Famous pieces recommended for opera beginners. Recommended opera songs.

Toccata from OrfeoClaudio Monteverdi

Monteverdi l´Orfeo toccata

This is a work by the Italian composer Monteverdi, who led opera during the Baroque era.

His early masterpiece, L’Orfeo, was a great success, and this spurred the rapid development of opera.

This piece is the overture that plays at the beginning of the opera L’Orfeo, and it is a particularly well-known and famous overture.

Pantomime of DreamsEngelbert Humperdinck

Dream Pantomime from the opera “Hansel and Gretel”

In Germany, few operas achieved major success after Wagner.

One work that did succeed in such a period was Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.

It is counted among the Märchenoper (fairy-tale operas), a subgenre of German Romantic opera.

Daylight saving timeGeorge Gershwin

Kathleen Battle sings “Summertime” from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess

It is one of the most famous songs from the opera Porgy and Bess, composed by the American composer George Gershwin.

Summertime later came to be performed in jazz and pop as well, and it has become a popular piece among contemporary ballads.

The Carnival of RomeHector Berlioz

Berlioz – Le carnaval romain | Jukka-Pekka Saraste | WDR Sinfonieorchester

Berlioz was a French composer of the Romantic era.

He was not only a composer but also a music educator who left behind the renowned treatise used as a textbook, “Treatise on Instrumentation.” “Roman Carnival” is the prelude to Act II of the opera Benvenuto Cellini.

Ronde from “Elegant Indian Nations”Jean-Philippe Rameau

“Rondo” from J. P. Rameau’s opera Les Indes galantes

One of the composers who represent the French Baroque is Rameau.

Today, Rameau is well known for his contributions to music theory, but he was also the figure who, as Lully’s successor, developed French opera.

Les Indes galantes is a work in the genre of opéra-ballet, which was popular in the French Baroque.

The Flight of the BumblebeeNikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Rimsky-Korsakov (arr. Mariko Endo) Flight of the Bumblebee – Virtuoso Version, Aile Orchestra

Rimsky-Korsakov is also one of the composers of the Russian national school.

Not only did he leave behind excellent works as a composer, but he also nurtured composers such as Prokofiev and Stravinsky.

This famous piece is one of the numbers from The Tale of Tsar Saltan.

Put on your costume.Ruggero Leoncavallo

Ruggero Leoncavallo, Pagliacci: “Vesti la giubba” — Franco Corelli

Leoncavallo was an opera composer from Naples, Italy.

After studying at a music school in Naples, he became a composer.

The opera Pagliacci, which includes this piece, is his representative work.

He also left many works as a librettist, but the only opera that became a hit was Pagliacci.

my late motherUmberto Giordano

Giordano “Andrea Chénier” “La mamma morta” Maria Callas

There are many famous people named Giordano, but the opera composer is Umberto Giordano.

Umberto Giordano was also a writer of verismo (realist) opera.

His greatest success is Andrea Chénier, which depicts the life of the poet of the same name.

Overture “In Spain”Maurice Ravel

Ravel: L’heure espagnole – Introduction (Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Lorin Maazel)

Maurice Ravel, a composer of French Impressionist music, is a renowned figure alongside Satie and Debussy.

Ravel’s opera L’heure espagnole (The Spanish Hour) is a one-act work lasting less than an hour, characterized by strong comedic elements.

“Trio” from Der RosenkavalierRichard Strauss

Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier “Trio” — conducted by Böhm

There are several famous classical composers named Strauss, but the opera Der Rosenkavalier is the work of Richard Strauss, a composer active during the late German Romantic period.

This opera, Der Rosenkavalier, is known as one of the masterpieces of fairy-tale opera.