What's a good first opera to see?

[MissGreatBritain]

DH and I have decided we should do more cultural things, and thought that as we have never been to an opera or a ballet that we should go at some point.

I would quite like to see something quite simple and emotional - could anyone make some suggestions please as I know absolutely nothing at all. Many thanks.

Also, any suggestions as to ballet would be welcome too

Tosca
La Boheme
Carmen

English National Opera sing in English.
Or there's a big production of Madame Butterfly at the Albert Hall this month, which looks good.

Another vote for Carmen. And Aida (the first I ever saw).

I'd also go with Mozart (Magic Flute would be good, or Marriage of Figaro) or something like Carmen.

Definitely not Wagner to start with (too long and a bit heavy) or anything really modern.

Barber of Seville also a good starter.

Don't bother with ballet - ballet's crap . The music is often wonderful though; go to a concert performance instead, avoid the dancing that doesn't go with the music anyway IMO

Marriage of Figaro or Carmen but WITH SURTITLES. Unless you have the time to memorise the libretto beforehand (unlikely) you will not be able to hear the words regardless of which language they are sung in and will be baffled.

It depends what style of music you like - try youtubing a few arias from whatever's going to be on locally - if you like Mozart then go Mozart, if you like Verdi/Puccini then go for one of them, and
everyone knows all the tunes from Carmen (even if you think you don't).

I haven't seen a proper opera or ballet yet :(

I'd go for Carmen first, because I know SO much of the music and therefore it'd be familiar territory!

With ballet, I would like to see the Nutcracker, again because so much of the music is very well known, and the story is simple too. I'd like to take DD (3) when she's a bit older, as she has a pop up book, a Barbie version on DVD and the full score on CD and loves it all. I would probably go for a shorter version though where they just do the main songs.

Also it's probably best to make sure it's a traditional version, personally I don't fancy the idea of a modern/interpretative version!

If you are going to ballet, then I'd recommend any if the Tchaikovsky ones (Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty) as the music is really good.

Simple and emotional:
Madam Butterfly; Tosca; Carmen; La Boheme ... though I prefer Mozart - you really can't better Don Giovanni (apart from Marriage of Figaro)

I just wanted to put in another vote for Matthew Bourne's 'Swan Lake'. In fact, any of his ballet productions would be an excellent introduction to ballet. His 'Nutcracker' was the most spellbinding performance I've ever seen.

I haven't seen many other ballets and I've only seen one opera, so I'm not an expert, but I really think he's fab!!

Another ballet 'buff' here too

I thought I was a bit of a purist when it came to ballet, love the classical stuff but have seen 2 Matthew Bourne productions as trying to 'educate' DH and now hooked.

I think I may have a bit more of a battle on my hands when it comes to Opera though.

Maybe listening to a few on CD before going to see them live will help demystify them slightly?

Just seen The Magic flute at ROH and it was brilliant. Amazing production values, sooo lavish, and beautiful music with plenty of 'catchy' tunes for the uninitiated but also lots of light hearted bits.

I'd vote for Madam Butterfly simply because it is my favourite but agree that Carmen is probably a good first one, simply because you're bound to recognise a lot of the music. First one I saw, at the age of 12 or so, was The Barber of Seville, and it hooked me so maybe that could be a good choice.

Am not so much a ballet buff but have to admit to finding watching dancers whirling across the stage quite mesmerising. Like other posters, I've particularly enjoyed Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake.

Madame Butterfly - is very easy going.

And another vote for Mathew Bourne's swan lake.

Or local Odeon shows Opera and Ballet (I believe live) and the tickets are a fair bit cheaper than actually going to the theatre. If you are not sure about what you like may be worth going to a few performances before committing to a big night out.

I'm with TheAllNewOoooh we saw The Magic Flute at the ROH too. It was our first opera and we loved it. We've listened to a good few recordings but that was the first we've actually been to see.

And it had subtitles!! Clever screen thingy above the stage.

I'd go for a Gershwin opera as:
a) the lyrics are in English
b) there will be some recognisable melodies

Porgy and Bess? Summertime and It Aint Necessarily So are in that opera.

No idea if it's on anywhere near you though! Perhaps just listen to some opera before forking out on tickets, in case you don't like it. Mind you, it's much more of an experience to hear and see it live, isn't it?

If you've never been to the ballet before I'd recommend Romeo and Juliet. The music is swooningly beautiful and the balcony scene can move you to tears.

Matthew Bourne's Lord of the Flies is getting a lot of PR at the moment in the media. Looks good.

Where abouts are you? If you're in London, Sadler's Wells has some stunning contemporary ballet and dance.

My first opera was Verdi's Macbeth done by an amateur company - which was hysterically funny, esp as Lady Macbeth was indisposed so a stand-in enacted her role whilst a second stand-in stood in the nearest theatre box and sang the part. My first proper opera after that was Peter Grimes with Opera North - modern enough and in English. I was never keen on classical opera, so we worked around it by seeing Monteverdi's Orfeo (the very earliest opera, very different), and Purcell's Dido & Aeneas (similarly). Then Puccini's Tosca was the latest we saw. Still not a huge fan and wouldn't be keen to jump in to Mozart or Wagner or any more Verdi.

Ballet - go and see Swan Lake: either the trad version or the Matthew Bourne. His versions of Cinderella and Nutcracker! are good too.

It depends a bit what kind of drama/music you like I think - I for instance actually started with Wagner (my now-DH bought tickets to Scottish Opera's ring cycle for me, about a month after we'd met, which was brave given I'd never been to an opera at that point), I loved it and have never looked back but I find Mozart a bit tedious tbh.

But then I've always been fond of Romantic music and epic literature so Wagner ticked the boxes straight off, whereas I also find Mozart's non-operatic music a bit too twiddly for my taste.

Tchaikovsky is always entertaining, I especially love the music in Eugene Onegin and I was surprised to find that I really enjoyed

I'm not a big ballet buff, though having said that I've seen the Rite of Spring twice - I love the music and it's such an exciting piece.
I generally prefer modern dance and will always goes to see the Rambert, Scottish Dance Theatre and Nederlands Dans Teater if they are on nearby - I just find the things the dancers can do with their bodies so exhilarating and inspiring to watch.

Another vote for Carmen here - you're sure to recognise lots of the music. Madame Butterfly, La Boheme or the Marriage of Figaro are all quite good ones to start off with too. They're doing Madame Butterfly at the Royal Opera House this summer, if you're in London?

I think most places do surtitles now which definitely help if you don't know what's going on. Some opera companies do sing in English, but even then it's quite hard to make out what's being said. I definitely prefer listening to opera in the original language.