Why hasn't anyone mentioned Die Zauberflöte (Mozart)?

I thought I had seen someone mention it, which is why I didn't. But it's one of the great's as well!

Lately I've been listening to this opera that's pretty different. I think it's becoming my favorite: The Cunning Little Vixen by Janacek. The Mackerras recording, of course.

I've had lots of trouble with opera. Mostly because of the singing. I've always found it distracting and unpleasant. I guess I got over it somehow. I'm sure The Vixen had something to do with it.

Here's are some Operas I like very much :
Les Troyens : Hector Berlioz; Conductor Charles Dutoit
Otello : Verdi; Conductor Karajan
Mozart : Die Entführung aus dem Serail; Conductor John Eliot Gardiner
Carl Maria von Weber : Der Freischütz; Conductor Carlos Kleiber


Now !
Carmina burana is not an opera it is Secular Songs.

Moondog

carmina burana is amazing. I dont think its secular moon dog

Interesting fact: I just found out that Seattle watches more opera on avg per person than any other city. Not that I am a part of that crowd.

Just thought I'd throw that in, proceed...

I like it too !!!
I have two versions
1. Seiji Ozawa
2. Eugen Jochum with Gundula Janowitz (Soprano), Gerhard Stolze (Tenor) and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (bariton). This version is

Karl Schuman :
... "Carmina Burana" signifies "Songs from Benediktbeuern." During the secularisation of
1803, a scroll of about 200 Medieval poems and songs had been found in the library of
the ancient Abbey ... Johann Andreas Schmeller, edited the collection in 1847 under the
title of "Carmina Burana." Carl Orff, .... arranged a number of the poems into
a "Happening" ... Cantiones profanae cantoribus et choris cantandae comitantibus
instrumentis atque imaginibus magicis ... into secular songs for soloists and choruses. ...
This cantata for the stage is framed by a symbol from antiquity : the concept of the wheel of fortune perpetually turning. ...


Moondog

If Wagner was responsible for Hitler's racist views, then why aren't we all starting national campaigns to eliminate races we feel are inferior to our own? Hitler was the product of an anti-sematic nation. His taste in music is hardly relevant.

While I definitely prefer everything from Idomeno to Clemenza more than The Magic Flute, it is still a great opera. Both Idomeneo and La Clemenza di Tito are so unbelievably underrated that it is shocking. If Mozart didn't write any other operas, these two would be known as the greatest operas ever written. Thank God he did though, because Le nozze di Figaro is my absolute favorite opera, followed by Cosi fan tutte. I just saw Cosi in San Francisco and it was wonderful. I always love seeing Flicka.

My favorite operas all Mozart's works from Idomeneo on and Wagner's Ring. They are....all...the best works, IMO. Through Carmen in there too.

Verdi - aside from Traviata - a total bore.

Puccini - aside from The Girl of the Golden West and Butterfly - a total bore. I loath Tosca and La Boheme is such a snoozer (although the ending brings me to tears). I agree with Callas, who said of Tosca, "it is really not that beautiful."

Rossini - sophmoric and unorginal (save William Tell, which is his most original and best work).

Some works that I think underrated are Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades, Shostakovich's Lady MacBeth of Mtensk, Salieri's Falstaff, and Rossini's William Tell, to name a few.

There are many great works out there, aren't there? Well, maybe I was overly harsh with regards to Verdi and Puccini....but I saw Falstaff once and thought I was going to die.

how about philip glass' "einstein on the beach"

ive been on a philip glass kick lately