# Individual Opera pieces that are actually good... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-opera-pieces-that-are-actually-good/368702 "2006-08-14T18:14:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-opera-pieces-that-are-actually-good/368702/1 "2006-08-14T18:14:19Z")
Pretty much everybody, in my opinion, knows four Opera pieces: _Kill the Wabbit!_ _Rabbit of Seville_ and other selections from the Barber of Seville as performed in “Long-haired Hare”. _The Singing Orange_, ie: Carmen as performed on Sesame Street (showing my age on this one). _The Diva’s Opera_ from the Fifth Element, aka: Lucia di Lammermoor I’m terribly impressed by the Diva’s Opera. The voice of the singer is frankly beautiful and the piece is itself very pretty. Even sung in Eye-Tal-Yan, I can enjoy this piece just because it’s very beautiful and sung by a beatiful voice. So, my question to your opera-enabled dopers is simply, where can I find more of this? By “This”, I mean, cherry-pick for me beautiful individual pieces from operas that I might enjoy without listening to the broader, usually more boring, IMO, opera itself. Has anybody already done this in a nice single CD collection that I could just purchase? ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-opera-pieces-that-are-actually-good/368702/2 "2006-08-14T18:41:54Z")
There are plenty of “Opera’s Greatest Hits”-type collections. Search for “opera” under classical music at [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) for a place to start. [Here](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000J9HR/sr=1-13/qid=1155580423/ref=sr_1_13/103-0386655-3175068?ie=UTF8&s=music) is one example. I don’t own this, but it looks like a nice mix, from Baroque (Handel and Purcell) to 20th century (Stravinsky and Britten), performed by some great singers and conductors. You can even listen to samples of most of the tracks. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-opera-pieces-that-are-actually-good/368702/3 "2006-08-14T19:30:20Z")
Check out \*\*[Aria\*\*](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092580/). 10 different directors, 10 different stylistic interpretations of 10 different operatic pieces (covering a range of eras, languages, etc.). A bit hit & miss, but if you get bored, there’s a generous amount of female nudity to pass the time. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-opera-pieces-that-are-actually-good/368702/4 "2006-08-14T19:32:54Z")
Sorry, I noticed you asked for CDs, and the soundtrack for the film I mentioned is OOP. However, [this](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002SQ3/sr=8-1/qid=1155583853/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-6730277-1542309?ie=UTF8) will cover some familiar ground, encompassing familiar pieces from films you’ve no doubt seen (_Apocalypse Now, Raging Bull, A Room with a View_, etc.) A friendly intro for the Operaphobic. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-opera-pieces-that-are-actually-good/368702/5 "2006-08-14T19:43:31Z")
Nessun Dorma from Puccini’s Turandot and O souverain, o juge o pere from Le Cid by Massenet are two of my favorites. They are absolutely beautiful arias for tenor voice. You might want to check out the Three Tenors albums for a nice variety of pieces, both the 1998 and the 2004 are worth having. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-opera-pieces-that-are-actually-good/368702/6 "2006-08-14T19:52:08Z")
“Der Hölle Rache” from Mozart’s Magic Flute is probably another one that most people can recognize by ear. We sent it into space on a record, I believe. It’s popularly known as the Queen of the Night aria, and is the one with all the stratospheric "ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhhhhhh!"s ---
**Author:** ![Caparazon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b782af/32.png) [@Caparazon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caparazon)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-opera-pieces-that-are-actually-good/368702/7 "2006-08-14T23:31:53Z")
Che faro ne senza Euridice - “Orpheo and Euridice” Flower Duet - “Lakme” Humming Chorus “Madame Butterfly” Eastern Hymn “Cavaleria Rusticana”