List of operas.
1 L'Orfeo
Claudio Monteverdi Mantua, Italy, c1607
With a mythological musician as hero, L'Orfeo ranks as the first great
opera. Monteverdi was the "founding father" of operatic form.
Euridice dies from a snake bite. The sorrowful Orpheus, through his music,
tries to save her from the Underworld. A popular operatic subject (Gluck,
Jaques Offenbach, Philip Glass), L'Orfeo is emotional, melancholy and
transcendent.
2
Dido and Aeneas
Henry Purcell London, UK, 1689
A lone English operatic success until the 20th century, Dido recounts
the tale of the tragic Queen of Carthage and her love for Aeneas,
inconveniently en route to found a new Troy. In addition to sailors and
witches, Purcell gave us one of the most sublime laments in opera: Dido's When
I Am Laid in Earth.
3
Giulio Cesare (Julius Caesar)
George Frideric Handel London, UK, 1724
An epic of love and war often considered Handel's finest work, Giulio
Cesare has a richly intricate plot and the bonus of a brilliantly characterised
and outrageously seductive Cleopatra (see Glyndebourne's Opus Arte DVD with the
dancing Danielle de Niese as Cleo). Caesar, written for castrato, is often sung
by a countertenor. Other good Handel: Rinaldo, Radamisto, Tamerlano, Rodelinda,
Ariodante, Alcina.
4
Serse (Xerxes)
Handel London, UK, 1738
Opens with one of Handel's best known arias, Ombra Mai Fu, sung by
Serse, King of Persia, in honour of a plane tree and its shade. A plot of
jealousy, infidelity and treachery results in a cocktail of bravura music.
ENO's 1992 production by Nicholas Hytner helped put Handel's operas back on the
map.
5
Orfeo ed Euridice (Orpheus and Eurydice)
Christoph Willibald Gluck Vienna, Austria, 1762
Written in Italian, this intense drama was later revised as the French
Orphée. A mix of old and new styles, poised at the birth of Romanticism, this
is regarded as one of the key operas of the 18th century. Maria Callas made
J'ai Perdu Mon Eurydice a stand-alone hit.
6
Idomeneo
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Munich, Germany, 1781
Not one of the composer's best known, this opera seria is
treasured by Mozartians as containing some of his greatest operatic music,
hinting at glories yet to come. Despite its imperfections as drama and a too
neat happy ending, Mozart's retelling of the story of the King of Crete forced
to sacrifice his son has slowly earned its status as a masterpiece.
7
Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)
Mozart Vienna, Austria, 1786
Together with Don Giovanni and Cosi fan Tutte, which make up Mozart's
trio of masterpieces with libretti by Da Ponte, Figaro is for many the perfect
opera: a balance of wit, humanity and astounding, glorious music. Others find
it too long, and the garden scene dreary. The Queen called it "the one
about the [lost] pin".
8
Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
Mozart Vienna, Austria, 1791
The monstrous Queen of the Night, the birdcatcher Papageno, lovers,
philosophy, Freemasonry – The Magic Flute has it all. The music is ravishing,
some of it probably familiar. Its prominent use of dialogue makes it a
challenge to stage. Despite appearances, it's not as easy for children as it
may look; wait a while. Mozart died only weeks after completing it.
9
Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville)
Gioachino Rossini Rome, Italy, 1816
Pure, inane, fizzing delight, ferociously difficult to sing: The Barber
of Seville, written in a fortnight by a composer who had penned 35 operas by
the age of 37 then abruptly retired, tops the list of all operatic comedies. It
includes the famous Figaro-here, Figaro-there Largo Al Factotum. Check out the
Royal OperaHouse DVD with mezzo-soprano Joyce
DiDonato.
10
Guillaume Tell (William Tell)
Gioachino Rossini Paris, France, 1829
The William Tell overture is one of the most famous pieces of classical
music. Yet Rossini's enormous, final opera, involving the fight for Swiss
freedom, remains a rarity – despite thrilling arias and exciting choruses. A
BBC Proms performance and a new EMI CD conducted by Antonio Pappano may restore
interest.
11 Norma
Vincenzo Bellini Milan, Italy, 1831
Boasting the famous
Casta Diva aria, Norma is the ultimate bel canto tragedy about a druid priestess
who, secretly, has two children and an erring lover, with catastrophic results.
Bellini's extravagant, melodic operas – Il Pirata, La Sonnambula – provide
a musical stepping stone from Rossini to Verdi.
12 L'Elisir d'Amore (The Elixir of Love)
Gaetano Donizetti Milan, Italy, 1832
Frequently performed
and a cheerfully reassuring first step into opera, this is the comic tale
of the fraudulent quack Dulcamara who dupes the poor, lovesick Nemorino with
his "elixir"; melodic, witty, heart-warming and touchingly silly. The
exuberant and prolific Donizetti's sharp humour is at play in the shrewish
character of the love object, Adina.
13 Lucia di Lammermoor
Gaetano Donizetti Naples, Italy, 1835
No one provides a
better coloratura "mad scene" – a 19th-century Romantic opera
habit – than Donizetti in Lucia, based on Walter Scott's The Bride of
Lammermoor. Scott's novels were all the rage in Europe, with 16 turned into
operas by, among others, Bellini, Rossini and Bizet.
14 Rigoletto
Giuseppe Verdi Venice, Italy, 1851
Verdi, one of
opera's greats, had a long career. For many his Egyptian Aida is an ideal first
opera. For dramatic intensity, Rigoletto – compact, tuneful, melodramatic – is
even better. The hunchback prompts pity when he tries to protect his daughter.
It's never been the same since ENO's 1982 "Mafioso" staging had the
Duke singing La Donna e Mobile at a jukebox in a diner.
15 La Traviata
Giuseppe Verdi Venice, Italy, 1853
Perhaps Verdi's most
performed work, La Traviata contains all the elements of operatic addiction: a
beautiful, consumptive, fallen-woman heroine, grand Parisian party scenes, the
travails of love, a troubled father and a deathbed scene, all set to Verdi's
faultless score. Hard to beat.
16
Don Carlos/ Don Carlo
Giuseppe Verdi Paris, France, 1867
Known in both its French and Italian versions, this enormous five-act
work based on Schiller shows Verdi at the height of his powers. Politics,
kingship, heresy, adultery and love combine with incomparable pomp and
solemnity, with a score to match. The bass role of King Philip II of Spain
is one of opera's loneliest.
17
Falstaff
Giuseppe Verdi Milan, Italy, 1893
Like Otello (written in a final, brilliant outpouring in 1887), Falstaff
– after Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor – is a Verdian favourite among
buffs, though some find its quixotic, quick-fire charms less beguiling.
Knowledge of the final fugue, celebrating the folly of the human condition
(Tutto nel Mondo) is essential to any opera lover's armament.
18
Pagliacci
Ruggero Leoncavallo Milan, Italy, 1892
Considered the stronger half of the popular "Cav and Pag"
double bill, Pagliacci (the clowns) is Leoncavallo's one surviving hit, usually
paired with Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana. Pag cleverly uses a commedia
dell'arte troupe to enact averismo tragedy. Top tenors love to sing
the broken-hearted clown's Vesti la Giubba (Put On the Motley).
19
La Bohème
Giacomo Puccini Turin, Italy, 1896
If Puccini himself cried after composing the final scene of Bohème, one
of the most adored of all operas, how can the rest of us resist? Mimi, the
Bohemian seamstress of the title, her poet lover Rodolfo and their destitute
Parisian friends capture the pains and pleasures of young love in an attic.
20
Tosca
Giacomo Puccini Rome, Italy, 1900
Dubbed a "shabby little shocker", Tosca opens with three
crashing orchestral chords and never lets up until the opera-singer heroine,
having stabbed the villain Scarpia and watched her artist-lover Cavaradossi
die, leaps to her own death. Her Vissi d'arte and Cavaradossi's E Lucevan le
Stelle epitomise opera's power to stir passion. Famous Toscas: Maria Callas,
Renata Tebaldi, Angela Gheorgiu.
21
Madama Butterfly
Giacomo Puccini Milan, Italy, 1904
Puccini first saw David Belasco's hit play Madame Butterfly in London in
1900. The teenage Butterfly (Cio-Cio-San) falls in love with an American naval
lieutenant in Nagasaki. He abandons her, then returns with a wife. Catastrophe
ensues. After a first-night disaster, it became one of the best-loved operas.
One Fine Day, the Stars and Stripes music and the Humming Chorus are
highlights.
22
Turandot
Giacomo Puccini Milan, Rome, 1926
Football fans know Nessun Dorma thanks to Pavarotti and the 1990 World
Cup. Puccini's final opera is about the man-hating Chinese queen Turandot, and
Calaf, the man who finally melts her icy heart. When Puccini died leaving the
opera incomplete, it was finished by a composer friend, Alfano. Others have
also tried, but Alfano's is the version commonly used.
23
Fidelio
Ludwig van Beethoven Vienna, Austria, 1805
Written to a backdrop of revolution, Beethoven's only opera is a hymn to
freedom and marital love. Leonora dresses as a man, Fidelio, to rescue her
husband Florestan from imprisonment. The spoken dialogue and huge orchestra
present performance challenges but the rewards – the Mir ist So Wunderbar
ensemble, the Prisoners' choruses, Florestan's cry of "Gott!" – are
unrivalled.
24
Der Freischütz
Carl Maria von Weber Berlin, Germany, 1821
The title of this opera translates as The Marksman and it is set in a
Bohemian forest during the 30 years war. It concerns the shooting trials of
young hunters to win their lovers. The hero Max transgresses by using
"free" magic bullets. Good and evil struggle in a vivid, tuneful
display of high German Romanticism. Not often staged. Catch it when it is.
25
Lohengrin
Richard Wagner Weimar, Germany, 1850
Wagner's last "early" work (after Flying Dutchman, Tannhäuser)
before his mature masterpieces. This is perhaps the last great Romantic opera,
rich with symbolism, myth, taboo: the innocent Elsa of Brabant is accused of
murdering her brother. A knight in shining armour arrives in a swan-drawn boat.
He will help her so long as she doesn't ask his name. She does. You can guess
what it is.
26
Tristan und Isolde
Richard Wagner Munich, Germany, 1865
The ultimate, transcendent, no-holds-barred "love in death"
experience, ending with Isolde's Liebestod. As usual, Wagner wrote his own
libretto. Isolde is betrothed to King Mark. After a mix-up, she and Tristan
drink a love potion and fall cataclysmically in love. This is "extreme
opera", full of ecstatic thrills in very slow motion, but worth every
note. Be prepared.
27
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Richard Wagner Munich, Germany, 1868
Written over two decades, The Mastersingers of Nuremberg is Wagner's
only "comic" opera, full of generous humanity, especially in the
great figure of the cobbler-poet Hans Sachs. The plot revolves around a song
contest, and celebrates all art, especially German. Meistersinger may have been
Hitler's favourite but don't be deterred. The music is uplifting, the choruses
magnificent.
28
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Richard Wagner Bayreuth, Germany, 1876
The Ring Cycle, a pinnacle of the genre, consists of four operas: Das
Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdammerung – which last about 15
hours in total and took Wagner 28 years to write. The story of gold, gods,
giants, dragons, once you sort it all out, is really an epic exploration of
man's desire, greed and folly. By any reckoning The Ring is among the mightiest
single monuments of art created by one person.
29
Die Lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow)
Franz Lehár Vienna, Austria, 1905
Together with Johann Strauss II's Die Fledermaus, Lehár's Die Lustige
Witwe sums up the joys of Viennese operetta: infectiously, waltzingly melodic,
with dinners chez Maxim, dancing girls and a glimpse of Balkan Europe in the
last days of old aristocracy. The eponymous widow, Hanna Glawari, is not only
merry but fabulously rich. Too much fun for some tastes.
30
Salome
Richard Strauss Dresden, Germany, 1905
Still considered shocking by some, and certainly startling, Salome,
after Wilde's play, leads the way to modern opera: its radical harmonies, its
vocal challenges and its violent biblical story revisited in the age of Freud.
Salome desires John the Baptist. After dancing naked for Herod, she only gets
his head but that's enough.
31 Der Rosenkavalier
Richard Strauss Dresden, Germany, 1911
The title – The
Knight of the Rose – gives no hint as to why this enormous, voluptuous,
waltz-laden operatic concoction has become a favourite of connoisseurs. In this
bitter-sweet comedy an older woman (the Marschallin) sees she must send her
young lover into the arms of another. The final trio sends opera-buffs into an
ultimate swoon.
32 Les Troyens
Hector Berlioz Paris, France 1863 & 1890 Opera hardly comes
more grand than Berlioz's five-act retelling of Virgil's Aeneid: 22 roles, a
huge orchestra, large chorus, ballet, battles, bloodshed and high emotion.
Immensely expensive to stage, The Trojans is sometimes split across two
evenings. Witness the fall of Troy and the tragic love of Didon and Enée in
full operatic Technicolor. Never pass up a chance to see it.
33 Carmen
Georges Bizet Paris, France, 1875
Is there an opera
more popular, sexy, scandalous or with better tunes? The Gypsy dancer at the
cigarette factory who breaks hearts and meets her doom outside the bullring
offers an ideal start to opera. It's long, but the action is thrilling, the
music infectious. Don José's Flower Song, the Toreador Song and Carmen's
Habanera are the best known of the many spectacular set pieces.
34 Manon
Jules Massenet Paris, France, 1884
The prolific and
melodic Massenet is best known today for Manon, a linchpin of French
19th-century opera (from Abbé Prévost's novel Manon Lescaut, also set by
Puccini). The heroine can't choose between love and money, until too late.
Confusingly called an opéra comique because it has spoken dialogue,
its subject is tragic.
35 Pelléas et Mélisande
Claude Debussy Paris, France, 1902
This sensuous,
Symbolist tragedy in 12 tableaux marks a radical departure: instead of arias
and set pieces, the text is declaimed, inspired by Wagner, over an ever-moving
orchestration. The story of the frail Mélisande and her adulterous love for her
brother-in-law is a mix of reality and interior mystery. An acquired taste –
but well worth acquiring.
36 The Bartered Bride
Bedrich Smetana Prague, Czech Repulbic, 1866
Smetana took several
attempts to get his gentle, catchily tuneful comedy right. Folk-inspired
dances, a drinking song and a story of young lovers thwarted by an official
betrothal make this an engaging Czech tale of village life. That said, for
today's tastes the stammering simpleton Vasek, butt of village humour, may be
seen as too mean a characterisation for comfort.
37 Boris Godunov
Modest Mussorgsky St Petersburg, Russia, 1874
Experts still argue
over which version of Mussorgsky's historical epic is definitive. The reluctant
Boris, filled with foreboding and guilt for a murder, is appointed tsar. The
people grow hungry and rebellious. Pretenders vie for the throne. Boris becomes
deranged, the soul of Russia – expressed through anguished choruses – troubled.
This is one of the Russian operatic greats.
38 Eugene Onegin
Pyotr Ilyich
Tchaikovsky Moscow, Russia, 1879
Among the most
intimate and heart-rending of operas, this setting of Pushkin's verse tale has
a spectacular birthday ball, a duel and, early on, the Letter Scene, in which
the impetuous young Tatyana pours out her heart to the cold Onegin.
Tchaikovsky's understanding of the human heart is all-encompassing, his music
full of warmth and pathos.
39 The Queen of Spades
Pyotr Ilyich
Tchaikovsky St Petersburg,
Russia, 1890
After Pushkin's
story, complete with two suicides and a ghost, the former gambler of the title,
an old woman now close to death, holds the secret of winning at cards. Her
granddaughter Lisa falls in love with a young officer, Hermann, who is
desperate to learn that secret. A hot-blooded thriller set to impassioned
music.
40 Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Dmitri Shostakovich Moscow, Russia, 1934
Attacked in a Pravda
article as being "chaos instead of music", Lady Macbeth was forgotten
until the 1960s, but its vital importance to modern opera is now recognised.
While her husband is away, the bored, frustrated Katerina Izmailova murders her
father-in-law and takes a lover. A tragic soap opera unfolds. Only a remote
connection with Shakespeare.
41 War and Peace
Sergei Prokofiev Moscow, Russia, 1944
Oppressed by the
Soviet authorities as so often in his career, Prokofiev had to add heroic
choruses and marches to satisfy his political overlords, and never lived to
hear a complete performance of his opera in five acts, based on Tolstoy's epic
novel. Despite the attractions of The Fiery Angel, and the comic Love for Three
Oranges, this is his most successful opera.
42 The Rake's Progress
Igor Stravinsky Venice, Italy, 1951
To a libretto by WH
Auden and Chester Kallman, Stravinsky's opera is inspired by William Hogarth's
engravings. Tom Rakewell falls under the spell of Nick Shadow, and opts for a
sybaritic life of easy riches. But Nick is the devil. Tom ends up penniless and
mad in Bedlam. Watch the DVD of Glyndebourne's 1975 staging with sets by David
Hockney.
43 Jenůfa
Leoš Janáček Brno, Czech Republic, 1904
Together with Katja
Kabanova, The Cunning Little Vixen and The Makropoulos Case, Jenůfa has been
restored to the mainstream repertoire. Janáček's singular musical style and
piercing understanding of his female heroines, who face shocking dilemmas, has
struck a chord today. In Jenůfa, a child is born in secret; a stepmother
(Kostelnička) fearing scandal, drowns the baby. Guilt rips through a Czech
village community.
44 Bluebeard's Castle
Béla Bartók Budapest, Hungary, 1918
Chilling and
enigmatic, Bluebeard is a psycho-drama for two voices about a lonely man who
brings home his new bride, Judith, but will not reveal his past. She demands
that he unlock the doors of his castle. Blood, money, a lake of tears and other
wives lurk behind them. The score is ravishing, the impact disturbing.
45 Wozzeck
Alban Berg Berlin, Germany, 1925
The subject matter –
based on Georg Büchner's play Woyzeck about a victimised soldier –
is brutal, dark and modernist in mood. Yet Berg's score glitters with a
warmth and lyricism, which has established it as a masterpiece of the early
avant garde. In 2001, Birmingham Opera Company mounted a community version in a
warehouse, renaming it Votzek; it was a sellout, its story instantly comprehensible.
46 Porgy and Bess
George Gershwin New York, US, 1935
Hailed as a true
American opera, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward, the plot is
about the crippled Porgy and his Bess in the poor American deep south. Every
folk-jazz inspired number is a hit: A Woman is a Sometime Thing, Leavin' for
the Promised Land, Bess, You is My Woman Now and, best known of all,
Summertime. Confused issues of racism linger.
47 Peter Grimes
Benjamin Britten London, UK, 1945
Ranked by many as
one of the best operas of the 20th century, Britten's tale of the violent
social-outcast fisherman, taken from George Crabbe's poem The Borough, is
heart-rending and majestic. The orchestral Sea Interludes are frequently
heard separately as concert pieces. The title role was created for Britten's
partner, tenor Peter Pears.
48 The Turn of
the Screw
Benjamin Britten Venice, Italy, 1954
It's hard to choose
a second representative Britten opera, from the equally enjoyable Billy Budd,
Midsummer Night's Dream, Albert Herring or Death in Venice. But his setting of
Henry James's ghost tale, The Turn of the Screw, about a governess, the
two children in her care and two dead servants, makes this chamber opera one of
the most dramatically appealing. It also makes you think twice about seeing
and believing
49 King Priam
Michael Tippett Coventry, UK 1962
Tippett's operas to
his own libretti – including Midsummer Marriage and The Knot Garden – haven't
yet found their way back into fashion but there's some exquisite music; their
time will come. His retelling of the tragedy of Priam, King of Troy, is
intense, violent, poignant and highly original.
50 Le Grand Macabre
György Ligeti Stockholm, Sweden, 1978
Opening with a blast
of four car horns, Ligeti's farce is mercurial, fast moving and eclectic. The
Grand Macabre announces that at midnight the world will end. When the time
arrives, no one's quite sure whether Armageddon has occurred or not so they
party on, accepting there's no escape from death.
Form this information I will look into more and will find interesting quotes that can be used in my work.
