4. RESEARCH AND LISTEN

Research

This is where your local library comes in. Because operas usually take up two or three CDs, they're pretty expensive to buy, so to play it safe and listen to a few for free before deciding what to invest in.

The operas we recommend for your first try all have humorous, dramatic stories, and music that you've probably heard before. If you see CDs called "The Best Of..." or "Selections from..." any of these operas, those aren't bad bets either, since they highlight a lot of the best, most familiar music. It's good to start out with something you recognize, because it makes the whole art form less intimidating. Here are our recommendations, in chronological order:

  • Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro. Two servants of the Duke Almaviva want to marry each other, but the Duke has other plans for the would-be bride. It's up to Figaro, the groom and a comic hero, to plot his way out of the tangle.

  • Mozart: The Magic Flute. A supernatural tale featuring a questing prince, his bird-catcher sidekick who's searching for the perfect bride, and the mysterious Queen of the Night.

  • Offenbach: The Tales of Hoffmann. Based on fairy tales written by the German author E.T.A. Hoffmann, these stories are more twisted than you'd expect.

  • J. Strauss: Die Fledermaus. Lots of light-hearted waltzes and a completely frivolous plot. By the way, it's not about a psycho chasing some poor shlub named Mr. Fledermaus; it's title in English is "The Bat."

  • Gilbert and Sullivan: The Pirates of Penzance or H.M.S. Pinafore. These Brits wrote operetta, the 19th-century equivalent of the Broadway musical. Pirates and Pinafore both have catchy melodies and poke fun at the British upper-classes.

  • Bizet: Carmen. Passion and treachery in a Spain filled with gypsy women and toreadors. Lots of Spanish-style music you're probably familiar with.

  • Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel. Although the name "Humperdinck" may bring to mind an evil dwarf or the obnoxious prince from The Princess Bride, this opera is nothing but charm. You know the story already, but you've never imagined it with a singing witch.

  • Gershwin: Porgy and Bess. Follows the lives of African Americans in 1920s Charleston, South Carolina, with influences of jazz and swing.

  • Bernstein: Candide. From the composer of West Side Story, this opera tells of the innocent and optimistic Candide, who journeys with his mentor from land to land getting into adventures and searching for his love Cunegonde.

There are other fantastic operas out there that may be good for beginners, including Puccini's La Boheme and Verdi's La Traviata, but these are the most light-hearted and easiest to listen to.

Listen

Here are our tips for effective listening:

  • Read the plot summary. The plot summary that comes with most opera CDs may give away the ending, but it's worth reading it just to know what's going on - you can relax and listen better when you're not worrying about catching every syllable. Sometimes the liner notes provide good background history (the opera's place in music history, its compositional style, or why the composer chose the story); this is also interesting, but definitely not mandatory.

  • You can look for a performance in English if you like, but most operas come with a libretto, the words and translation written down, so you can read along and follow the story.

  • Listen in segments. If you get bored and your mind starts to wander, shut off the CD player and come back to it in an hour or a day or two. Listening to one act or even one scene at a time keeps listening from getting monotonous. You might be surprised, though, at how much you get caught up in the story. Even playing it in the background while you're working or driving will familiarize you with the music. If all else fails and you find one opera unappealing, try another from a later or earlier time period or by a different composer.

  • Your library might also carry videos. If that's the case, pick up a performance of an opera you've become familiar with, and see what it looks like on stage. All this, of course, is only preparation for the next step: seeing how opera was meant to be performed.