[JohnFerrier]

Thinking DVDs here. Also, I haven't found many I like, but a few that I do really like are...

Mozart - Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)
Handel - Xerxes
Rossini - La Cenerentola (really like the Houston Grand Opera rendition)
Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado (VHS quality is poor, but the version with Eric Idle, of Monty Python, is hilarious)

I'm interested in finding a few more. Suggestions?

 

[morphine]

Puccini - Tosca

m

 

[jamont]

Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier

 

[KR...]

Wagner - Flying Dutchman/Der fliegende Holländer
Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen (Ring Cycle)

 

[Bill Ward]

Faust - Gounod.

Borodin - Prince Igor

Verdi - La Traviata

BW

 

[ucbEE]

I don't know if I am gonna get flamed for this...Candide.

 

[sleepkyng]

Turandot
Die Wulkrie
Wozzeck
Bluebeard's Castle
Nixon in China

 

[zotjen]

Aida - Verdi
Der Ring des Nibelungen - Wagner
Elektra - Strauss
La Traviata - Verdi
Turandot - Puccini
Cavalleria Rusticana - Mascagni
Mefistofele - Boito
Tristan und Isolde - Wagner
Medea - Cherubini
Il Trovatore - Verdi

 

[DarkAngel]

This won't be any help to your specific request, but at least opera related.

I don't listen to full opera performances, but do own nearly every Maria Callas vocal collection on the market. I am under her bewitching spell and love her tempestuous firey nature, her deep heart felt passion is present in every note she sings.

Unfortunately there exists almost no video footage of Callas many prime 1950's La Scala performances. There is a famous later performance filmed by Franco Zeffirelli documenting 1962,1964 performances at Covent Garden:

This film showcases Callas remarkable acting/dramatic skills but by this time her voice was noticeably in decline and personal tragedies had broken her spirit and left her a shadow of her former self. Fortunately we have many very good mono and stereo audio recordings by EMI which preserve many great performances during Callas prime years.

Ovation Channel sometimes shows the documentary Maria Callas: Life and Art which traces her entire career mostly through interviews and still photos of prime years, and at the end of her career shows parts of the Zeffirelli filmed Covent Garden performances. Much of the commentary provided by her friend Franco Zeffirelli, biographer, and fellow artists she worked with. There are a couple similar documentaries out that cover mostly the same ground.

A collection of opera scences staged for B/W TV in Paris 1958 exists called "La Callas... Toujours" which would showcase Callas in close to prime vocal form. Have not seen this but it is supposedly the best available video document of Callas near the top of her game vocally.

For audio collection if you want to start out get used "La Divina" set at Amazon, 4CD set, 3 vocal 1 interview. Also each of three audio La Divina CDs available individually to start with small purchase. Contains both mono and stereo performances, but good mono is not bad for solo vocal pieces and you will hardly notice it.

Sorry for the diversion but must take every opportunity to promote this great artist.

 

[Bunnyears]

The greatest recorded opera, imho, is Puccini's Tosca with Maria Callas. It is a benchmark in Opera recordings that has never been equaled.

Other favorite operas (not recordings)
Mozart: Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflot, Le Nozze di Figaro, Escape from the Seraglio

Puccini: Tosca, La Boheme, Turandot, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (not so many fireworks, but I just love it)

Verdi: La Traviata, Il Trovatore

and my first opera: Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana

 

[00940]

sorry, no DVD for you.

My favorite though :

Mozart : Cosi fan tutte (there's a wonderful recording by the way with Anne Sophie von Otter and Renee Flemming directed by Solti of this one)
Purcell : The King Arthur (not exactly an opera but a musical play)
Haendel : Aggrippina

 

[JohnFerrier]

Thanks for the inputs. I've been browsing these selections at various media sites, including recordings of Maria Callas who even in samples has a wonderful voice (to say the least). It's a tough choice to pick just a few. Forgot another I really like: Stravinsky's "Oedipus Rex". Although not currently available on DVD, the production with Japan's Saito Kinen Orchestra conducted by Sejji Ozawa and opera direction by Julie Taymor is musically and visually stunning.

 

[DarkAngel]

Just to update my Callas post above.......there is another filmed set of two Hamburg Concerts 1959,1962 that EMI released from thier archives on DVD. I was unaware of thier existance preiously, so I purchased used copy at Amazon, 18 tracks total for both concerts:

Hamburg Callas

Will update this thread when I recieve and view.

 

[Nacher]

I generally don't like Opera, especially Italian, but I do have to admit that Tristan und Isolde, Parsifal and Ring cycle from Richard Wagner are admirable. Especially Parsifal has something really original in it's slow, massive and atmospheric music, which is somewhat totally different from majority of operas with music just backing up the arias. Same goes for Tristan und Isolde, even though it has quite a different sound. Not as epic and symphonic, but most likely the darkest and most emotional opera I have heard. Actually, this opera should be heard by every devoted dark (metal) music fan, hehe.

 

[juneamour]

Really expensive. But Callas rocks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel This won't be any help to your specific request, but at least opera related. I don't listen to full opera performances, but do own nearly every Maria Callas vocal collection on the market. I am under her bewitching spell and love her tempestuous firey nature, her deep heart felt passion is present in every note she sings. Unfortunately there exists almost no video footage of Callas many prime 1950's La Scala performances. There is a famous later performance filmed by Franco Zeffirelli documenting 1962,1964 performances at Covent Garden: This film showcases Callas remarkable acting/dramatic skills but by this time her voice was noticeably in decline and personal tragedies had broken her spirit and left her a shadow of her former self. Fortunately we have many very good mono and stereo audio recordings by EMI which preserve many great performances during Callas prime years. Ovation Channel sometimes shows the documentary Maria Callas: Life and Art which traces her entire career mostly through interviews and still photos of prime years, and at the end of her career shows parts of the Zeffirelli filmed Covent Garden performances. Much of the commentary provided by her friend Franco Zeffirelli, biographer, and fellow artists she worked with. There are a couple similar documentaries out that cover mostly the same ground. A collection of opera scences staged for B/W TV in Paris 1958 exists called "La Callas... Toujours" which would showcase Callas in close to prime vocal form. Have not seen this but it is supposedly the best available video document of Callas near the top of her game vocally. For audio collection if you want to start out get used "La Divina" set at Amazon, 4CD set, 3 vocal 1 interview. Also each of three audio La Divina CDs available individually to start with small purchase. Contains both mono and stereo performances, but good mono is not bad for solo vocal pieces and you will hardly notice it. Sorry for the diversion but must take every opportunity to promote this great artist.