Opera Favorites, and others

Maybe not the top favorites, but of substantial interest.

• • Lulu (Alban Berg, with a large assist from Friedrich Cerha)

  • Berg was still working on Act III when died in 1935. For decades it was performed in a two-act version. The publishers then commissioned Friedrich Cerha to complete Act III; using Berg's materials, he started in 1962 and finished the work in 1975. The completed version was first performed in 1979 with Pierre Boulez as conductor.

  • Die Frau ohne Schatten (Richard Strauss)

  • Musically fascinating because Strauss weaves a rich tapestry of many themes representing characters and emotional states. The story is of another world and heavy (perhaps top-heavy) with symbology.

  • Back in the '60s, this opera was little known here, with one 1955 London Records recording featuring Karl Böhm and Leonie Rysanek as The Empress. I recorded it from the radio on reel-to-reel tape (that was my music education then), and delighted in being one of the few to know about and enjoy it, especially after ordering the accompanying booklet.

  • This booklet is superb, and should be a model for all others: it gives not only the libretto, but the musical themes and where they occur. I still use it when listening to a more modern CD recording.

  • Billy Budd, The Turn of the Scew (Benjamin Britten)

  • Billy Budd, with its all-male cast, stands out in the operatic world of tenor-soprano love duets.

  • Doktor Faust (Ferrucio Busoni)

  • Busoni's version of the Faust legend is quite different from Goethe's, and has its own world of deep and mystical meanings. As someone at a New York Met performance said: "Only a German could have written that"; it is Busoni at his most Germanic.

  • Ulisse (Luigi Dallapiccola)

  • Die Verurteilung des Lukullus (Paul Dessau)

  • Originally written by Brecht as a radio play, it became the basis of Dessau's opera. It is an indictment of "great men" and their historic deeds as measured against the virtues of small people.

  • Œdipe (Georges Enesco)

  • Graf Mirabeau; Judith (Siegfried Matthus)

  • Dialogues of the Carmelites (Francis Poulenc)

• Boulevard Solitude; Der Junge Lord; Die Bassariden (Hans Werner Henze)

• Cardillac; Mathis der Maler (Paul Hindemith)

• Palestrina (Hans Pfitzner)

• The Fiery Angel (Serge Prokofiev)

  • The Good Soldier Schweik (Robert Kurka)

  • Perfectly captures the spirit of the great Jaroslav Hasek book, who uses the apparently naive and not-too-bright Schweik to skewer society and especially the military at the time of the WWI.

  • Das Schloss (André Laporte)

  • A real discovery of an excellent opera, true to the book, by a composer I had not known about. And the CD-set was inexpensive too - essentially two for the price of one.

  • Der Geburtstag der Infantin (Alexander Zemlinsky)

  • Also known as "Der Zwerg", a touching story of an ugly, misshapen dwarf who is given to the Infanta of Spain as a birthday present. His attentions are rejected and he sees himself in a mirror for the first time. A minor masterpiece by Zemlinsky, who was not the most attractive of men.

There's a great reference site at U. S. Opera . My list is far from complete, and my definition is more restrictive, meaning U.S. composers writing works on Americana of one sort or another, whether history, stories or legends.

• • Lizzie Borden (Jack Beeson)

  • A great legend, well-told with Beeson's opera.

  • The Ballad of Baby Doe (Douglas Moore)

  • A uniquely American story of silver and the West.

  • The Devil & Daniel Webster (Douglas Moore)

  • Susannah (Carlisle Floyd)

  • Emmeline (Tobias Picker)

  • A woman exploited in a textile mill.

  • Coyote Tales (Henry Mollicone)

  • From the CD-set box: "The magical American Opera depicting the Creation of the World by Coyote, based on Native American legend".

Many thanks here to the CD industry, especially Finlandia and Ondine, for providing access to a vibrant tradition. These fine operas, often based on Finnish legends and stories, would otherwise get almost no hearing here in the U.S. (although they are gently derided as "fur hat operas" by some Finns). Maybe one day I'll be able to take in the Savonlinna Festival and actually see one of them.

• • Erik Bergman (1911- ): The Singing Tree (Det sjungande trädet)

  • Joonas Kokkonen (1921-1996): The Last Temptations

  • Leevi Madetoja (1887-1947): Juha; The Ostrobothnians (Pohjalaisai)

  • Aare Merikanto (1893-1958): Juha

  • Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928- ): Thomas; Vincent; Alexis Kivi

  • Kaija Saariaho (1952- ): L'amour de loin

  • Apparently not yet recorded.

  • Aulis Sallinen (1935- ): The Red Line (Punainen viiva); The Horseman (Ratumies); The Palace (Palatsi); Kullervo

Not top- or near-favorites, but works that are generally little known, and available on CD.

• Die Menschen (Detlev Müller-Siemens)

• Schneewittchen (Heinz Holliger)

  • Bremer Freiheit (Adriana Hölszky)

  • The charming story of Geesche Gottfried, who poisons most everyone who annoys her, including two husbands, children, mother, father, brother, and a few friends. Based on a play by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, in turn based on a real person who poisoned at least fifteen relatives and friends, and who was executed publicly in 1831.

  • One of a series of releases of contemporary music by Wergo under the title "Edition Zeitgenössische Musik".

  • Divara - Wasser und Blut (Azio Corghi)

  • From the CD-set: "Written to celebrate the twelfth centenary of the city of Münster, Divara - Wasser und Blut is based on the Anabaptist experiments incollectivism in the sixteenth century and the establishment of a Utopian society."

  • Released as one of Naxos' "21st Century Classics".

• Das Schloss; King Lear (Aribert Reimann)

Composers and operas known as "Entartete Musik" during the excesses of the Third Reich (and published as a series by Decca):

• Jonny Spielt Auf (Ernst Krenek)

Operas which I wish were available as recordings but which, to my knowledge, are not.

• • The Great Gatsby (John Harbison)

  • When we saw it during its premiere season, it was already very good, especially in the way it integrated 1920s-type music. The third act was a bit long, but the composer has made some changes and tightened up the whole opera. It's time to hear it.

  • McTeague (William Bolcom)

  • Presented originally at the Chicago Lyric Opera, and has since dispappeared. Based on a Frank Norris novel about a dentist in the California gold rush (I think).

  • Judith (Hugo Weisgall)

  • The last opera before his death; it was quite a success at the New York City Opera.

  • Mourning Becomes Electra (Marvin David Levy)

  • Presented at the Metropolitan Opera in 1967. I recorded it then from the radio broadcast on reel-to-reel tape. According to Opera World, it has undergone some changes and was presented again in 1998.

  • Der Sturm (Frank Martin)

  • Based on Shakespeare's "The Tempest"; excerpts are available on some disks. It does not have a great reputation, but I would welcome anything by Martin.

  • König Hirsch (Hans Werner Henze)

  • Henze is a masterful opera composer, so it's a pity this isn't available.

  • Don Rodrigo; Bomarzo (Alberto Ginastera)

  • The Argentinian composer is well-represented by piano music and some concertos, but not his operas. There's a description of Bomarzo at Opera World.

These are works for which I had greater expectations than they delivered; that's of course a personal matter and judgment.

• Chushingura (Saegusa Shigeaki)

  • A classic Japanese tale, one of rich complexity, of honor and revenge, and with great psychological depth. Unfortunately the music realizes almost none of that. See the 1962 film by Hiroshi Inagaki (available on DVD) to get the sense of the story instead.

  • Reigen (Philippe Boesmans)

  • Having read Arthur Schnitzler's play, "Reigen", a scathing commentary on morality and social strata in turn-of-the-century Vienna, I looked forward to hearing that realized in music. But the opera does little searching in the psyches of the characters; brutal or callous behavior gets gentle lyricism. This theme needs an Alban Berg.

  • Die Hamletmaschine (Wolfgang Rihm)

  • Wolfgang Rihm is a major contemporary composer, while Heiner Müller is a renowned playwright and writer. Unfortunately, I can make no sense of the text or the music.