Famous pieces recommended for opera beginners. Recommended opera songs.
Opera, also known as music drama or grand opera, is a genre considered the most comprehensive of the performing arts within classical music.
Among its famous pieces are Nessun dorma from Turandot and the Toreador Song from Carmen—melodies many people recognize even if they don’t know the operas themselves.
Opera has produced countless masterpieces, and here we’ll highlight introductory works that, by knowing the music, can serve as a gateway to understanding opera.
People often assume opera is difficult, but in fact its music is heard in everyday life and feels familiar.
As you learn about the stories and composers, you’ll find many themes that are engaging and relevant even today.
I’ve put together this list in the hope that more people will get to know it better.
I hope you’ll enjoy these works alongside great performances from around the world.
- Famous opera masterpieces | Featuring many great opera singers
- [Masterpiece Classics] A special showcase of gem-like masterpieces so beautiful they’ll move you to tears
- Mozart: An Introduction to His Signature and Popular Works
- Classical Masterpieces: Recommended Works You Should Hear at Least Once
- Handel’s Masterpieces | A Comprehensive Introduction to His Popular Works
- [Claudio Monteverdi] Introducing Famous and Representative Works
- Classic masterpieces recommended for women
- Classical masterpieces. Recommended classical music.
- Cool classical masterpieces. Recommended classical music.
- Classical piano masterpieces: legendary performances from around the world you should hear at least once
- Masterpieces of the Romantic Era: A sweeping introduction to soul-stirring, celebrated gems!
- [Classical] A comprehensive introduction to famous love pieces: recommended popular works
- [Orchestra] Introducing famous and popular pieces
Recommended masterpieces for opera beginners. Recommended opera pieces (21–30)
Pure goddessVincenzo Bellini
The Italian operas created by Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini are called “bel canto operas” and had a profound influence on Italian vocal music.
This elegant and beautiful piece is one of the songs from Bellini’s representative opera, Norma.
Faust WaltzCharles Francois Gounod
Gounod was a French late Romantic composer.
He became instantly famous for his composition based on Goethe’s play Faust, and the Waltz is one of its numbers.
By achieving success in lyric opera, he helped define the direction of French opera and is even called the father of modern French art song.
Waltz from Eugene OneginPyotr Tchaikovsky
Tchaikovsky is also a Russian composer.
He is famous for ballets such as Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, as well as for Symphony No.
6, but he also wrote many operas.
Eugene Onegin is the most frequently performed of the operas composed by Tchaikovsky.
A Poem Addressed to the MoonAntonín Dvořák
Dvořák was a Czech composer and is counted among the national romantics.
He left many works based on folktales and folk songs, and in opera his fairy-tale-themed Rusalka is famous; Song to the Moon is one of its numbers.
Overture to Der FreischützCarl Maria von Weber
Weber’s opera Der Freischütz is counted among the masterpieces of fairy-tale opera.
Many fairy-tale operas are based on folk tales.
This work is based on a folktale in which six of seven bullets strike exactly where the marksman intends, while the remaining one hits wherever the devil desires.
Tears unseen by anyoneGaetano Donizetti
Donizetti is an Italian opera composer.
The fact that there are many masterpieces of Romantic-era opera in Italy is closely related to Italy being a “land of song.” He wrote around 70 operas, and this piece is one of the songs from L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love).
I wonder what love is like.Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
When it comes to the most famous opera composer of the Classical period, it has to be Mozart.
He left masterpieces in a variety of forms, from symphonies to piano works, but the core of his art was opera.
This piece is one of the famous numbers from The Marriage of Figaro.