There are not many people who have never seen part of or an entire opera. They are referenced in movies, magazines and YouTube is full of them. With shows like Britain’s Got Talent, opera singing is making more of an appearance in the younger generation today.
Top 3 Opera’s ever written according to Revisioning Callas
There are many operas that are worth mentioning but we have narrowed it down to our three favourites of all time.
Marriage of Figaro
Composer: Mozart
Written: 1786
The Marriage of Figaro was based on one of the most controversial plays of its time. Le Mariage de Figaro due to its blatant criticism of nobility was a play that was banned in many places.
Teaming up with Vienna’s city’s opera house poet, Lorenzo da Ponte, Mozart was determined to bring this comedy to life in opera form.
This opera was written by the brilliant composer soon after he had relocated to Vienna from Salzburg in 1782.
La Boheme
Composer: Puccini
Written: 1896
One of, if not the, most perfect operas which tell the timeless tale of young love. This opera has it all packed with love, drama and the tragedy of someone taken too soon. Puccini’s masterpiece is a Romeo and Juliet type tale of young love ripped apart by an untimely death.
Puccini moves the audience through romance, tragedy, dance and melodies that grip you the whole way through. The opera is sure to move you like no other as it makes you laugh, and sway to the rhythm of Musetta’s waltz at the Café Momus.
You will melt into the lover’s duet and weep along with Rudolfo as he realizes Mimi is gone.
Peter Grimes
Composer: Britten
Written: 1945
Peter Grimes is the operatic tale of a man who has terrible anger issues and is an unrealistic dreamer. The character of Peter Grimes is not really one a person much sympathizes with especially as most of the character’s apprentices end up bruised and or dead.
The opera is set in a small coastal village and was premiered not even a month after the defeat of Germany in World War II. The opera was one of Britten’s first opera’s and by the end of the 1940s, had become a worldwide hit.
Three classics that have been remastered time and time again through the decades and are still enjoyed by opera enthusiasts today.