Opera Excursions (Part One)

This week, I finally finished my marathon of Verdi’s 27 operas. Had it not been for a couple of pleasant surprises, I would almost have been inclined to conclude that the only Verdi worth listening to is the Verdi you have already heard. For my own future reference, I am making a little ranking of my favourites below
  1. Nabucco
  2. Aida
  3. La Traviata
  4. Rigoletto
  5. Il Trovatore
  6. Luisa Miller
  7. La Forza del Destino
  8. Stiffelio
  9. Ernani
  10. I Vespri Siciliani
  11. Macbeth
I think of the first four as belonging to a category of their own. Some operas are known for an outstanding aria or a good overture, but these four remain compelling from beginning to end. There is hardly a moment that feels like filler content. I found five through nine compelling in more than one place. I love the recurrence of the main motif from the overture in La Forza del Destino, and the sustained liveliness of Ernani. To be quite honest, the order of these mid-ranking operas is mostly haphazard. The last two operas I remember being compelling for only very short bursts. I Vespri Siciliani are worth listening to for the last half an hour, and Macbeth stands out for all of the instrumental parts – somewhat perplexing for an opera.

To break up these pieces a little – after all, each composer has their own style and if one isn’t careful, things end up merging together quite fast – I made some forays into other regions and time periods. I was blown away by the overture to Fibich’s Šárka, whose themes recur throughout the opera to great effect. I was also surprised to find that the monumentality of Dvořák’s Vanda ably rivals Smetana’s glorious Libuše. Dvořák’s Šelma sedlák perhaps pales in comparison to Smetana’s Prodaná nevěsta, which seems to have inspired it, but nevertheless sustains an air of playfulness and hilarity throughout.

Moving farther East, I thoroughly enjoyed finally listening to the whole of Borodin’s Prince Igor, which turned out to be much more than just the Polovetsian Dances. The first act of Tchaikovsky’s Enchantress is also amazing, especially with the haunting voice of Rimma Glushkova in the titular role. Nevertheless, having never been much of a fan of Mussorgsky, I did not really enjoy his Khovanshchina (excepting the move towards the music of the Caucasus towards the end of the opera), nor did I discover much more to Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmila outside of its famous overture.

I also happened upon Pergolesi’s La Serva Pedrona, easily the funniest baroque opera I have ever listened to.

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