Opera I want to know more?

Question

I want to learn more about opera.
I am listening to a bit of Sarah Brightman and like it.
Where do I go from here?

Answer 1

Try light hearted operas like madame butterfly

Answer 2

Start with the websites of the big opera companies, like www.metopera.com for the Metropolitan Opera in NYC. They will give you synopses ( the stories, condensed) and libretti ( all the words, with an English translation).

Every Saturday, during the opera *season*, you can find the Met opera on FM radio - try the National Public Radio station (FM) in your city. There are also interesting panel discussions during the intermission, and Opera Quiz - experts, etc.

Sarah Brightman could not hold her own in any good opera company - just WAIT until you hear some of the really top voices! Get yourself a CD of Renee Fleming or Deborah Voigt, if you like sopranos; Neil Shicoff if you like tenors; Thomas Hampson if you like baritones; and I like old recordings of Samuel Ramey for bass. There are countless others - past and present - who will thrill you like nobody else can!

Get yourself to a live performance by a really good professional company - like the Met - and get comfy, because you are gonna be in that seat a LONG time - maybe 3 hours. But - the new Pirates movies is 2 hours and 45 minutes long, too - and there is no intermission in a movie!

Welcome to a thrilling world - I am amazed that more people have not discovered it - it has it ALL, and of the best quality.

Answer 3

if you live in the nyc area, definitely go to the Met. The season is up now, but in the fall, it'll be on again. Start with basic operas like Mozart (Die Zauberflote, Le Nozze de Figaro, Abduction Seraglio, Don Giovanni) and then work your way up to the romantic operas of Verdi, and Puccini. If you want juicy romantic Italian opera, go for Puccini's La Boheme, or Madame Butterfly. The Metropolitan Opera in New York City tends to be a little more sophisticated than others, so if that's not in your cards, go for the New York City Opera. It's a little less high tech. Good luck and enjoy!

Answer 4

Buy an opera selection of various performers. They are eveywhere but do not include Sarah Brightman. However, if you like sopranos I would suggest you start with the cheapos of those who are dead or retired. You don't get any better than Callas, Joan Sutherland, Rene Fleming etc.
They will all be there if you get a collection.

Answer 5

get a collection of opera arias and choruses for listening ... but since you like Sarah Brightman I recommend seeking out recordings of Natalie Dessay a true operatic coloratura (very high soprano) there is a wide variety of operas so listen to as many different kinds as you can like Orfeo ed eurydice, a ,ore popular Mozart opera, Bellini or Donizetti, The Barber of Seville, a popular Verdi opera, an operetta, a R Strauss opera a short Wagner opera like Flying Dutchman.. also there is the French style operas like Manon and Lakme .... there is so much take your time and don't over saturate yourself

Answer 6

Go get (try your local public library for a free listen) "The Ultimate Opera Collection," a CD with 18 assorted tracks. It covers many operas and many composers from the 18th century to the early 20th.
It is almost all very easy for the opera novice to listen to, and includes some famous tunes that you probably know and never knew they were from operas, such as the Habanera from "Carmen" and the Soldiers' Chorus from "Faust."
The artists include some of the great names in opera - Placido Domingo, Marilyn Horne, Jose Carreras, Kiri te Kanawa, etc.
Great music, great performances. Enjoy.

Answer 7

It is better to start with popular selections from opera rather than tackle a full opera all at once. You will find many selections on i-tunes. Some suggestions for starters:

la ci darem la mano (Mozart from Don Giovanni)
di quel amor (Verdi from La Traviata)
la donne e mobile (Verdi from Rigoletto)
un bel di (Puccini from Madame Butterfly)
cara nome (Verdi from Rigoletto)
my heart at thy sweet voice (Saint-Saens from Samson & Delilah)
habanera and toreador song (Bizet from Carmen)
je crois entendre encore (Bizet from The Pearl Fishers)
largo al factotem (Rossini from the Barber of Seville)
una furtiva lagrima (Donizetti from The Elixir of Love)

I could go on. When you are ready to tackle a full opera, I suggest I Pagliacci by Leoncavallo. It is a short opera, very melodic and very dramatic, very easy to like. Get a low-priced CD of it, and listen to it, but don't read the synopsis or the libretto (if one comes with the CD). Learn the music first. Then attend a live performance (if possible) or get a DVD with subtitles. You will hear the familiar music in it real context and it will be amazing.

Answer 8

I started getting into opera by going onto sites like wikipedia and www.metoperafamily.org and looking up the plots of different operas. Have a look through some of them and choose one or two that you like the sound of. I find that if I like the story, I like the music.

You can buy "highlights" discs of operas which aren't full recordings of operas but take the main arias (songs) and ensembles (group pieces) from a full recording.

I started off with Puccini's Turandot which was a bit of a baptism by fire, so I would recommend Verdi to start off with if you want realistic passion, drama and emotion, or Rossini or Mozart if you want light-hearted comedy and "florid" singing.

The styles of singing are different in earlier opera like Rossini and Mozart where quality of singing and sound, as well as technical ability to sing difficult and impressive, florid passages was emphasized, sometimes to the detriment of the dramatic intensity and emotional expression of the situation.

In Verdi's operas, the earlier operas still required the florid singing, but more emphasis was put on the drama and emotion, and the singers had to be able to act more. There was no need for vocal agility on the part of singers in Verdi's later operas however.

It really depends on your tastes. For technically impressive singing, catchy tunes and light storylines that are all really good fun go for something like The Barber of Seville or The Italian in Algiers by Rossini. If you want more drama and passion then Verdi's Aida would be your best bet. These are only my suggestions but if you find other operas by the same composers that you like the sound of plot-wise, by all means go for them instead...these are just personal favourites of mine that I feel would be more accessible to someone just starting out in opera.

I enjoy both styles so I would say look into both styles, both "comic" and "serious," and then make a choice as to which you prefer...you might surprise yourself. If you find you like Verdi more, you should eventually move out to include Puccini, Mascagni, Leoncavallo and eventually Wagner (which is quite an acquired taste :-D ).

If however you find yourself tending more towards lighter opera from Mozart and Rossini, you should eventually branch out to listen to Donizetti, Bellini and Delibes.

If you can, get a copy of the words (the libretto) in the original language and in English, follow along when you first listen to an aria...it helps you know what the person is singing about, and I found it increased my enjoyment of that and subsequent playings.

Btw when I say you "should" move out to, it's only my opinion, but these composers are similar in style to the other "introductory" ones.

Hope this helps! And good luck!

Answer 9

Start with any of the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta's(Pirates of Penzance/ HMS Pinafore / Yeoman of the Guard are all marvelous) then Puccinis Madame Butterfly , Mozart is wonderful & didn't write a bad opera! Don Giovanni & magic
flute are reccomended>

Answer 10

As was said in "Pretty Woman" You can learn to like and appreciate opera, but loving it is part of your soul. Some is so beautiful it tears your heart out by the roots. If it does this, you are hooked and will never get eouugh.
P.S. Pretty Woman is not a chick flick.

Answer 11

Try Angela Gheorghiu, Pavarotti, Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa or perhaps look at CDs with collections of opera arias by Verdi, Puccini, Rossini and so on.

http://opera.stanford.edu/

Good site for some history etc.

http://www.operastuff.com/Opera_Singers/
Gives information on singers etc.

Or just go to a library for a dictionary on music or opera, and browse through. Try googling it as well.