I can't think of anything that tops Verdi's Otello for me. (Much as I also do love Falstaff.)
Vesna - it's funny, I also have never felt quite on the same page with the Gounod "Romeo"
- yes, there's beautiful music there, but it's just never been an opera that's drawn me in
very much. I actually prefer the ballet settings of Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky, and also the
Berlioz choral/symphonic setting.
I would also list Ades' Tempest and Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream, both which might
be more challenging to many traditional opera fans, but are both fascinating and dramatic
scores.
Only because musicals are what I do, I would feel remiss to leave out a few of the many
Shakespeare musicals - certainly the Romeo-influenced West Side Story, and Kiss Me Kate
(which puts Shrew in a "backstage musical" context) and also The Boys from Syracuse
(which musicalizes The Comedy Of Errors, though only has one line of actual Shakespeare
in it), but also a few that are not so well-known - the zany, odd, but wonderfully
celebratory Latin-tinged romp that Galt MacDermot (of Hair fame) and John Guare created
in their Two Gentlemen Of Verona (which actually beat Sondheim's Follies for the Tony
award), and the beautiful, tuneful, and inventively fun score of Illyria, the adaptation of
Twelfth Night by Peter Mills.
(Hey - at least I wasn't talking about the president-elect, lol...)
On Mon, 19 Dec 2016 21:59:33 -0500, Rich Lowenthal <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
>I love both Verdi's and Rossini's Otellos (the latter less of a downer), Berlioz's Beatrice et
Benedict and Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi, but my favorite has to be Verdi's Falstaff.
>
>I also find Das Liebesverbot fascinating, although I can't really say I think it's a very good
opera.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Discussion of opera and related issues [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Vesna Danilovic
>Sent: Monday, December 19, 2016 9:38 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Shakespeare and opera
>
>Dear listers,
>
>This year has seen numerous commemorations of 400 years after his death.
>So, just before this milestone year expires, I thought to ask any interested lister about
their favorite opera with connection to Shakespeare. Mine is probably Verdi’s
MACBETH, though perhaps his OTELLO is artistically even closer to the original play. I also
love Gounod’s ROMEO ET JULIETTE on its own merits, but -and I could be wrong in
this- its music escapes me as an expression of a Shakesperean tragedy. It's still a
wonderful opera that I love listening to, most fondly in the Met broadcast with Bjoerling
and Sayao.
>
>It would be very much interesting if anyone else could share their own choices.
>
>Happy holidays to all,
>
>Vesna
>
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