If you’re like me, your only true exposure to opera was through cartoons. One of my all-time favorites is “The Rabbit of Seville“, which featured Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd (I especially love the way Bugs “massages” Elmer’s head, and then builds a fruit salad on top!). I’ll also bet many of us could hum several tunes without realizing they’re actually opera. This month, dare yourself to try a little of one of the most misunderstood and underrated musical genres. Here’s a few items to get you started:
Try NPR’s Curious Listener’s Guide to Opera for a start. It offers a short history, an accessible list of tunes, and just enough information on the plotlines to get you into trouble. Other books for beginners include Opera for Dummies (which is a tad less serious) and Opera 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Opera. For those of you with more experience, look into Getting Opera: A Guide for the Cultured but Confused or A Night at the Opera: An Irreverent Guide to the Plots, the Singers, the Composers, the Recordings. For a little art with your opera, check out Fantastic Opera by John Martinez. This is an illuminated book, with incredible pictures representing some of the most beloved operas.
Once you’ve got your feet wet, wade into our great classical music collection. Here are compilations to give you a taste of some of the most famous songs and performances:
- The Three Tenors in Concert – Carerras, Domingo, & Pavarotti
- Operatic Duets with Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti
- My Favorite Opera for Children presented by Pavarotti (for adults, too!)
- Aria: The Opera Album by Andrea Bocelli
- Opera for People Who Hate Opera (you know who you are)
- The Best Opera Album in the World- Ever!
- The Opera Lover’s Philadelphia Opera Highlights
Now you’re ready to dive into opera! Check out one of these classic operas on CD:
- Tosca by Puccini – starring the incomparable Maria Callas
- La Bohème by Puccini – the definitive recording with Luciano Pavarotti
- Madama Butterfly by Puccini – again with Pavarotti
- La Traviata by Verdi – with the legendary Placido Domingo
- Aida by Verdi – again with Domingo
- Tristan und Isolde by Wagner – starring Kirtsen Flagstad
- Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg by Wagner – with Placido Domingo
- Don Giovanni by Mozart – starring Joan Sutherland
- Cosi Fan Tutte by Mozart – done by the Royal Opera House
- Carmen by Bizet – with Jose Carreras
- Porgy and Bess by Gershwin – (my favorite, I had to put it in)
Congratulations! You have now become an amateur connoisseur of Opera. (See, it wasn’t so hard.) But in case you’re not ready to leave your new world just yet, here are a few more fun opera items:
FICTION – Novels that feature opera or singers:
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Gramercy Park by Paula Cohen
Puccini’s Ghosts by Morag Joss
Song of the Lark by Willa Cather
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INTERNET – More opera resources:
Operabase – a database of opera performances through the years
Opera-Opera – plot summaries for most operas
Opera Glass – a compendium of all sorts of opera-related items from Stanford University
The Reference Desk at TFPL 