My husband told me the other night that he really enjoys listening to opera music. (We listen to a classical station when we go to bed, and some opera piece came on the radio). I was floored that he liked that sort of music, I just never knew he liked it. I do know that he doesn’t know much about it, he just enjoys it when it happens to come on the station when we’re in bed.
Anyway, I don’t know much about opera, but I thought I’d get him some sort of CD for Christmas, because I know it’s not something that he’ll research and buy for himself.
So does anyone have any thoughts on what CD’s to look for? Can I get this stuff on Amazon.com??
Please keep in mind that I really don’t know a THING about opera.
As far as a specific opera, Bizet’s <i>Carmen</i> is a always a good strarting point, as many of the melodies should already be familiar. It’s arguably the most popular opera.
There are a number of approaches to building a CD collection of opera. Yes, it is available on Amazon.
Here’s what I would do, call the classical station and ask what was played the night of his comment. You could get him a collection CD of that and various other arias.
If it was a famous singer (Callas, Terfel, Nilsson) you might want to buy a CD by that artist singing a variety of arias from different operas.
There are a number of interesting CD’s that are a good introduction to opera. I recommend trying something titled great opera choruses or something similar, I always see this in the bargain bin at the mall. The choruses are usually great and overlooked, they are also great for new listeners and a good way to become interested in a specific opera or composer. If you like a tune from Verdi’s Rigoletto, you are likely to enjoy anything by Verdi and the exploration begins.
I try to avoid any CD that is titled something like opera without voices, the music is usually well performed but missing the singing which makes it astounding.
It is difficult to make a specific recommendation. Carmen by Bizet has the most famous tunes of any opera I know. Verdi just writes great melodies. Mozart and Handel have a very specific style that is the epitome for some singers. Wagner is thick and amazing but hard to understand for a beginner and sometimes shunned for a lifetime. Richard Strauss is unjustifiably ignored by most Americans but is really terrific.
Puccini is my favorite opera composer. Puccini’s La Boheme is probably a very good bet. Good story, sympathetic characters, and it’s in the news again thanks to both Rent and Baz Luhrmann’s production. My other favorite Puccini opera is Madame Butterfly.
Other than that, I second the Carmen recommendation.
You can try one of those opera for beginners CDs. Tracks on it are likely to include:
Intermezzo - Cavalleria Rusticana
Overture - Nozze di Figaro
Habanera - Carmen
Ride of the Valkyries - Die Walkurie
Vesti la Giubba - Pagliacci
Brindisi - La Traviata
As well as other famous arias from operas such as La Boheme, Tosca, Aida, etc. Something along these lines should give you an introduction to the more famous pieces and hopefully you should recognize a few of the tracks, too (many of the more famous songs can be heard in commercials, movies, and TV).
If you can, go see an opera. While the music is often the most famous part of an opera, my opinion is that you need to see it also to truly understand why opera is a whole experience.
I would stick away from Wagner for a starter. While he might be the best opera composer ever, it’s definitely not for beginners.
Don’t forget about Rossini. His operas were the pop music of the day - fun, light, playful, easy to get into quickly. His opera The Barber of Seville is where that famous number that you’ve probably heard parodied in endless cartoons comes from “Figaro, figaro, figaro…”
I would go with that one, or Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
I must admit I’m not really that well-versed in opera though. What I would probably do is check CD sites like Amazon, search for opera compilations and read reviews. Then, hubby can know where to go in the future based on the tracks from that that catch his ear.
I always like to prescribe Verdi’s La Traviata for beginners, as most of the best arias are in the first act. Opera can get pretty long, so this one is good if you run out of gas before the second half.
Another good thing to do is to rent one of Zefferelli’s opera movies. I believe he has done the aforementioned La Traviata and Pagliacci, and both are lovely to look at as well as to listen to. For all I know, he has filmed others, but I’m unaware of them.
Oh, I’d LOVE to go to an opera, but I live in a small town in Missouri. haha So an opera trip is probably not in my immediate future.
That does pose another question though: I’m interested in knowing the words to the songs. Or rather, the translations of them so that I understand what is happening.
One thing to remember is that opera is like rock or country or any other type of music: even within the same genre, you’ll find a huge variety. Collectively, I can say that I do like opera. But I’ve been to a couple that put me right to sleep.
That being said, the best thing to do is probably what a couple of others here have mentioned. Pick up a couple of compilations. The “opera for beginners” CDs you’ll find at any music store are usually pretty good for getting an idea of which composers, which operas, and which soloists suit your tastes. Even though I’ve been into opera for some time, I really enjoyed the Opera for Dummies book, which does come with a CD.
As a side note: if you buy an entire opera CD set, it will usually come with a libretto, translated into several languages. The “opera for beginners” sets don’t always do that.
I agree with the suggestions for going to the basics.
You might also want to treat yourselves to the film Moonstruck. Although it is not about opera, it is about someone who loves opera, especially La Boheme, and the movie is filled with a combination of music from that opera and Italian music. Cher won and Oscar for this role and the movie is priceless!
I began with Wagner.
No soprano plucks a dagger from her heart and sings for 45 minutes.
The Ring is about man vs. authority and Kant and Neitzesche, that guy whose name I can’t spell, and stuff like that.
There are also some damn good sword fights.
It was Reisenwerk, a mixture of Opera and acting and art, and I’d hate to see someone avoid it.
Oh yes, you could read George Bernard Shaw’s Perfect Wagnerite.
Tristan and Isolde-The perfect German love story. Everybody who counts, dies.
I would have to agree with Moe on Wagner. If Die Walküre had been the first opera I had gone to see instead of the second, it would likely have been the last. Sure, it was thrilling at first, but it just went on and on and on and on…
The first opera I did see was Price Igor by Borodin, which hooked me for life. But then I’ve always been partial to the Russian romantics.
Of course, as with everything else in the arts, it’s all a matter of taste. De gustibus non disputandum est
Well, I’m not saying people should avoid it, just not begin their journey through the world of opera with it.
By saying “you began…” do you mean “saw it live”, or simply that the first opera you heard was Wagner and you liked it? If you saw it live, I can certainly imagine someone getting caught up in the drama of it all and really enjoying it. As you say, Wagner is not fluffy cheesy romance stories or soap opera (snicker) -like melodrama (most of the time).
If you heard a recording and got into it right away, well I’m impressed. Wagner’s style is not very easy on the unprepared ear. He often composed long, dissonant, unresolved harmony for the purposes of creating dramatic tension. Musical themes are often cleverly interwoven with one another, and sometimes there are many happening at the exact same time, not easy for the average ear to keep track of. Furthermore those themes (called leitmotives) are often directly linked with characters/emotions/specific ideas in the story and thus are part of the way the story is told.
Now, of course you do not need to be aware of all this to enjoy it. But Wagner has got some pretty complex stuff going on and understanding it absolutely affects one’s aesthetic experience of it. YMMV.
The only Wagner I’ve seen live is a concert Act I Die Walkure, where the singers were not in costume and seated on the stage.
The leitmotives are how you keep track of what is going on, or what Wotan is talking about in that admittedly long scene with Brunnhilde in Die Walkure.
I went from a greatest hits LP to the 1955 Radio Italy recording of the Ring, then Solti and the Vienna.
Just in case anybody is thinking of renting Moonstruck now, a warning: Make sure you have plenty of snacks on hand! The people in that movie are always eating, and the food all looks delicious; if you don’t have some cheese ‘n’ crackers or something you will be ravenous by the time the movie’s over.
Beyond the music, itself, the important thing to remember about opera is that it generally involves a tenor and a soprano who want to make love, but a baritone won’t let them.
