I've just discovered opera

[PoachesPeaches]

I've been looking for something new and inspiring to bring me joy alongside day to day life and I've found it!

It was Habanera from Carmen that got me!

I'm going to try and see it next year. What else will I like?

Although I tend to agree with Rossini - "How wonderful opera would be if there were no singers" (there are other forms of this quote) - I do enjoy the occasional one.

Don Carlos by Verdi is always very good.
Wagner is worth a try, as it's always spectacular.
I love some of the music in Peri's Euridice, the oldest surviving complete opera.

To be honest, the most moving opera I've ever seen is Berg's Wozzeck. Incredibly powerful, but I can understand it's not to everybody's taste.

One of my favourite sections from the Peri;

3

Just so beautiful...

Carmen is a good “first opera”. I took my best mate to that at the ROH for her first.

my son’s first opera experience was Aida at Verona amphitheatre - the original cast of many many people production. Spectacular. Distant thunderstorms over the arena with lightening although stars overheard as Aida sang her dying aria. What a memory. He had just started his music a level so it was perfectly timed.

this amused me on insta.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DACtY_Sxau7/?igsh=NXBuaHFzZHp6OGZy

but this … is the same Aida production I saw in Verona 😍. Spectacular!

Just listened to a little Nessun Dorma. I think I'm just a romantic at heart 😂

Where would be the most amazing place to see opera in Europe? Is indoors better for acoustics? It would be something to save for.

Slightly off topic, I confess I got carried away and bought tickets to Andre Rieu for next year. I'm taking DM as she is in her mid 70s and I thought it would an experience.

I'm not sure how well regarded he is but I'm sure it will be a spectacle.

I have no idea, although I did love the Budapest Opera House (but I saw an orchestral concert there).

I would love one year to go to Bayreuth to see The Ring.

Or, alternatively, Bregenz looks quite spectacular.

If you are looking for free opera then have a look at the OperaVision Youtube channel - they screen new things every month from around Europe.

Another good place to look is the Arte TV channel - you should be able to get it on your TV but otherwise it's online. They always have a selection if you look under Concert, and usually v high end performances.

@PoachesPeaches pretty much anywhere in Europe is great for opera, it's starved of funding in the UK and seen as just for toffs.

There are the big houses in Munich, Venice, Vienna etc but you can go to a regional city in Germany and still see an outstanding production.

Personally I didn't like Bregenz but I think we went in a bad year plus also you don't get the real impact of the voices as everything is on microphone. Verona is a lot better.

My personal dream holiday is Drottningholm in Sweden.

I can't bear soprano singing - it genuinely hurts my ears - so I was never into opera. I used to watch ballet at the Royal Opera House a lot - the tickets were not as expensive as you would think - but then my husband had to take clients to an Opera there and I went too. It was Simon Boccanegra, which is mostly male singers, and very deep voices and I absolutely loved it.

Try this
(the staging is fantastic)