No, not the browser. I've been listening to some opera and found it very compelling but am at loss at what CDs to buy and what works that are must-listens. Please guide a beginner in this world of tenors and divas.
I'm of little help here, but, I'll put in a word for Charlotte Church and her heavenly pipes. Her more recent stuff is pop, but she has plenty of classical and opera work released.
I'll speak for my fiance when I say Kathleen Battle. She raves about that one, but I myself can't stand opera, although I did find Kathleen Battle's contribution to the House of Flying Daggers soundtrack compelling.
ok, so i'm pretty into opera. first off, nothing beats the experience of actually going to one -- and they have subtitles at most opera houses nowadays.
there are a few opera periods -- there was the early stuff (mid 1600s --), then the mozart/rossini/etc era (late 1700s-early 1800s) then the bel canto era (mid-late 1800s). at the same time, wagner came up with his own distinctive style in the late 1800s. then the last of the "classical" opera composers was probably puccini.
the most famous/must listen operas are probably:
- marriage of figaro by mozart (very entertaining, and highly recommended as a 'first opera' to go to)
- carmen by bizet
- puccini (madame butterfly, la boheme, probably turandot and/or tosca)
- the magic flute by mozart (not completely an opera, there isn't singing throughout)
- barber of seville by rossini
- the valkyrie by wagner
i'm not that much into the "bel canto" era, but some operas from this era include "lucia di lamermoor" and probably a bunch of verdi's stuff, like aida.
if you're just looking for songs right now to obtain, then the most popular are probably:
- any puccini aria CD is bound to contain some of his most famous arias, and this guy was great at writing them: "o mio babbino caro", "nessun dorma", "un bel di vedremo", etc. those three in particular you're probably most likely to recognize
- anything from "carmen" you're also likely to recognize, because those melodies are still all over the place (tv, commercials, cartoons)
- the "queen of the night" aria from mozart's "the magic flute" (a must-listen, probably the quintessential opera aria)
- others you are likely to recognize are a couple of rossini's overtures: overture from "barber of seville", and overture from "william tell"
- also listen to wagner's stuff, it's definitely heavier, but will give you an idea. everyone knows "ride of the valkyries" from "the valkyrie"
- verdi's "la traviata", particularly "Libiamo ne lieti calici"
- the "barcarolle" from tales of hoffman, this is the song that was used in "life is beautiful" that the main guy plays for his wife on the phonograph.
if you find yourself liking these old operas, you might want to listen to some newer ones as well. they're definitely in the contemporary classical style, but some are fantastic. there's one called Wozzeck, by Berg, from the 1920s, which is amazing, but also atonal. it won't be exactly beautiful if you just listen to it on CD for the first time, so i suggest you get a video or dvd of a production of it. the selection of operas above are also all in pretty different styles, so if you end up liking one more than another start looking for related operas by composers around the same time period, etc. good luck!
youtube is a fantastic source for giving these songs a listen. they also have video of opera productions to accompany most of them. you'd also be surprised at where these songs pop up, for example, "un bel di vedremo" is sampled on the simpsons, in barney's alcoholism movie (it was awesome when me and my gf figured this out... well mostly she did)
To add on to b's recommendations:
Don Giovanni and Cosi fan Tutte by Mozart are also fun times.
Basically anything by Wagner. Tristan und Isolde, the whole Ring cycle (The Rheingold, The Valkyrie, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung)
I'll also put in a good word for Bluebeard's Castle by Bartok.
If you're serious about acquiring a lot of opera, you might get a kick out of an emusic.com subscription. 9.99 for 40 tracks a month is a LOT of opera, but they've got a lot.
Opera is no different than classical in that it's not so much about "a song" as it is about a certain composer, performer, or venue. The thing that's always pushed me away from classical music in general is that it's so hard to listen to a lot of different things to see what you like. It's tempting to just buy some CDs and you end up disappointed. stuff like emusic is great for it, though, because it averages out to like $2.50 an album. Even the longer double albums end up less than $10, and being able to follow links to find other works by a composer or performer is really handy. The connectivity is better than iTunes for finding new things.
Even if you don't get a subscription, you can get into the site to preview pieces without paying anything (go to the homepage and click "log in" and you'll see the navigation options change).
nevilleThe Worst Gay(Seriously. The Worst!)Registered Userregular
edited May 2007
If you want a little more Americanized "Opera" Style, check out Sarah Brightman.
She's who ALW wrote Phantom of the Opera and other shows about.
(Disclaimer: YES I realize Sarah is not technically "Opera", but she does her own version of a number of Operas and has an absolutely amazing voice. So if you don't like her and/or Andrew Lloyd Webber, I don't care. :P)
One of my favorite singers is Thomas Quasthoff. Borrowed a CD of his (The Voice) from my singing instructor- not only does he do fantastic opera, but there's a Jazz improv track on that cd that's simply mind blowing.
I suggest you listen to some music of his, and then look up some info on him- his is an interesting story.
Edit:
Oh, and I recently saw the version of La Boheme with Pavarotti. That's a good bet.
Ugh, might I point out that Charlotte Church & Sarah Brightman (dear god how can you like that voice, she sounds like a depressed police siren) have bugger all to do with opera, the technical term for them is 'hack' - while we're at it, so is Andrea Bocelli. You're welcome to listen to them massacre opera if you like, just be aware that it's the difference between listening to the Guns'N'Roses original Welcome to the Jungle and, I don't know, James Blunt covering it on acoustic with a nice flute accompaniment.
flightoftheb and setrajonas gave a pretty good list of operas to start on (though I'd leave the Wagner & Bartok for a bit later to be honest). Also might want to consider some of the more popular short one/two act operas as well, such as Cavalleria Rusticana or Pagliacci. Porgy & Bess for something different; and to reiterate the above two, you must listen to literally every opera Mozart wrote, but particularly Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni. Obviously this is somewhat subjective, but many people regard Figaro as far and away the best opera ever written.
Finally, if you want to get some compilation CDs, go for ones which put various overtures together (standards would be: Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, Marriage of Figaro, Cosi Fan Tutte, Barber of Seville, William Tell, Die Fledermaus, La Traviata, Carmen and so on. They are pretty great as stand-alone pieces, always good to have different versions (tempo etc varies greatly with conductor and can make/break the piece), and will give you a good idea of which of those operas you might want to get in full.
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Warframe: TheBaconDwarf
there are a few opera periods -- there was the early stuff (mid 1600s --), then the mozart/rossini/etc era (late 1700s-early 1800s) then the bel canto era (mid-late 1800s). at the same time, wagner came up with his own distinctive style in the late 1800s. then the last of the "classical" opera composers was probably puccini.
the most famous/must listen operas are probably:
- marriage of figaro by mozart (very entertaining, and highly recommended as a 'first opera' to go to)
- carmen by bizet
- puccini (madame butterfly, la boheme, probably turandot and/or tosca)
- the magic flute by mozart (not completely an opera, there isn't singing throughout)
- barber of seville by rossini
- the valkyrie by wagner
i'm not that much into the "bel canto" era, but some operas from this era include "lucia di lamermoor" and probably a bunch of verdi's stuff, like aida.
if you're just looking for songs right now to obtain, then the most popular are probably:
- any puccini aria CD is bound to contain some of his most famous arias, and this guy was great at writing them: "o mio babbino caro", "nessun dorma", "un bel di vedremo", etc. those three in particular you're probably most likely to recognize
- anything from "carmen" you're also likely to recognize, because those melodies are still all over the place (tv, commercials, cartoons)
- the "queen of the night" aria from mozart's "the magic flute" (a must-listen, probably the quintessential opera aria)
- others you are likely to recognize are a couple of rossini's overtures: overture from "barber of seville", and overture from "william tell"
- also listen to wagner's stuff, it's definitely heavier, but will give you an idea. everyone knows "ride of the valkyries" from "the valkyrie"
- verdi's "la traviata", particularly "Libiamo ne lieti calici"
- the "barcarolle" from tales of hoffman, this is the song that was used in "life is beautiful" that the main guy plays for his wife on the phonograph.
if you find yourself liking these old operas, you might want to listen to some newer ones as well. they're definitely in the contemporary classical style, but some are fantastic. there's one called Wozzeck, by Berg, from the 1920s, which is amazing, but also atonal. it won't be exactly beautiful if you just listen to it on CD for the first time, so i suggest you get a video or dvd of a production of it. the selection of operas above are also all in pretty different styles, so if you end up liking one more than another start looking for related operas by composers around the same time period, etc. good luck!
youtube is a fantastic source for giving these songs a listen. they also have video of opera productions to accompany most of them. you'd also be surprised at where these songs pop up, for example, "un bel di vedremo" is sampled on the simpsons, in barney's alcoholism movie (it was awesome when me and my gf figured this out... well mostly she did)
Don Giovanni and Cosi fan Tutte by Mozart are also fun times.
Basically anything by Wagner. Tristan und Isolde, the whole Ring cycle (The Rheingold, The Valkyrie, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung)
I'll also put in a good word for Bluebeard's Castle by Bartok.
Opera is no different than classical in that it's not so much about "a song" as it is about a certain composer, performer, or venue. The thing that's always pushed me away from classical music in general is that it's so hard to listen to a lot of different things to see what you like. It's tempting to just buy some CDs and you end up disappointed. stuff like emusic is great for it, though, because it averages out to like $2.50 an album. Even the longer double albums end up less than $10, and being able to follow links to find other works by a composer or performer is really handy. The connectivity is better than iTunes for finding new things.
Even if you don't get a subscription, you can get into the site to preview pieces without paying anything (go to the homepage and click "log in" and you'll see the navigation options change).
She's who ALW wrote Phantom of the Opera and other shows about.
(Disclaimer: YES I realize Sarah is not technically "Opera", but she does her own version of a number of Operas and has an absolutely amazing voice. So if you don't like her and/or Andrew Lloyd Webber, I don't care. :P)
I suggest you listen to some music of his, and then look up some info on him- his is an interesting story.
Edit:
Oh, and I recently saw the version of La Boheme with Pavarotti. That's a good bet.
flightoftheb and setrajonas gave a pretty good list of operas to start on (though I'd leave the Wagner & Bartok for a bit later to be honest). Also might want to consider some of the more popular short one/two act operas as well, such as Cavalleria Rusticana or Pagliacci. Porgy & Bess for something different; and to reiterate the above two, you must listen to literally every opera Mozart wrote, but particularly Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni. Obviously this is somewhat subjective, but many people regard Figaro as far and away the best opera ever written.
Finally, if you want to get some compilation CDs, go for ones which put various overtures together (standards would be: Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, Marriage of Figaro, Cosi Fan Tutte, Barber of Seville, William Tell, Die Fledermaus, La Traviata, Carmen and so on. They are pretty great as stand-alone pieces, always good to have different versions (tempo etc varies greatly with conductor and can make/break the piece), and will give you a good idea of which of those operas you might want to get in full.