# Opinin' on Opera **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 24, 2005, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645 "2005-06-24T08:44:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/1 "2005-06-24T08:44:27Z")
Hi O Here’s a question with perhaps no set answer: does anyone have an opinion/inkling/idea on what would be the most _popular_ operas of all time? I’m not talking about light opera or operetta either. “Madame Butterfly”/ “La Boheme”/“Tosca” spring to mind, but if anyone can supply an altenative opinion I’d be grateful! mm ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/2 "2005-06-24T09:06:47Z")
Hmmmm, depends how you measure it… Most performed? Perhaps _The Barber of Seville_, or _Cosi fan tutti_. Most CD sales? You can hit Google for that one 😉 The one people answer the question ‘what’s your favourite opera’? Ditto, but it depends who you’re asking (the general public, opera audiences, etc.) However, I’m guessing Mozart would come out on top, with _Carmen_ snapping at his heels. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/3 "2005-06-24T11:31:03Z")
I’d guess _Carmen_. Of course, I hadn’t thought through the question as well as **GorillaMan** did. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/4 "2005-06-24T11:33:31Z")
(Oh, by the way, I meant _Cosi fan Tutt **e** _, not the far rarer one I mentioned 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/5 "2005-06-24T12:34:18Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > (Oh, by the way, I meant _Cosi fan Tutt **e** _, not the far rarer one I mentioned 😉 ) Which was written by Little Richard, if I’m not mistaken. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2005, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/6 "2005-06-24T12:37:26Z")
Wagner’s Ring Cycle is probably up there, too. ---
**Author:** ![IAMBIC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@IAMBIC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAMBIC)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/7 "2005-06-24T12:43:26Z")
Yeah, **GorillaMan** , that’s an interesting distinction. I guess the opera is supposed to be about what _all women do_, not about what all men do. Also, why are the names of some operas usually translated and others aren’t? _Cosi fan tutte_, but not _Die Zauberflöte_; _Cavalleria Rusticana_, but not (typically)\* Il barbiere di Siviglia\*. Anyway, there are a few ways of measuring most popular. **GorillaMan** has already mentioned Most Performed and Most CD sales. There’s also largest number of recorded performances. According to [ArkivMusic](http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/MusicList?role_wanted=8&featured=1&opera=Y), there are 67 recordings of _La Traviata_, making it number one. And the largest number of productions scheduled in a season. For example, this site, [SashaCastel](http://www.coldfury.com/Sasha/archives/002902.html), refers to a NY Times article that puts _La Boheme_ in first place in North America in the 2002 season with 207 productions scheduled. Another indicator would be: When an opera house is in financial difficulty and they need to sell as many tickets as possible, which opera will they schedule? My guess is that it would be _La Boheme_. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/8 "2005-06-24T14:10:25Z")
Both of the Mozart ones mentioned are certainly in the running–along with _Don Giovanni_–but I would have guessed _The Marriage of Figaro_ was the most popular. Or _Butterfly_, but it’s no fun choosing one that’s already in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/9 "2005-06-24T14:17:37Z")
My guess is “La Boheme” would win a “what’s the most popular opera” contest if it combined everything from ticket sales to number of performances to number of recordings to fan favorites. My favorite, “La Traviata” is probably a distant second. That’s my guess, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/10 "2005-06-24T14:21:13Z")
> [@plnnr](#): > > Which was written by Little Richard, if I’m not mistaken. You son of a … you beat me to it by _two hours_. Grumble grumble grumble … ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/11 "2005-06-24T17:25:23Z")
> [@h.sapiens](#): > > Wagner’s Ring Cycle is probably up there, too. On what measure? Certainly not on number of performances, nor on CD sales. It may be in the running for the question of the most _influential_ opera, but that’s a different matter entirely. > [@](#): > > Also, why are the names of some operas usually translated and others aren’t? Cosi fan tutte, but not Die Zauberflöte; Cavalleria Rusticana, but not (typically) Il barbiere di Siviglia. Cosi fan tutte is pretty much untranslatable. > [@](#): > > Another indicator would be: When an opera house is in financial difficulty and they need to sell as many tickets as possible, which opera will they schedule? My guess is that it would be La Boheme. I doubt it. Mozart and Rossini would be the quick-fix for a broke company - far smaller resources being needed, both onstage and in the pit. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/12 "2005-06-24T20:29:35Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Cosi fan tutte is pretty much untranslatable. _Jeopardy!_ translated it as “Everybody Does It”, which is iffy but gets the gist, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/13 "2005-06-24T20:47:14Z")
I would have guessed something by Verdi or Puccini. What would be the English translation of “Cosi fan tutte”? ---
**Author:** ![IAMBIC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@IAMBIC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAMBIC)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/14 "2005-06-24T21:14:25Z")
Literally, it means: This is the way (_Cosi_) they all (_tutte_) do it (_fan_), but in Italian, pronouns are often omitted since they’re implied by the verb’s conjugation, and “they all” has a gender: \*tutti \* means “they all” (male), or “all men”, and \*tutte \* means “they all” (female), or “all women”. As \*\*Tracy Lord \*\* points out, the Jeopardy translation gets the gist, but it misses the reference to women. Another translation could be “Women are like that”. (BTW, the e/i feminine/masculine distinction is the general rule for Italian plurals. There are exceptions, however.) ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/15 "2005-06-24T21:32:28Z")
‘Thus are all women’ is the translation I’ve felt most comfortable with. But, as **IAMBIC** says, the whole structure of the title is intertwined with Italian grammar. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/16 "2005-06-25T04:09:39Z")
I’m with **twickster** – gotta be _Carmen_ by a longshot. Not only has it been performed skillions of times, but if you take someone who’s never seen an opera and play a CD of _Carmen_ for him, odds are he’ll recognize 75% of the score. Even Oscar Madison likes it! ---
**Author:** ![percussion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@percussion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percussion)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/17 "2005-06-25T04:11:34Z")
i guess it all comes down to how we are measuing popularity… id love to say la boheme…but if you asked the regular joe where does "si, mi chiamano Mimi " comes from and your likley to get made fun of. mabye if we went with most popular opera that someone has seen/listend through that would be closer… if going for snipets of an opera, which any layman would know, thus making the opera “popular” id say The Barber of Seville, for the overture or even more popular mabye, Progy and Bess, for summertime. ---
**Author:** ![Rainbowthief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4bbf92/32.png) [@Rainbowthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rainbowthief)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/18 "2005-06-25T07:56:50Z")
_Le Nozze di Figaro_, _Der Freischütz_ and _Il Pagliacci_ are three of my very favorites, but _Carmen_, _Fidelio_, _Cosi fan tutte_ and _Il Barbiere di Siviglia_ are very popular ones. ---
**Author:** ![Rainbowthief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4bbf92/32.png) [@Rainbowthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rainbowthief)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/19 "2005-06-25T07:58:10Z")
Add _Turandot_ to the list simply because “Nessun dorma” is such a famous aria. ---
**Author:** ![IAMBIC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@IAMBIC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAMBIC)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645/20 "2005-06-25T11:08:28Z")
> [@Rainbowthief](#): > > …_Carmen_, _Fidelio_, _Cosi fan tutte_ and _Il Barbiere di Siviglia_ are very popular ones. _Fidelio_? How many people can hum a few bars from it? We’re talking _popular_, right? Carmen, yes. After all, the music was used in an episode of Gilligan’s Island. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinin-on-opera/309645.md?page=2)