Opera music for newbies

Opera is an acquired taste and really anyone starting out should get sampler Cds. I have seen others here sometimes inquire about pieces and members here give recommendations for certain full opera recordings (2-3 CDs) which I definitley think is not the way to go for beginers.

Fortunately for you argueably the best sampler available for female opera arias is Australia's own Joan Sutherland Decca Legends mid priced 2 CD set:

You may want to also try a couple other samplers of famous artists: Callas, Pavarotti, Tebaldi, Schwarzkopf etc then if you want more start looking into individual opera's when you find
which composers/works appeal to you.

Of course there are wonderful Cds of just the overtures to operas by Mozart and Rossini (featured often in looney tunes cartoons) which are well worth having.

If you don't mind the over the top melodramatic italian opera , try La Boheme by Puccini (or any Puccini for that matter). If you're downloading off the net, look for Maria Callas' interpretation of any operatic pieces (she's the equivalent of Billie Holliday- not the purest, most beautiful voice, but one that carries the song beautifully).

WAGNER nuff said!

You can also track down cds by Natalie Dessay.

Have fun.

I am not a big opera fan, but Vivaldi's Gloria is quite nice, IMO his second best work next to the four seasons.

I have to agree that Wagner is awesome, but not, perhaps, the best thing to start with...
I would suggest Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, the Magic Flute or Don Giovanni. A bit of Puccini is always good, such as La Boheme and Madama Butterfly. Donizetti's L'Elisir D'Amore is another beautiful one. If Wagner sounds tempting, then a Best of Wagner-style cd would be a good buy.

At this stage, the conductors and performers probably won't make a lot of difference. A highlights CD, rather than the full opera, is also a better buy, rather than having to trawl through all the recitatives trying to find those beautiful arias!
Good luck!
Andrew

I'd actually start with a DVD, since opera makes much more sense if you can see what is going on and can read the subtitles. I suggest the DVD of Verdi's La Traviata conducted by Solti, or Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutti conducted by Harnoncourt (or pretty much any opera by Mozart).

Ross

Opera

I have to say that I disagree with DarkAngel (sorry Dark) on the compilation. The whole thing about Opera is that it envelops you in the story. Try La Boheime, and be sure to get one with the book (script if you will) so you can follow along in English. then, set aside a couple of hours, have a glass of wine, or whatever you like, get a comfortable, and enjoy! You will develop a whole new appreciation for this very under appreciated art. I, like you got interested b/c of a scene in a movie (hannibal) and am now an AVID opera fan.
Good luck, and enjoy your exploration.

BTW, Bizet's Carman is also very good!

2 channel

Wagner is the best, I would hate for you all to scare away newbies from it, so I will post info on newbie friendy versions :

Let's try our good buddies http://www.chandos-records.com


Chandos Opera in English is produced in association with the Peter Moores Foundation and aims to make opera available to a wider audience by presenting the performances in English. The series, which was launched in 1995 with The Barber of Seville, is to include many of the most popular operas in the repertoire. The Barber, which was very well received, has Bruce Ford as the Count, Della Jones as Rosina and Alan Opie as Figaro. Tosca was released in 1996 and stars Jane Eaglen as Tosca, Dennis O'Neill as Cavaradossi and Gregory Yurisich as Scarpia. All future recordings of Opera in English will appear on this label with a CHAN 3000 numbering sequence.

Oh, and this is an audiophile label, so the sound quality will be tops!

Here's the complete RING boxset

You can also buy each part on their own.


Also, for a non Wagner Opera that I really like, check out

Wagner on DVD :

Here's the complete RING on DVD :


Description
The legendary Bayreuth Centenary production of Wagner's Ring is distinguished by Patrice Chéreau's once-shocking production, which has acquired the status of the most trenchant modern interpretation of the cycle. Das Rheingold is the opening of the four Ring operas, setting the scene with the theft of the Rhine gold, first by Alberich and then by the giants on behalf of Wotan on a train of greed that will inexorably lead to the demise of the gods. Die Walküre introduces Brünnhilde, daughter of the all-powerful god, Wotan. Brünnhilde's attempts to protect the siblings/lovers Siegmund and Sieglinde eventually lead Wotan to encircle his errant daughter with a protective ring of fire that only a hero will be able to penetrate. Die Walküre features the best-known excerpt from the Ring cycle, the Ride of the Valkyries. Siegfried introduces the hero, Siegfried, son of the demi-gods Siegmund and Sieglinde. Though raised by the dwarf Mime, Siegfried discovers his true identity and forges the magic sword, Notung, with which he slays Mime and the dragon Fafner. He then defies the Wanderer (Wotan in disguise) and rescues the sleeping Brünnhilde from her circle of flames. The opera ends with their radiant love duet. Götterdämmerung is the fourth and final Ring opera. Brünnhilde now has the Ring, given to her by the hero Siegfried. But the evil Hagen dupes Siegfried into betraying his love for Brünnhilde, and the Ring is returned to Siegfried. On the banks of the Rhine, Hagen murders Siegfried. A distraught Brünnhilde takes the Ring from her dead lover and rides into her funeral pyre. Hagen snatches the Ring but is drowned in the flooding Rhine, and the Ring is returned to the river. Meanwhile, Valhalla burns, marking the end of the reign of the gods. Supported by Pierre Boulez's typically penetrating interpretation, the cast is magnificently led by Donald McIntyre as Wotan, the powerful Siegfried of Manfred Jung, and one of the great Brünnhildes of our time, Gwyneth Jones.

Cast:
Donald McIntyre: Wotan
Martin Egel: Donner
Siegfried Jerusalem: Froh
Heinz Zednik: Loge
Fritz Hübner: Fafner
Hermann Becht: Alberich
Hanna Schwarz: Fricka
Carmen Reppel: Freia
Ortrun Wenkel: Erda
Norma Sharp: Woglinde
Ilse Gramatzki: Wellgunde
Marga Schiml: Flosshilde
Peter Hofmann: Siegmund
Matti Salminen: Hunding
Gwyneth Jones: Brünnhilde
Manfred Jung: Siegfried
Jeannine Altmeyer: Gutrune
Franz Mazura: Gunther
Gwendolyn Killebrew: Waltraute

If you're really a newbie to opera, you should run out and get David Pogue's Opera for Dummies.

Another nice way to get your feet wet with Mozart operas (and arguably he set the standard for the genre) is with the film version of "The Magic Flute" directed by Ingmar Bergman. You get the whole opera with its story intact, an interesting film presentation which places you at a particular theater performance (with some emphasis on the audience and the wings) but then goes into the stage and opens things up in a more illusory fashion. You'll have English subtitles, but maybe you won't have it sung in original German. They might have switched to Swedish, I don't recall.

I agree with all sides here. It's good to check out the composers and artists with highlights, but those are sort of test drives for the experience of a fully staged opera where you understand the words and follow the narrative in detail. It should enhance your pleasure to understand the dramatic side of an opera, and in non-English-speaking countries words are routlinely translated, but you sacrifice hearing exactly the fit between the music and words as the composer set it up. Titling is a solution that let's you follow the story while hearing the original words. All these approaches are viable, and you may find yourself using more than one of them as your taste for opera grows.

go see an opera. mozart or rossini would be good 1st choice. once your feet are wet go see some wagner. it will blow your mind! i saw the ring cycle last year here in seattle and it was overwhelming.

I like Tosca, listened to several recording already. I am not sure if this is a good start for a novice like me.

 

This is a really good intro, I agree. Personally, I like compilation CDs so I can hear bits and pieces of different works, and be introduced to different singers. 

 

As for full operas, I suggest "Tosca" or "Carmen." (Even my husband, who does NOT care for opera, loved "Carmen.") Attending them or watching a DVD is much better than just listening to a DVD, IMHO, because it's far more engaging and more in line with how they were MEANT to be experienced. It's like why watching a Shakespearean play is so much more interesting than reading one :) I love opera, and even I don't particularly enjoy just sitting and listening to a CD of an entire opera. I'd rather just listen to the arias, honestly.

 

My personal favorite opera singers are Renata Tebaldi, Kathleen Battle and Jussi Bjorling. Jussi Bjorling and Robert Merrill's duet from "The Pearl Fishers" is, IMHO, the most perfectly beautiful interpretation of the most perfectly beautiful duet in opera. Sadly, there isn't much by Kathleen Battle, because she's so notoriously impossible to work with. I do love her CD "Grace," though.