2007-07-29 17:05:20 · 9 answers · asked by lkyle302 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Performing Arts
Tosca (love this one!)
Lucia Di Lammermoore(sadder than the others I've listed)
The Turn of the Screw (truly disturbing)
Carmen (very firey music- the toreodor march is one of my favorite songs of all time)
2007-07-29 17:09:53 · answer #1 · answered by dscougar 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Il trovatore is indeed an "intense" opera. Both musically and storyline. It features very well known pieces such as the "Anvil Chorus" and the famous aria "Di quella pira"
Porgy and Bess, an American Opera written by the Gershwin brothers is also amazing.
2007-07-30 01:50:22 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Beside those already listed, three 20th century operas that strike me as "intense" are "Wozzek" by Alban Berg and "The Rake's Progress" by Igor Stravinsky.
Both are gripping and filled with music of complete originality.
Also, listen to Benjamin Britten's great work "Peter Grimes"
2007-07-30 05:16:30 · answer #3 · answered by fredrick z 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dialouge of the Carmelites by Poulenc ends with a line of nuns marching to the guillotine and as each one is executed their voice drops out. It doesn't get much mroe intense than that.
I'd also throw Suor Angelica by Puccini in there; also about a nun, also very intense. Puccini's favorite of his own work BTW.
2007-07-31 16:50:59 · answer #4 · answered by tomtallis 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, Guiseppe Verdi wrote a number of good, intense operas - you might try Rigoletto, but most of them may seem familiar to you at least in part.
2007-07-30 00:11:32 · answer #5 · answered by John R 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree: Tosca is a great one for intensity.
Also, Il Tabarro ("The Cloak"), a one-acter by Puccini.
And keeping with Puccini, "Turandot" can't be beat for intensity, especially the amazing first act.
"I pagliacci" (Mascagni, I think?) has a lot of drama and tension. (This contains the famous aria "Ridi, pagliaccio" ("Laugh, clown") which you have probably heard on commercials.)
I second "Carmen".
I think I remember that Gian Carlo Menotti's "telephone" was a lso good.
2007-07-30 02:10:19 · answer #6 · answered by NeferMaat 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The ending to Don Giovanni is always popular - yet it's still an opera buffa.
2007-07-30 00:13:06 · answer #7 · answered by robert 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Il trovatore is a good, intense opera. It's got everything you could want... love, lies, mistaken identities, and of course lots of killing.
If you want to watch it, go to
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=11983AB1DE501B89
watch the lego production of it... incredible!
2007-07-30 00:11:08 · answer #8 · answered by locusfire 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wagner's Die Walkure.
2007-07-30 02:50:45 · answer #9 · answered by Kate 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋