Most Emotional Opera Melodies

A number of years ago at the Stereophile Show in NY Roger Sanders (Innersound) played his own recordings of amateur singers. An unknown woman was singing "O mio Babbino Caro" and that performance - on the Innersound Electrostatic - is still the greatest experience I have ever had in reproduced music (the Metropolitan Opera is still better though). But the rest of Gianni Schicci is rather boring, so get it on a compilation.

You can buy a number of compilations to start out. I am a great fan of the late Jussi Bjorling ("Operatic Arias" RCA GD85277 and "Duets and Scenes" RCA 7799-2-RG, the latter opens with the Bizet duet mentioned above). The recordings are from the 1950s (Bjorling died in 61), but the beauty of the music survives!

Any of the more most popular operas by Verdi (La Traviata, Rigoletto, Aida) or Puccini (Tosca, Turandot, La Boheme, Madama Butterfly) will give you hours of beatiful music that will touch your heart. I would suggest La Traviata (the opera in Pretty Woman) and Tosca to start with, probably the latest recording from Saltzburg with Anna Netrebko and Villazon in La Traviata (they were sensational in Rigoletta a week ago at the Met) and the incredible Callas recording of Tosca where you get both beauty and an incredible sense of drama between Callas and Toto Gobbi (EMI 77774 71758).

I envy you. You are about to embark on a remarkable journey of discovery.

You might search by diva instead of by opera. All the greats have compilation albums that will feature some of the most impressive arias from the canon.

-Maria Callas
-Elizabeth Schwarzkopf
-Marilyn Horne
-Renee Fleming
-Cecilia Bartoli
-Countless others

You might also go for some Schubert or Schumann lieder. Not the uber-Romantic Wagnerian fat lady stuff at all (indeed, not opera), but absolutely gorgeous nonetheless. Kathleen Battle has a wonderful voice (and a serious 'tude)

Mozartrules ...

Wasn't Rigoletto at the Met sensational? We went this past Saturday and absolutely loved it. The only bummer was that we thought that Placido Domingo would be appearing ... as the web-site would lead you to believe. Lo and behold, he does appear ... but he is the conductor!

Fortunately, Villazon and Netrebeko performed as though they are opera's new royalty.

To my earlier list, add:

Anna Moffo "Arias From Faust, etc" on RCA Living Stereo Series ... get the SACD hybrid.

Regards, Rich

Just for fun, here is a list of operas (LPs) that I got from a sale a while back. They smell musty, but the records and boxes are in good shape. Maybe there is a keeper or two.
Flotow: Martha, Erna Berger
Gypsy Baron. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (ooo...familiar name!)
Handel: Israel in Egypt
Missa Solemnis, Schwarzkopf
Norma, Sutherland
Don Pasquale, Donizetti
Bach, Mass in B Minor, Friederike Sailer
Samual Barber, Vanessa (Metropolitan Opera)
Berlioz, Romeo and Juliet, Boston Symphony
Thousand and One Nights, Herbert Ernst Groh
Rossini, The Barber of Seville, Victoria De Los Angeles
Teatro Alla Scala, Un Ballo in Maschera (Big Box!)
Offenbach, La Periehole, Regine Crespin
Lucia Di Lammermoor, Sutherland (stereo)
I Puritani, Sutherland, also stereo
Suor Angelica, Marilyn Horne
La Forza Del Destino, Warren Elias Tozzi
Gilbert and Sullivan, Iolanthe
Gilbert and Sullivan, Pirates of Penzance, Carte Opera Co.
Teatro alla Scala, Lucia Di Lammermoor
Offenbach, The Tales of Hoffman, Gedda D'Angelo
Gypsy Love, Herbert Ernst Groh
Haydn, Cacelien-Messe, Maria Stader
Charpentier, Louise, Beverly Sills
Now I really feel dumb. I can't tell if I'm typing the name of the opera, or the singer, in some cases. Anyway, I'd be interested in knowing if there is some common thread to these operas. I say that because there is also a box that appears to be every speech given by the leaders of the Third Reich between 1914 and 1939. That one is called Deutschlands Weg in die Diktatur. Any pearls in the list?

The common thread seems to be that they're well-loved works performed by some legendary singers (Schwartzkopf, Sutherland, De Los Angeles, Horne, Warren, Gedda, et al.). There don't figure to be too many duds in this group of albums, and I'd say it's well worth your while to go through them and see what strikes your fancy. There could actually be some real gems here.