....anything he sings is beautiful! I'd throw in a few of his tunes along with the more classical opera that has been suggested.

[GreenKitty]

Evita, Phantom of the Opera and Paul Potts.:)

[Jenny in Atl]

Have you checked out all the free opera podcasts on iTunes? Some are just music and others are opera talk. What's best is that they are free and a great way to explore opera outside the "top 40".

[Brigitte]

I saw this post and was trying to compose a list in my head while I read everyone else's posts. I have to say, I love everything everyone posted! So, I thought I would add some of my favorite singers...Roberto Alagna, Angela Gheorgiou (I spelled that wrong! But, she is Roberto's wife and they make a great pair.), Cecilia Bartoli, Bryn Terfel, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, Pavoratti (of course), Mirella Freni, Kiri TiKanawa, Maria Callas, among many other earlier singers. Oh and a cross-over, Andrea Bocelli.

I like getting collections of songs sung by a particular singer, instead of a whole opera. For instance, duets with Alanga and Gheorgiu, Bartoli singing famous Mozart arias, etc. I like watching whole operas, but find that I can find a collection of songs that might fit a particular mood and that I can enjoy listening to while doing something else.

Before you buy, though, listen to the various recordings. The style of the singers and the direction can have a big effect on the particular recording.