I discovered opera with Carmen. Got hooked right away. But my favourite opera is Don Giovanni. I'd say The Magic Flute should make the list, because of its fairytale simplicity and its relatable characters.

If someone asks me how to start getting to know opera, I ask which do they like, action/adventure movies, drawing-room comedies, or swords-and-sorcery fantasies like Tolkien? If they choose action/adventure, I recommend _Don Giovanni;_ if they like drawing-room psychological comedies, _Le nozze di Figaro_ and if they like swords and sorcery, _Das Rheingold._ That usually works pretty well.

@theoutluke

Жыл бұрын

That's very reasonable!

The first opera I ever watched in the theater was Massenet's Werther, and I must say I absolutely loved it. I had tried to get into opera at home before, but that was what made me really love opera. Great list.

@theoutluke

Жыл бұрын

Massenet's Werther is one of my favourite operas too! So amazingly beautiful

oooh, nozze di figaro is certainly lovely, but it's a bit long and invloved for a beginner(just my opinion). certainly magic flute, tales of hoffman and lucia might have been better choices. But even after having seen hundreds of live operas - I still come back to Cav/Pag, Rigoletto, Traviata, carmen,La Boheme, and....Aida!

@theoutluke

Жыл бұрын

That's very valid!!!

Gotta be gutsy. Add Rheingold. Shortest of the 4 Ring operas. Has giants, dwarves, gods and goddesses, magic helmet, castle in the sky. It was LotR before LotR. And the music. Just the initial strains of the double-basses playing the music representing the Rhein river...

@theoutluke

Жыл бұрын

Very ballsy indeed! But if I were to include a Wagner opera in the list, it'd probably be Rheingold too - it's only one act long anyway :)

I'm with you. "Le nozze di Figaro " was my first opera long time ago and I still love it. "The magic flute" is my favorite but a little too long for beginners I guess.

@theoutluke

Жыл бұрын

Both are two of the very best 🥰

@ericdew2021

Жыл бұрын

I think Figaro is longer than Magic Flute.

@theoutluke

Жыл бұрын

You are most likely right! For some reason though Figaro has always "felt" shorter, at least to me: maybe because it's better paced as a drama?

@pklausspk

Жыл бұрын

@@theoutluke I think Figaro is more accessible than The Magic Flute. It's a fun confusion play against a morally charged doctrine. Although there is a same scheme in both operas. A high and a low couple, for example. The Count and Countess / Figaro and Susanna vs. Tamino and Pamina / Papageno and Papagena. I love both operas for the spirit they embody: "Amor vincit omnia".