What is your favorite opera? (The music, not soap operas)

The Young and The Restless. Oops! I read the question to fast. I thought it read ‘what is your favorite soap opera’. Sorry…I’ll get back to this question later:\.

@AmWiser Hahahahahahahahaha, that was too funny.

I changed the question in your honor :P

Seriously, I’m sorry. Hangs head in shame.:p
But the clarification will help everyone else :0)

I figure I’d really dig operas, but ghosts freak me the shit out, and strangulation….

Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”. Saw it last year at the met opera.
Favorite song

@Michael_Huntington Ahhh! One of my favorites! I’ve actually performed this!

I wouldn’t call myself a fan, but I went to see Don Giovanni a couple of years ago and it was awesome. So funny, and moreso if you can understand the lyrics :)

@Seelix Don Giovanni was actually a great opera. I understood it partially, my Italian is bad :(

I loved La Boheme at San Francisco opera, especially “Si, mi chiamo Mimi”.

I also loved La Rondine.

@zenvelo La Boheme is definitely in my top 5!

Don Geovonni (although I’m not to big on opera)

Habenera from Carmen.

Don Giovanni
The Magic Flute
The Barber of Seville
Cosi fan Tutti
La Traviata
The Marriage of Figaro
La Boheme
Madam Butterfly

At the moment, it’s Turandot. Aria: Nessun Dorma. Super titles helped a lot as I finally realized what Ping, Pang and Pong were nattering on about. Favorite performance: San Francisco Opera with Joan Sutherland and (I think) Luciano Pavarotti. I know I heard each of them in that opera. I’m not sure they sang in the same production.

@Sunny2 Sutherland and Pavarotti were in the same production! One of my favorites as well.

I don’t listen to much opera, and don’t know titles and such, but I really like the opera that Tom Hanks’ character is listening to in the movie “Philadelphia”.

@yankeetooter: I think that the opera was “Andrea Chénier” and I know that Maria Callas was singing.

Info is verified:

“La mamma morta”
(from the opera “Andrea Chénier”)
Composed by Umberto Giordano
Performed by Maria Callas
With Tullio Serafin Conducting The Philharmonic Orchestra

Thank you @gailcalled . I’ve always loved that music!

I go through phases. Lately I’ve been listening to Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Stravinsky Persephone. But I’ve been in a bit of an odd mood lately.

La Boheme and this song.

It’s cliche, but La Boheme is definitely one of my favorites. As are Carmen, Tosca, L’Elisir d’Amore, La Traviata, Boris Godunov, Eugene Onegin, and most recently, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.

Carmen has been my favourite opera for years.

Phantom of the Opera
I’m surprised that I’m first with that one.
I’m learning Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music on the piano.
Given my poor knowledge of the definition of “opera”, if it is even considered an opera, or maybe more than one opus if you want to be literal, I like Pictures At an Exhibition by modest mussorgsky.

@dxs:Phantom of the Opera is a Broadway musical. The singers, although trained, are not opera singers. The story line is spoken rather than sung, in what is called “recitative” in opera.

PIctures is a wonderful suite of 10 pieces for piano, and is used by pianists to raise sparks from the keyboard. It has been transposed for orchestra but never for singers, as far as I know. It is descriptive music..i.e., following a story line (sort of).

Try learning about opera; Carmen is the perfect one for losing your virginity. A colorful tale of lust, corruption, revenge, smuggling, innocence, betrayal, the military, smoking, and murder, and all in beautiful accessible music, much of which will sound very familiar.

It’s rather difficult for me to choose, but I’d say my favorites are probably:

Mozart – Don Giovanni
Monteverdi – L’incoronazione di Poppea
Offenbach – La belle Hélène
Berg – Wozzeck

My favorite single aria, however, is certainly Dido’s lament (“When I am laid in earth”) from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.

@SavoirFaire Ahh, I haven’t heard Dido’s Lament in FOREVER. So beautiful. Sweet emotion just pours out of it!

@gailcalled Good suggestions. I remember Carmen was the first opera I listened to/performed!

@gailcalled
but the plural of opus is opera :)

@dxs: I know that is true for the Latin. Opus and opera are used for instrumental pieces but not idiomatically for grand or light opera.

Beethoven’s violin concerto, opus 61.

But one always refers to an opera as an opera. And the plural is operas; Mozar wrote many operas and many opuses.

Edit; Mozart

@gailcalled
I know that, I just put a disclaimer in my post that if I was wrong, change the meaning of opera to opera (pl. of opus), so no need for your correction

@dxs But then it’s not an answer to the question.

@SavoirFaire
well at least it was an attempt…

@dxs Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Meistersinger_von_Nuernberg