Availability
Operas, like everything else, are available on video. PBS stations, as well as some cable channels, broadcast operas on an irregular basis. Check the web sites of
Great Performances and
Live from Lincoln Center
, both on PBS. All of my recommendations are available on home video, and larger video stores usually carry a few. Operas are often sung in the native language of the composer, but videos usually have subtitles.
Recommended viewing:
Cavalleria Rusitcana
Carmen
(more to come)
Cavalleria Rusitcana by Pietro Mascagni
Perfect for beginners: the story is easy to follow, it has romance, plenty of action and conflict, some great tunes, and it's short - not much over an hour.
I recommend the Franco Ziffirelli film starring Placido Domingo, sung in Italian. Not only is Domingo a great tenor (he's one of "The Three Tenors"), but he is also a fine actor - something not always seen in operatic singers.
The story
"Rustic Chivalry" concerns affairs of honor among ordinary people in a small Sicilian village in the Nineteenth Century. All of the action takes place on a single day - Easter Sunday. Turiddu and Lola were once engaged, but Lola married Alfio, a local teamster, while Turiddu was away in the army. Now back home, Turiddu has promised to marry Santuzza, but the beautiful Lola tries to win him back. Because she has given herself to Turiddu, Santuzza feels she is unfit to marry anyone else, and does not take kindly to Turiddu's renewed interest in Lola. Jealousy and revenge lead to a dual between Turiddu and Alfio - a traditional Sicilian dual.
Carmen by Georges Bizet
Traditionally, operas were written about the aristocracy; Bizet's opera about a gypsy girl and an army corporal was something of a breakthrough when it was first performed in 1875. Carmen is one of the most popular operas ever written, and is performed often. Several versions are available on video; I prefer the Francesco Rossi film starring Julia Migenes and Placido Domingo, sung in French. This film is now available on DVD, both the picture and sound are much improved over the VHS and laserdisk versions.
The story
The story is set in Spain of the nineteenth century. Carmen is a beautiful gypsy dancing girl who works in a tobacco factory. Don Jose is an army corporal. Though only a corporal, Jose seems to have a promising career in the army, until he is assigned to arrest Carmen who has attacked another girl in the factory. Carmen talks Jose into letting her escape, and thus begins his downfall. There is a triangle between Jose, Carmen, and Escamillo, a well-known bullfighter. Micaela, Jose's sweetheart from back home, tries to rescue Jose from Carmen's clutches, but he is doomed. Though Carmen is only a gypsy girl who works in a factory, dances in bars, and possibly, a prostitute as well, she is a strong character who is loyal to her friends, keeps her promises, and is willing to die for her personal beliefs.
If you have comments, or would like to suggest your favorite beginners' opera,
e-mail me at:
operalover@oocities.com