Top 10 Greatest Operas
Published on April 30, 2008 - 64 Comments
I, like JFrater, am a lover of opera and have performed in a few as well. Here is my list of the 10 best operas of all time. The items are picked through online voting and my own personal preferences, here ya go! [JFrater would like to publicly protest the exclusion of any 20th Century operas, but defers to the wisdom of the contributor.]
This one is on the list only because it is the first opera ever written! Though almost none of it survives today, I believe the first of anything should be on a list! (Many historians, and JFrater, believe Hildegard von Bingen’s 12th century “Ordo virtutum” is the first opera, but it is not known if it was ever staged, Daphne was). The clip above is not from Daphne, but Peri’s music is very hard to find, so this is a clip of a counter-tenor singing an excerpt from Invocazione di Orfeo.
This, although not well known or well liked, is one of my favorite German operas. Inspired by German folk music and the romantic ideals of the day. It is the story of a man who sells his soul to the Devil so he can shoot straighter and win the heart of a woman. But, as in many cases, he dies. The Wolf Glen Scene is very creepy and awesome.
From Largo al Factotum to the amazing overture, it has one of the most recognizable first 10 minutes of any opera. This is about a man named Count Almaviva trying to win the heart of a beautiful girl, with the help of Figaro, the local barber.
The story takes place in Japan in the 1890’s. Tamaki Miura became famous for her part in this opera! This is about a young Geisha woman named Butterfly and her love triangle with Lt. Pinkerton and Suzuki.
This is a two act opera based on Don Juan. Motzart is famous for having both comedy and dramatics in his operas and this is no different. It also contains one of my favorite operatic scenes where Don Giovanni doesn’t repent for his sins and is sent to hell, great part!
This story follows the courtesan Violletta and her love of a man named Alfredo. She has Tuberculosis and is dying. Sadly, as in most operas, she dies and it takes a long time. She dies in the arms of her love Alfredo. Some very beautiful and amazing arias throughout this work. Fantastic!
This is technically more than one opera, but has been shoved together as one. It is the longest opera ever written. The four operas are called:
Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold)
Die Walküre (The Valkyrie)
Siegfried
Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods)
As you will see in the clip above, the Ring Cycle contains some of the greatest and most well known of Wagner’s music.
Part two of the three part series of Figaro (leading off with Rossini’s Barber of Seville or #9). This opera takes place entirely in one day in Count Almaviva’s Palace. It is famous for its mistaken identities and wonderful comedy woven throughout the opera, and of course the overture.
The opera of Carmen the Gypsy girl and her love of Don Jose. Like most operas, the love doesn’t last long and they start fighting and Carmen is killed in the end. Famous for its overture, the Song of the Toreador, and Habanera!
It is the most performed and most well liked opera of this and probobly any time! It is the inspiration for the musical “Rent!” and is similar in many ways, except they don’t have AIDS they have TB, well Mimi does and she of course dies.
Feel free all of you opera lovers to start arguing and I’m sure there will be a blood bath over this one. Sadly for some, I couldn’t find a good recording sorry, but I hope this suffices.
Contributor: Schiesl
Related ListsTop 10 Stunning 20th Century Operas10 Astonishing American Classical Pieces Top 10 Rock Operas 10 Great Opera Performances |
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1. stevenh - April 30th, 2008 at 2:48 am
Schiesl:
I am always learning something new here.
Great List, Great Clips
2. DiamondDragon - April 30th, 2008 at 3:08 am
I love opera very much and this list is great! And I agree, it’s bloody hard to find a good recording of these songs!
Will opera disappear completaly soon?
I hope not.. let opera live!!
3. Diamond Dragon - April 30th, 2008 at 3:15 am
Great list! And I agree, it’s bloody hard to find good recordings of opera music these days
And Daphne fascinated me! The oldest opera? I never knew! Fantastic!
Well thanks for this list!
4. Diamond Dragon - April 30th, 2008 at 3:18 am
Sorry about the double post, the first post didn’t appear until now even though I went to another page and then back to this page
5. Aaron - April 30th, 2008 at 3:27 am
Thank you so much, I love this list and I can’t wait to go through it more. I love that clip from Don Giovanni, I’m really excited to see the clip from La Boheme because I just saw it, and have kind of fallen in love it. A lot of great choices here. I WANT TO SEE THEM ALL!
6. carpe_noctem - April 30th, 2008 at 3:48 am
Amazing list, well done! I love von Weber’s opera, it’s very very underrated by today’s operatic standards. And I must say, I was very surprised that you didn’t choose “Un Bel Di” as your showcase piece for Madame Butterfly!
Out of the ten you have in this list, the only disagreement I have is that the Barber of Seville is so low on the list. I think it deserves a higher place, if only because of how well known it is! And I was also surprised to see Don Giovanni instead of The Magic Flute (which i personally despise) and Cosi Fan Tutti. But overally, an amazingly detailed and well thought out list, well done! This must’ve been a difficult list, given that you’ll have many many criticisms if you’ve you’ve left off someone’s favourite aria from Turandot or that Flower Duet song from Lakme’s opera, but seriously, well done on getting it down to just ten!
I do however agree with Jfrater, some 20th century opera could have nicely rounded this off, I know many people disagree, but I think Alban Berg’s Wozzeck is among the best of 20th century Opera, however the omission of Benjamin Britten, Igor Stravinsky, Dmitri Shostakovitch (much more known for his other works) AND Karlheinz Stockhausen is unforgivable! I’m not saying have them all, but at least one!
Great work, do another one!
7. dangorironhide - April 30th, 2008 at 4:19 am
I haven’t been to see any operas performed, but I’ve played plenty of overtures from them, and some parts of the ‘Le Cid’ opera. It’s been over 2 years since I’ve seen the intro to ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ overture & I can still remember how to play the intro!
Good list
8. Bass - April 30th, 2008 at 4:26 am
Very good list. It’s nice to see some more musical lists coming back.
9. warrrreagl - April 30th, 2008 at 4:34 am
The best part about these opera lists is that I have a one-stop shop for links to show my Music Appreciation classes. Thanks for all this!
10. DiscHuker - April 30th, 2008 at 5:26 am
i have to put opera in the same category of beer, sushi, coffee and rush; things i have tried to like but my senses just won’t allow it.
i have no doubt that these are good choices and representative of the best the art has to offer. my ears just don’t appreciate this particular form of music.
11. jake ryder - April 30th, 2008 at 5:32 am
personally would have put Carmen first but still love the list.
12. GForce - April 30th, 2008 at 5:33 am
This is title “Greatest Operas” but for number 9 you said its not well know or well liked. Then how does it quality as one of the greatest?
13. Sergej - April 30th, 2008 at 5:42 am
i would prefer Tosca as Puccinis No1, and then, it is difficult to say which 10 to take, because you can always find ten more, that deserve to be in the first 10. (Donizetti’s Elissir d’amore, or Lucia, Bellini’s Norma, Verdi with at least 8 more operas with great quartet in Rigoletto, or male duett in Don Carlo, even an Operette Die Fledermaus (The Bat) with second greatest overture, behind the Barber…)
But, i accept Your choice, it is a good one.
14. playyahplay - April 30th, 2008 at 5:46 am
Wonderful List and I could listen to that women sing Carmen for the rest of my life and be perfectly content. Like most ppl of my generation I know most of these aria thanks to Looney Tunes. Sadly, the FCC doesn’t like Looney tunes so my children can’t enjoy this music the way I first did, in a format that amused and enlightened, since some of the imagery is considered “racially insensitive”. Of course, if the FCC knew Latin, German, and Italian none of us could hear any of this music again.
15. Rocknopera - April 30th, 2008 at 6:12 am
No Turandot?
16. DiscHuker - April 30th, 2008 at 6:12 am
playyahplay: you are right about the looney toons connection. i never thought about it before but now that you mention it, i do recall seeing elmer fudd in a barber’s chair with bugs bunny slapping his head with his ears to the tune of figaro.
on a seperate note (no pun intended), and i mean this question seriously, what is it about opera that i should like? what, for you fans out there, makes it so enjoyable?
it is hard to convey tone while i am just typing. i don’t mean these as accusatory questions, just seeking information from some more educated in this field than i am.
17. Alan Andrew - April 30th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Where the hell is Aida?????
18. playyahplay - April 30th, 2008 at 6:27 am
DiscHuker: Opera rouses an emotion in your soul. It doesn’t matter if u understand the lyrics, the music itself conveys the feelings of the scene. The way club music makes you line dance or shake your booty meat opera can make you feel sad or joyous with just music. Listen to the Carmen clip again with eyes closed and soul open to see what emotions are brought forth. Thats why I like opera…I want to feel something inside.
19. Callie - April 30th, 2008 at 6:40 am
I danced in the ballet version of Carmen in college…great music
20. SlickWilly - April 30th, 2008 at 6:50 am
My only operatic experience was sitting through the first 45 of Marriage of Figaro before becoming violently ill with food poisoning. I felt really terrible because I was on a date with my girlfriend at the time. Eh, easy come, easy go, I guess.
21. Daniel - April 30th, 2008 at 6:55 am
Correction:
Mozart did not write the operas, he composed the music played for the operas. The writers of the operas paid him and,so, he did his job: write music.
22. Mom424 - April 30th, 2008 at 7:02 am
I’m with Dischuker on this one. My musical theatre tastes generally run to Porgy and Bess, or Oklahoma, or The Mikado, or South Pacific.
My Aunt took me to the opera when I was a teenager/young adult, and although I didn’t really get the music, the spectacle was amazing. The rumbling in the chest from the power of the orchestra was moving as well. Great list, I’m learning something.
I like the #10 pick, sounds much like a hymn, which I do
understand and appreciate.
Re looney tunes, The alum in the breath spray, classic Bugs comedy. Elmer Fudd was in one too. Kill the Rabbit, Kill the Rabbit!
23. alf - April 30th, 2008 at 7:19 am
No Pagliacci? What about Carmina Burana? Given the popularity of Fortuna Imperitux Mundi in modern movies and commercials, it seems a travesty to leave it out in favor of giving Figaro 2 slots (especially after giving Wagner’s Rings only one).
24. mariposa - April 30th, 2008 at 7:28 am
mom 424, porgy and bess is an opera. And i know early on (basically before rossini) the Librettist (the person who wrote the words) where much better paid and above the actual composer. I did the “By: Motzart” or whoever because you know them much better then the librettist.
25. mariposa - April 30th, 2008 at 7:29 am
sorry, this is supposed to be schiesl, I’m at my friends house, haha
26. AngieWangieMangie - April 30th, 2008 at 7:38 am
I completely agree with having La Bohème as number one but… How about Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte or Verdi’s Il Trovatore or Offenbach’s Les Contes de Hoffmann or Donozetti’s Lucia de Lammermoor? Oh! And let us not forget about Rigoletto and Turandot!!! Or how about every opera Puccini made
And also Dvorak’s Rusalka should be in this list…
Oh, well… I suppose a second list won’t harm anyone, will it?
27. Kreachure - April 30th, 2008 at 7:43 am
Indeed, the Looney Tunes had several shorts which used famous opera music, including some from this list’s choices. They sometimes used it as background music (very, very common). And other times they were the subject of the plot, such as “The Rabbit of Seville” where Elmer Fudd chased Bugs while performing several operatic scenes (from ‘Barber’, obviously).
Other classic WB shorts include “Long-Haired Hare”, where Bugs clashes with an opera singer while performing many classic opera songs; “What’s Opera, Doc?” with music from Wagner; and “O Silly Mio”, with themes from Carmen (okay, that last one is from Animaniacs, but it’s still pretty awesome like the rest).
I must confess I grew attached to all these operas thanks to Warner Brothers cartoons, and I’m guessing I’m not the only one.
28. Cedestra - April 30th, 2008 at 10:06 am
I recently started getting into opera, mainly due to my friend/coworker’s training and love for the music. We had one night at work where we were playing several different opera clips, including the Rabbit of Seville
16. DiscHuker- What makes opera loveable? I actually don’t listen to music, initially, for the lyrics. What grabs me to a song is the composition, then later I try to figure out what the artist meant by writing it. I listen to opera and hear the voice masterfully used to convey emotion, tell a story, and deliver music. These people were trained for years; these were the guitar shredders of pre-modern years. Although, that’s quite a crass comparison: most hair guitarists were only playing for a few years before putting together some cheesy song involving blatant innuendo. (I don’t appreciate 80’s Hair music, sorry.)
What *really* gets me about opera is unprofessional people singing with such raw talent:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K2EA8SWhh8
I cannot watch these without crying.
29. Mom424 - April 30th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Cedestra; Paul Potts made me cry too. Put those bullies in their proper place. (he was picked on mercilessly)
30. Dan - April 30th, 2008 at 10:16 am
I’ve recently gotten into opera, and I’ve listened to a few of these (La Boheme is my favorite). What struck me about it was the combination of a compelling story and singing. It has the drama or humor or sadness of a play plus the incredible beauty of music/singing. The first aria I ever heard was Ave Maria, sung by Pavarotti. I was caught off guard by his voice, and started crying because I knew I had found something beautiful, and I’ve been listening to Pavarotti, and other tenors (my favorite) ever since! Great list!
31. schiesl - April 30th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Dan, or anybody really. If you like pavarotti or beautiful singing. His Nessun Dorma is absolutly moving. I had it as a bonus on this list but wasn’t added. So here is Pavarotti’s Nessun Dorma from Puccini’s “Turandot”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VATmgtmR5o4
32. jfrater - April 30th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Hey all - just wanted to let you know that I am home from my holidays!
33. Kreachure - April 30th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Well hey there! Welcome back, you!
34. Kreachure - April 30th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Well, not that you left ‘us’ or anything…
35. Lizim - April 30th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Carmen is my favorite opera of all time. I remember sitting in my grandpa’s living room with him when I was about 7 listening to the record over and over again. It was hypnotizing.
I was luck that when I was older my husband remembered me telling him about that special time with my grandpa and on our honeymoon he took me to see the it. It was truly one of the best nights of my life.
36. Hans - April 30th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Great list! I would say the Magic Flute needs a spot…i feel like it has made such an impression on the opera world.
Diskhuker: I personally find that not all opera is exciting and breathtaking…if it was then it would be pretty boring. I listen for moments of harmonic perfection: Where it the melodies and orchestra and everything culminate into an awe inspiring moment that gives you (or at least me) chills. That’s is one of the reasons I love opera.
37. John - April 30th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Die Zauberflöte…the only opera almost everybody can appreciate and love opera fan or not. It’s so good.
38. JayArr - April 30th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Most opera, like coffee and Rush, hurts my tummy and my ears… for me, the most palatable versions thereof are definitely via B.Bunny and E.Fudd.
Acknowledging the list as superb, I nonetheless prefer the instrumental and cartoon versions of most operatic venues.
39. Csimmons - April 30th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
I know the barber one because i heard it from Looney Tunes yesterday, man, I need a life
40. Ruairi - April 30th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
I saw the Merry Widow on friday night, though i think that counts more as an operetta
41. BrotherMan - April 30th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Jamie Frater:
Please, provide your ListVersers with a sound clip of your muscial vocalisation from any opera.
If you would read the last comment on your Top 10 Unanswered Questions list I would be personally appreciative. I think others would enjoy that as well.
42. goof_ball - April 30th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
woo hoo opera! eh i actually dont care that much about opera
43. BrotherMan - April 30th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
The Marriage of Figaro hurts me….terribly. I feel the hurt within the left side of my bosom.
Thank you, Scheisl!
44. lrose103 - April 30th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Hi there, first post on ListVerse but I’ve been reading for a while! I just had to add something to this list since I’m a huge opera buff; my absolute favorite opera of all time is Lakhme, by Bizet (same composer who wrote Carmen). Gorgeous melodies and gripping,tragic plot - the best combination. The duet ‘Dome epais de jasmin’ is famous, and lesser known is the aria known as the ‘Bell Song’. If you can find a recording of Natalie Dessay singing that, you will be blown away. I really enjoy the site - keep the lists coming!
45. Al - April 30th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Every list needs more Zauberflöte. I may be a tiny bit biased because I’m a German major, and because it was the first opera I ever saw live and because I have a teensy obsession with Diana Damrau, but still. Other favorites include: Lakhme, Carmen, anything by Wagner (also have a teensy obsession with Wagnerian sopranos), Lucrezia Borgia, Lucia di Lammermoor, Samson and Delilah, Pagliacci, Madama Butterfly, Faust, La forza del destino and last and kind of least the Rape of Lucretia, I tend to not like modern and English operas but I really like that one. Bottom line, I like Soprano arias with lots of volume and emotion. Sorry for the wall’o'text but I just LOVE opera.
46. treypole - May 1st, 2008 at 11:44 am
I like opera because they’re all about sex. Except for German or Russian opera, which are about being German or Russian.
alf: while Carmina Burana is one of the best vocal pieces ever written, it’s not an opera.
47. Kelsi - May 1st, 2008 at 1:16 pm
I listened to all these clips at least like…4 or 5 times yesterday (my laptop died, so I need more music to listen to) and I especially enjoyed that aria from Carmen. What a pleasure to watch and listen to! Thank you for this list, and introducing me to real opera.
48. Namowal - May 1st, 2008 at 4:53 pm
I’d swap Aida with La Traviata, and work Tosca in the list. Maybe Salome too. And then there’s Cavalleria Rusticana
But that’s just me…
49. Steve T. - May 1st, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Daniel: You really sell Mozart short by saying he just wrote the music. Just?!?!? Take The Marriage of Figaro. The original French play by Beaumarchais was so politically incendiary, so contemptuous of the nobility, that it was banned from public performance throughout Europe. Mozart’s librettist Lorenzo da Ponte solved that problem by ruthlessly cutting the play and taking the contempt out. Then Mozart put it all back in. For example, the arrogance of Count Almaviva is not to be found in the words of the libretto, which is all the official censor had to go by. But it’s clear as day in Mozart’s music. Same with the Count’s servant Figaro’s intent to humiliate his noble lecher of a master, which in the 18th century was appalling insubordination in a commoner. The words of his aria “se vuol ballare” are mild as milk, but the music makes Figaro’s seething fury unmistakable.
And yes, I was a music major and wrote a paper on this in college.
BTW, any votes for Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier?
50. schiesl - May 1st, 2008 at 7:44 pm
I love Richard Strauss, but i find his sonata’s to be better then the opera’s. That is why he is not on this list
51. KingoftheHorizon - May 2nd, 2008 at 9:29 am
I love george bizet’s stuff
Im always looking for sheet music of his pieces from operas and suites to play on piano(some would be adapted)
52. Algodon - May 2nd, 2008 at 11:05 am
why does everyone use thr ride of the Valkyrie as example for Wagner. There are so many great pieces (from wagner) out there and most of them are not very well known.
53. Ember - May 2nd, 2008 at 3:40 pm
*sticks hand up*
Count me as a vote for Rosenkavalier. Plus I would have definitely had Onegin as close to the top of my list.
54. Dr.Boris - May 3rd, 2008 at 3:07 am
What about “Der fliegende Holländer” or “Parsifal” (Richard Wagner)? - they are far better than “Der Ring der Nibelungen”, I think.
55. suzi - May 7th, 2008 at 1:17 am
I’ve seen all these, some good choices. Hard to choose between La Triaviata and Rigoletto. Sad to see no Aida. It would just be impossible to get it all in 10, should have been a list of 20. Thanks for the music.
56. suzi - May 7th, 2008 at 1:18 am
Oh, and I hate to say it, but the Wagner drags for me a bit, not the featured music, but watching the whole cycle, takes a lot of devotion..
57. Drogo - May 9th, 2008 at 3:47 am
I would like to see the opera “Tommy” by the Who.
[”That deaf, dumb, and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball!”]
(I’m being a little bit of a smart aleck)
58. JJ - May 16th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
There’s no doubt that everything on the original list qualifies as great. However, I think that the following must be considered too if we’re talking about the very greatest:
Die Zauberflöte (Mozart)
Don Carlos (Verdi)
Otello (Verdi)
The Queen of Spades (Tchaikovsky)
Pelléas et Mélisande (Debussy)
Fidelio (Beethoven)
Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck)
Falstaff (Verdi)
Tristan und Isolde (Wagner)
Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky)
L’orfeo (Monteverdi)
Boris Godunov (Mussorgsky)
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner)
This probably sounds a bit heavyweight, so just to reassure you that my all-time favourite is La bohème too !
For anyone new to opera, and who wants to discover some (well, perhaps) lesser-known gems, I’d really encourage you to listen to the following as well, if you get the chance:
La fanciulla del West (Puccini)
Bluebeard’s Castle (Bartok)
Katya Kabanova (Janacek)
Manon Lescaut (Puccini)
Giulio Cesare (Handel)
Porgy & Bess (Gershwin)
L’enfant et les sortiléges (Ravel)
The Love for Three Oranges (Prokofiev)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Britten)
Dialogues des Carmélites (Poulenc)
How lucky we are to have so much wonderful music to wallow in !
59. schiesl - May 22nd, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Many different opera’s were taken into account and that is indeed the powerhouse list of ones i just didnt have room to put on this list. I had L’Orfeo on this list when i originally thought it up…but couldnt bring myself to keep the great Carl Maria Von Weber off the list. He is the father of German Opera. but very good suggestions all around
60. AndyA - June 2nd, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Oh sweet-jumpin-jeepers, I love them all, could we have a top say 200? Great catch on Porgy and Bess, finally getting the attention that it’s been lacking for a long time. Is Opera dying? Try getting a ticket to the Met (or La Scala, or…) well the list is long and distinguished. Even here in Phoenix we’ve seen the advent of a second “traditional” opera company to compliment the hugely popular Arizona Opera. Bravo!! Bravissimo!!!
61. mlw510 - June 6th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Gounod’s Faust should be on there, IMO. The problem with it is that there really isn’t anyone out there capable of singing the title role any more.
Overall I like your list, but I too, miss the Verdi (Rigoletto or Aida, either one). Cavelleria is one of the great “one hit wonders” of opera and I would have liked to have seen it included as well. I’m with you on including the Ring cycle as one opera. It’s simply monumental, though in spite of how thrilling the more famous parts of it are (like the Ride of the Valkyries), the parts I keep coming back to are the more tender ones, like when Wotan puts Brunhild to sleep or Siegmund and Sieglinde falling in love with each other.
But it’s your list, not mine, and all of your choices are great operas, for sure…
62. Hilda - June 25th, 2008 at 4:59 am
“This is about a young Geisha woman named Butterfly and her love triangle with Lt. Pinkerton and Suzuki.”
Uhm… SORRY? There is no love triangle. Lt. Pinkerton and Suzuki NEVER loved each other, he married Madam Butterfly, then left and got American wife because his marriage in Japan wasn’t counted as such in USA. Then Pinkerton and his American girl came back to take away Pinkerton and Butterfly’s son who was born during his leave.
Just a friendly advice: maybe next time you’ll try actually watching, listening and understanding something before making pretentious list to show off your lack of knowledge?
63. marios - July 1st, 2008 at 6:45 am
where is magic flute! for me the greatest work of art ever!
tristan and isolde and meistersingers are two of them!