(no subject)

[seekingferret]

I decided to try to expand my tally to encompass all operas I've seen live. And if I find the time I'll try to add links to my blog reviews of most of these. It turns out I've seen nearly as many 20th century operas as operas from all other centuries combined. And I've seen more 21st century operas than 19th century operas, which is actually a bit surprising to me.

I don't think there's anything too controversial about these rankings, except perhaps putting Hoffman over Rigoletto. That was a tough choice for me. And I know Florence hates Marriage of Figaro, but she's wrong, it's the greatest.

All told, I've seen about fifty operas, which seems like a lot until I do the math and realize that my first live opera was Giulio Cesare in spring 2003, so I guess I've been averaging about five a year since then.



19th century operas I have seen live, a ranked list

1. La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi
2. Les Contes D'Hoffman by Jacques Offenbach
3. Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi
4. La Donna del Lago by Gioacchino Rossini
5. Les Troyens by Hector Berlioz
6. Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II
7. Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi
8. Trial by Jury by Gilbert and Sullivan
9. Iolanta by Piotr Tchaikovsky
10. The Barber of Seville by Gioacchino Rossini
11. Carmen by Georges Bizet
12. Macbeth vy Giuseppe Verdi
13. La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini
14. Moses in Egypt by Gioacchino Rossini
15. The Elixir of Love by Gaetano Donizetti
16. Romeo et Juliette by Charles Gounod
17. Semiramide by Gioacchino Rossini
18. Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni
19. Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo
20. Guillaume Tell by Gioacchino Rossini
21. Le Comte D'Ory by Gioacchino Rossini
22. I Puritani by Vincenzo Bellini

18th century operas I have seen live, a ranked list

1. The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Mozart
2. Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Mozart
3. The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Mozart
4. Giulio Cesare by George Handel
5. The Deserted Island by Joseph Haydn