Tragedy has soliloquy, comedy has list songs, and none of them is missed. I fell in love with The Mikado when I saw an ancient televised version as a lunchtime movie sometime in the mid 70s. Genius from top to bottom.
The Czechs have probably the merriest culture in the world. Their national piece of music is The Bartered Bride. Their national novel is The Good Soldier Svejk. Their national film is The Firemen's Ball. I suppose they have got this sense of humour because (a) it's a small country surrounded by (former) superpowers; (b) they haven't reformed and soured, like us Dutch.
You are right and for several decades the television streamed "witty stand up comedy shows" of a comedic actors, one man show, or two men show, for example Vladimír Menšík was great actor and humorist saying anecdotes. Or other actors as well, or Actor Bolek Polívka had also his comedic show with his two clumsy helpers and invited guests to the show. He said People ask me why are you always smilling and he replied because smilling is gratis, it costs o money. Czech humorists are story tellers, male or female.
Well in Danmark we have Carl Nielsens opera "Maskerade" the play "Jeppe on the Hill" (both stories by Ludvig Holberg who was actually Norvegian) and the series of "The Olsen Gang" movies - so we are not bad off when it comes to wit and humor with a touch of satire.
@@igorgregoryvedeltomaszewsk1148 It seems also French comedians are great at humor like Lui de Funes that is loved by other European countries including Slavic countries and Germany, but he was born in Spain. It seems in his case he connected all the countries together because he was an excellent improviser and comedy actor. But Czech actors of older generations were great improvisers as well. Today the actors are rarely so good.
You're so right about the importance of the libretto. Comedy is harder than tragedy, and people disagree wildly over whether something is funny or not, unlike tragedy: it's either tragic or it's not. Most classical/serious actors say it's hard. And when a "serious" actor does comedy well, for some reason everybody is shocked: Gene Hackman in the Superman movies, Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love, James Earl Jones in his sitcom outings.
I want to add a special mention for Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona. It’s a small intermezzo, but full of wit, and nice tunes, and it’s the prototype for the opera buffa.
"Don Pasquale" is a masterpiece, still in search of a truly satisfactory recording. And "The Bartered Bride" was the first complete opera recording I acquired, way back in 1966--the marvelous performance (yes, I know it's in German...) with Wunderlich and Kempe conducting. "Orpheus in the Underworld" was the first opera I saw, live and in person, circa 1965. Great selection of composers and titles here!
So, Fritz Wunderlich recorded “The Bartered Bride”? I will have to keep my eyes peeled for that one. I would buy absolutely anything he recorded, especially if it’s in German ( which most of his recordings were, anyway.)
I would add Lortzing’s Zar und Zimmerman, with the burgomaster being a really delightful comedic role of the type who thinks they’re greater than they actually are (love his “O sancta justicia”).
Fascinating. To think that Monteverdi was the greatest composer of sacred music during this period! . And yes, Partenope is a blast!! I saw the ENO production directed by Christopher Alden. Great fun!
Great list as always. I would like to add Chabrier le Roi malgré lui which has a somewhat weird libretto but really wonderful music. And Nielsen Maskarade, I would love to see in on stage but i's never played outside denmark. I guess nobody wants to learn danish just to perform one opera. And Bernstein Candide which is the funniest piece of music I ever saw on stage. Another great one is Ligeti Grand macabre. What a crazy libretto !
I read in a Mahler biography that when Emperor Franz Joseph I heard about Mahler's "reforms" at the Opera: "I always thought that music was supposed to make people happy."
Yes indeed, a list like this would be greatly appreciated by me. I'd like to hear Dave's opinion of RODION SHCHEDRIN'S: Naughty Limericks (Concerto For Orchestra No. 1). Hi Dave.
Music that brings a smile on your face or frankly just makes you laugh is actually MORE rewarding ! The world would just be a better place if it didn't take itself so seriously. Love Donizetti's Don Pasquale and Janácek's wacky Excursions of Mr. Broucek. I would also add Puccini's delightful romp Gianni Schicchi. Great fun !
I find it interesting that a couple of great Italian comedies, Gianni Schicchi and L'elisir d'amore, feature well known arias that sound serious when taken out of context. (Compared, say, to the champagne aria from Don Giovanni which just sounds like a party.)
Wonderful, Dave. Thank you. The other item of comedy that I would add is that defines operas like Marriage of Figaro, Falstaff (and, yes, Meistersinger) is that they are about the old guard making way and making room for the new. Thank you, too, for your point about comedy requiring an ensemble.
I would mention the opera "Ero the joker" (Ero s onoga svijeta) by Jakov Gotovac. It's the absolute all-time favorite opera among Croatians. A couple of years ago it celebrated its seven hundredth performance alone at the Zagreb National Theater. The Croatian Jakov Gotovac, one of the most trailblazing composers of the earlier Yugoslavia, premiered the opera in 1935. After its immediate success it toured through what was then the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, and today it continues to be a favorite selection for performance programs in the countries of the former Yugoslavia. In Germany, however, this comic opera brimming with musical wit has to be assigned the status of a rarity. Its last performance prior to this one was in Munich in 1942 in a German translation. Jakov Gotovac’s Ero the Joker is an absolute delight. It is a lively comic opera with fresh, vibrant music that never lets up for a minute. A tale of the countryside, Ero could be a 1930s update of The Bartered Bride, but there are enough piquant harmonies to assure its individuality. The impression given is of a first-rate composer at the top of his game, writing with confidence and ease; there is never an awkward moment, nor any sense of fill. The music is continuous, with accompanied parlando serving the function of recitative. One thing Ero does not have is long, spun-out dramatic arias-these folks don’t suffer much. The plot has a touch of The Bartered Bride, too: Mića (Ero) is a well-off suitor from another village who woos his Dula as a pauper. When the mood darkens a bit in act III, family quarrels are set amid excited barkers peddling their wares at a country fair. All ends happily with an exuberant chorus. On BR Klassik is a new recording of the opera with the Munich Radio Orchestra and the Choir of the Croatian Radio under Ivan Repušić.
To continue the slavic comedy survey I would add Stanisław Moniuszko's "Straszny Dwór" - "The Haunted Mannor" as it is truly witty in Moniuszko's display of idiomatics within Polish national self understanding to a point where it frequently borders to tongue in cheek self ridicule; The overtly chevalier manners, high ideals etc. wonderfully underscored by Moniuszkos music which is bursting with a la Polonaise archtypes @@DavesClassicalGuide.
Bernstein's "Candide" seemed like a natural, The overture sendups of the: "Tannhauser" overture., "Auto-de-fe" and "Bon Voyage" are brutally dark, but not darker than the ending of "Mahagonny", Maybe my love for the work is that DG recording. It evokes some serious Gilbert and Sullivan vibes for me.
Looking at all the interesting suggestions in the comments on your excellently curated selection, I thought I’d mention Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre. It is clearly a comic opera, even with a bizarre S&M scene and parodies of earlier opera styles. Whatever you think about Ligeti, he definitely carried forward that focus on humour from Haydn etc that most (not Poulenc) 20th century composers would or could not :)
Ariadne is the wittiest comic opera that turns its sights on opera itself. It’s my favorite along with Capriccio. After all, there’s only so much opera seria that you can take seriously :)
That's a great talk! As you, I'm convinced that comedy is more difficult than tragedy - and sometimes, comedy says more about a nation than a tragedy. Concerning the Czech: I think it has to do with the Habsburgian state. To live in an oppression or to have escaped one, real or felt, makes the best comedians, not only in opera, think on Jaroslav Hasek's "Swejk". I guess that the Czech's tradition is to express the feelings in comedies, and you're right, of course, that the "Bride" and "Kate" are two of the best. The tradition is continued by Jaromir Weinberger in "Svanda" with a hilarious scene in hell. Two operas you mention are not real comedies in my understanding of comedy: "Poppea" is a very dark piece about the triumph of immorality, one can understand it as black comedy, but in this case, "The Silence of the Lambs" is also a comedy (it IS, I'm convinced, but one needs a vein for a special sort of humor). The other is the "Midsummer Marriage": I understand this piece rather as something about magic and lust, as an initiation to "true" sexuality without moral chains. It's a wonderful work, and the great Sosostris-scene is a marvel, but can I laugh in "Midsummer Marriage"? Rather not. But I can laugh in Britten's "Albert Herring", and this is in my view one of Britten's finest operas. And it has a moment of true black comedy, when all stand around the empty coffin and mourn and get furious, when Albert is alive. Moreover, a Christmas Song as hymn for the May King... And so on. I love this work! So I do with Bernstein's "Candide", which, in my opinion, is one of the most sophisticated comic operas ever. "What a day for an autodafé..." THAT I call dark comedy at its best. What a marvellous witty and funny work, which tells so much about humanity, too! One more: Nino Rota's "Il cappello di paglia di Firenze" is a wonderful comedy in the best Rossinian vein, because the music in itself is witty and funny. But I like even better "La notte di un nevrastenico", which is for me one of the freshest and livliest musical comedies at least from the 20th century. The buffa which makes me laugh most, you did not include in your list: It's "Gianni Schicchi". In fact, I went with my friend in a performance, who has absolutely no ear for classical music, but likes theatre, and she shed tears of laughter.
You mentioned Švanda (or pronounce - Schwanda), which in translation means fun. But it was his name Švanda the bagpiper. Also, the word "Sláva" is often used for example in Dvoŕak´s opera Jakobín... or on a daily basis of language. Sláva means fame, and glory but also it means "Hurray" It's also the female name Slava or the male name Slavo. The great Czech football team is Slavia, but it comes probably from name "Slavic"
@@edwinbaumgartner5045 Yes. :) My brother liked the movie Světaci.... It's a bit crazy black and white comedy, but very accurate of human imperfections and mentality and about scamming and lying about love etc. They are singing in Beethoven´s piece with the music of "Ode to joy" but with the Czech text "Ode to education", about passion for the knowledge of culture and arts. I realized I like the movie too.
It seems to me that Germans in some way acknowledged the humorous side of Czech nation, because in 1980 Czech actors made humorous Fairy tale series about a princess "Arabela" Most of it is about humor, and about human imperfections, and the magician who who wants to get the magical ring and all the wealth and manipulates everybody. In 1993 The German and Czech production made another episodes called "Arabela returns"...but most actors were czech. And on youtube is a video about Germans enjoying the German production of Bartered bride Opera and explaining shortly Smetana´s work and legacy...But they probaly usually translate Operas to German.
Hey Dave, great video! I would add Die fledermaus to the list. In spite of the humour being of the "aristocrats behaving badly" kind, I find an enjoyable experience.
I want to mention "L'Amico Fritz" because it is such a gentle comedy! Not a thigh-slapper, but a heartwarming triviality. Also has a Rabbi as a sympathetic character.
Hello Dave, Would you consider WOLF-FERRARI'S: The Secret Of Suzanne as something you would have put on your list if you went further than 16? As for Dvorak, is SELMA SEDLAK (The Cunning Peasant) a comic opera? Haven't listened to the opera, but the OVERTURE seems to show it might have come from Dvorak's humorous side. Another great video... THANKS !!!!
One can’t include everything, but may I suggest a tremendously underrated opera, A Midsummer Night’s Dream? (since I don’t really care nearly as much for Albert Herring, although the latter is more “ha-ha funny.”)
I find the Barber of Seville funnier than the marriage of Figaro. VW's Sir John in love is IHMO better and funnier than Verdi's Falstaff. Peterson-Berger's The Doomsday Prophets is genuinely funny and so is Nielsen's Maskarade.
HMS Pinafore makes me grin from ear to ear. I think it is funnier than Mikado, but of course, that is a matter of taste. And may I add Sondheim, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. And the music in Rick Besoyan's Little Mary Sunshine is not up to the quality of this list, but boy is it funny!
Just a nitpick, but Poppea and Nero were lovers, not mother and son. You might be thinking a bit of Agrippina in your description. But boy, what an opera L'incoronazione di Poppea is. Coming from the perspective of the standard opera repertoire (roughly Mozart to Puccini, though I knew a bit of Handel's opera works by that time) my first experience with it was nothing short of a personal revolution. For one thing, some of the characters feel more like real people than they do in almost any other work. Amazing to think that this being the case in one of the foundational works in the genre. For another, the closing duet is one of the most beautiful in all of classical music, all subgenres included, all eras encompassed, and it is such a stunning way to end this triumph of vice over virtue. As you say, knowing Poppea's eventual fate puts it all into perspective but makes it all the more impressive.
Well, in those days being mother and son didn't prevent them from being lovers, but I take your point! I did have Agrippina in mind. I was thinking of including that in the list too, actually, but Partenope won out. Thanks!
Hi David...regarding versions of G&S that you could play on TH-cam - Naxos released the mono 1950s D'Oyly Carte series...all the operas except Utopia and Grand Duke.
Thank you for the list, because I didn't watch all but le Nozze. Probably often a form of black humor, but I found listening and watching Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre also very funny.
And also Schönberg's Von Heute auf Morgen. A short opera, compared with Ligeti the music is more serious, but there is real fun in the dialogues and staging.
I couldn’t remove any of your choices from the list, but I would make a case for Chabrier’s L’Étoile - the nearest a Frenchman ever came to writing G&S (though sadly he had no French Gilbert to write his libretto). D’Oyly Carte appreciated the piece very much, and it had a long run at the Savoy Theatre (albeit in a heavily modified, Anglicised form).
Offenbach and Sullivan were very fortunate in their librettists. With two exceptions Strauss and Smetana weren't so lucky. Lecocq also had a good text for Fille de Madame Angot and made great use of it.
@@jasonclark901 It certainly contains some truly exquisite music (I wish the Minka/Alexina duet was as popular as the overrated Flower duet from Lakmé), but whereas the plot of L’Étoile does hang together (in its own surreal way), Le Roi is just plain barmy. Still wish I could see it on stage again, mind.
gosh, i REALLY want to see Kate and the Devil now lol but alas, I'm moving /away/ from Atlanta [not that they'd be likely to play it, but hey! the ATL Opera recently did Kaiser von Atlantis, which I never though I'd hear in person... and didn't get to T_T]
oof, never thought i'd see Mahagonny listed as a dark comedy, but yeah... I guess you're right. The ending is SO heavy-handed though, but I adore it as well. I have a dvd of Danae that's.... there's an upside down piano, but the music really is gorgeous. Especially when the shower comes. Just gorgeous. And hilarious too and rather sentimental.
What? No "Abduction of Figaro"?! Or maybe "Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice"? Oh well... But in all seriousness (sic) I've always loved Bernstein's "Candide", especially the concert video of Bernstein conducting it, complete with his asides (which are just as funny, if not more so, than the work itself). I know it's a genre crossing work, but I figure it's close enough.
Surprised that Mahler’s completion of Carl Maria von Weber’s “Die drei Pintos” didn’t slip in under the wire since Mahler has, so far, made an appearance in these new “16!” lists. Maybe it’s a rare case of something by Mahler that isn’t necessarily cosmically fabulous (though it is certainly a lot of fun)?
Hi David, would you consider doing a list of operettas? I was listening to the Merry Widow the other day, and thought, Dave has not done any operetta lists. Though I did see that you mentioned the Mikado the other day. Ooh, and I see a talk on Sullivan!
Tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight. The characters in Meistersinger are so real, the people, the mileau and I respectfully disagree that it's not funny. Beckmesser is treated no worse than Bartolo, Don Pasquale, Baron Ochs and he'll make out alright. I'm not at all crazy about Schweigsame Frau, noisy and too busy, Zweig's libretto is better than Strauss' music; but Gianni Schicchi is an absolute scintillating comic masterpiece. Everything is perfect. Handel's Serse, no doubt about its comic bona fides if you've seen Stephen Wadsworth's production. Handel's contemporary Telemann wrote a hilarious opera, Der Geduldige Sokrates, , the ultimate henpecked husband, craziness reigns with arias alternating in German and Italian and Telemann satirizing opera seria. Hungaraton made a terrific recording of it. Best introduction to G&S for my money is Trial by Jury, under 40 minutes, sung throughout, and you have to hear the Sargent recording with a great cast of 1st class singers. I'd list Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream but mainly for the third act and the Pyramus and Thisbe parody; the first two acts are marvelously atmospheric but have pacing problems. P.S. I'm not sure it's exactly a comedy but I get tired of people who sneer at Flotow's Martha. Yes, silly contrived plot but Flotow's music is marvelous, tuneful and lucious and often very sophisticated. The only opera I can think of that works equally well in French, German or Italian. He embraced all three styles.
Thanks for this wonderful review. There is one funny thing -- if one watches various opera comedies (or comic operas), one somehow realises -- more than on other occasions -- how interconnected over time and space European cultures are and that they form a common heritage. I realised this fully when watching Rameau's Platée for the first time, and have confirmed this on every occasion since. Another remark, this time specifically on the Czech operas. The Bartered Bride is sometimes played abroad, and I can guarantee that at least one critic comes with a suggestion it should in fact be banned and/or the 'unacceptable' libretto completely rewritten. (Political correctness kills humour, IMHO... you can hardly have both, simultaneously. Strangely, no one ever suggests banning Rossini's La Cenerentola...). Next, you really took me by surprise by mentioning Dvořák's Kate and Devil. It is wonderful music, the libretto does not rhyme... The reason that made me wonder is that it humanizes hell and devil(s)... which is a traditional phenomenon of Czech folk tales, and is usually considered taboo outside Czechia. The devil is just an almost normal guy (who likes what most good people like -- a beer, a card game, a friendly chat with others...) who has the hard job of the execution of the afterlife justice. Probably it was the Jewish openness to all ideas and thoughts that allowed you to enjoy it. Finally, just couple of suggestions. A big Martinů fan here. He also wrote several opera comedies you might want to look into... Then.. one question. What about the operas where the tragic and the comic are balanced? Mozart's Don Giovanni comes to my mind. Or the Nose by Shostakovich...
@@valerietaylor9615 Oh, did I write this lot? OK, while not answering your question (oh, was it a question? 😀) I believe you might even find a certain level of white-straightness (or straight whiteness?) comical in some theatre characters ... Think of Mr Horace Vandergelder of 'Hello Dolly'... However, is the humour of 'Hello Dolly' politically correct? Certainly not. In theory, someone could suggest it should be banned/rewritten, too... but it is not such an easy target as a little known Czech opera... Of course, I just wanted to show how absurd is the whole idea of, say, rewriting the libretti, is... IMHO...
I want to just add something. For me, one of the funniest moments in opera comes in Das Rheingold, right after Alberich curses the Ring. When Loge says to an oblivious Wotan "Did you hear his fond farewell?" I laughed and laughed the first time I watched it. Good thing it was the televised 1990 Met production on Great Performances. Why does that line make me laugh? I really can't say. Just the irony I suppose, and the fact that Loge seems to be the only character who has any clue whatsoever. Serious operas need occasional comic moments too.
I was writing this just before you mentioned not including Meistersinger. Yeah, I didn't find that to be so funny either, so thanks for showing that I'm not alone. Love the Act I prelude though.
I love the whole opera, musically, but funny it ain't. There are many excellent comic roles in tragic works. That's what makes the tragedy stronger when it hits.
I saw once an absolutely wonderful production of The bartered Bride at Pepperdine College at Malibu. I've been lucky to have seen great performances of The Marriage of Figaro, La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein with Frederica Von Stade. a great Opera a la Carte The Mikado with Eli Villanueva as a right on NankiPoo, and several Don Pasquale performances, one at the Rome Opera House. I've seen Falstaff including the one of the LA Philharmonic conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini. You're right about Les Mamelles de Tiresias. I've seen Mahagonny three times, but I don't get the comedy...I haven't seen Platee, Die Schwiegsame Frau, and The Midsummer Marriage. But why no mentioned of Die Fledermaus? It's funny and has beautiful music.
The Tippett is one of the few works that is improved by cuts, at least the ones Davis makes. There are some nasty plot elements that can be heard in the (awful) first recorded aircheck. The Lyrita recording is a masterpiece, containing probably Helen Watts's finest hour as Sosostris (a parody of Ulrica from Ballo?).
Poppea is the rival lover of emperor Nero. She wants to replace his wife and thus get Nero to coronate her as the new empress, which we see happening at the end, with one of the loveliest of duos, "Pur ti miro". In one of my favorite performances of this duo, we see Rachel Yakar as Poppea clutching and, indeed, cradling and caressing the oversize crown as Nero caresses and cradles her. She seems even more in love with her accomplishment of being crowned the new empress as she is with Nero himself (or with being the new favorite for his erotic attentions).
Great. Comedy rules! But also, don't forget, comedy is a serious business. Think of politically-inspired operas making fun of contemporary tyrants and wonky politics. Can you imagine a contemporary comic opera ridiculing Putin, for example? It could be fun.
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Tragedy has soliloquy, comedy has list songs, and none of them is missed.
I fell in love with The Mikado when I saw an ancient televised version as a lunchtime movie sometime in the mid 70s. Genius from top to bottom.
The Czechs have probably the merriest culture in the world. Their national piece of music is The Bartered Bride. Their national novel is The Good Soldier Svejk. Their national film is The Firemen's Ball. I suppose they have got this sense of humour because (a) it's a small country surrounded by (former) superpowers; (b) they haven't reformed and soured, like us Dutch.
You are right and for several decades the television streamed "witty stand up comedy shows" of a comedic actors, one man show, or two men show, for example Vladimír Menšík was great actor and humorist saying anecdotes. Or other actors as well, or Actor Bolek Polívka had also his comedic show with his two clumsy helpers and invited guests to the show. He said People ask me why are you always smilling and he replied because smilling is gratis, it costs o money. Czech humorists are story tellers, male or female.
Well in Danmark we have Carl Nielsens opera "Maskerade" the play "Jeppe on the Hill" (both stories by Ludvig Holberg who was actually Norvegian) and the series of "The Olsen Gang" movies - so we are not bad off when it comes to wit and humor with a touch of satire.
@@igorgregoryvedeltomaszewsk1148 It seems also French comedians are great at humor like Lui de Funes that is loved by other European countries including Slavic countries and Germany, but he was born in Spain. It seems in his case he connected all the countries together because he was an excellent improviser and comedy actor. But Czech actors of older generations were great improvisers as well. Today the actors are rarely so good.
Mozart saw Don Giovanni as a “Drama Giocosa” (a playful drama)
You're so right about the importance of the libretto. Comedy is harder than tragedy, and people disagree wildly over whether something is funny or not, unlike tragedy: it's either tragic or it's not. Most classical/serious actors say it's hard. And when a "serious" actor does comedy well, for some reason everybody is shocked: Gene Hackman in the Superman movies, Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love, James Earl Jones in his sitcom outings.
Have to say I absolutely love VW's Sir John in Love. The Hickox recording is great.
One of my favorites is the "The Love for three Oranges" by Prokofiev.
I want to add a special mention for Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona. It’s a small intermezzo, but full of wit, and nice tunes, and it’s the prototype for the opera buffa.
"Don Pasquale" is a masterpiece, still in search of a truly satisfactory recording. And "The Bartered Bride" was the first complete opera recording I acquired, way back in 1966--the marvelous performance (yes, I know it's in German...) with Wunderlich and Kempe conducting. "Orpheus in the Underworld" was the first opera I saw, live and in person, circa 1965. Great selection of composers and titles here!
So, Fritz Wunderlich recorded “The Bartered Bride”? I will have to keep my eyes peeled for that one. I would buy absolutely anything he recorded, especially if it’s in German ( which most of his recordings were, anyway.)
@@valerietaylor9615 I agree he was a great singer....
I would add Lortzing’s Zar und Zimmerman, with the burgomaster being a really delightful comedic role of the type who thinks they’re greater than they actually are (love his “O sancta justicia”).
Fascinating. To think that Monteverdi was the greatest composer of sacred music during this period! . And yes, Partenope is a blast!! I saw the ENO production directed by Christopher Alden. Great fun!
Great list as always. I would like to add Chabrier le Roi malgré lui which has a somewhat weird libretto but really wonderful music. And Nielsen Maskarade, I would love to see in on stage but i's never played outside denmark. I guess nobody wants to learn danish just to perform one opera. And Bernstein Candide which is the funniest piece of music I ever saw on stage.
Another great one is Ligeti Grand macabre. What a crazy libretto !
I read in a Mahler biography that when Emperor Franz Joseph I heard about Mahler's "reforms" at the Opera: "I always thought that music was supposed to make people happy."
Oh, I'm dying to hear the list of 16 witty and wonderful comic works of instrumental music next time!
Yes indeed, a list like this would be greatly appreciated by me. I'd like to hear Dave's opinion of RODION SHCHEDRIN'S: Naughty Limericks (Concerto For Orchestra No. 1). Hi Dave.
Music that brings a smile on your face or frankly just makes you laugh is actually MORE rewarding ! The world would just be a better place if it didn't take itself so seriously. Love Donizetti's Don Pasquale and Janácek's wacky Excursions of Mr. Broucek. I would also add Puccini's delightful romp Gianni Schicchi. Great fun !
I find it interesting that a couple of great Italian comedies, Gianni Schicchi and L'elisir d'amore, feature well known arias that sound serious when taken out of context. (Compared, say, to the champagne aria from Don Giovanni which just sounds like a party.)
Exactly so.
Wonderful, Dave. Thank you. The other item of comedy that I would add is that defines operas like Marriage of Figaro, Falstaff (and, yes, Meistersinger) is that they are about the old guard making way and making room for the new. Thank you, too, for your point about comedy requiring an ensemble.
I would mention the opera "Ero the joker" (Ero s onoga svijeta) by Jakov Gotovac.
It's the absolute all-time favorite opera among Croatians. A couple of years ago it celebrated its seven hundredth performance alone at the Zagreb National Theater. The Croatian Jakov Gotovac, one of the most trailblazing composers of the earlier Yugoslavia, premiered the opera in 1935. After its immediate success it toured through what was then the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, and today it continues to be a favorite selection for performance programs in the countries of the former Yugoslavia. In Germany, however, this comic opera brimming with musical wit has to be assigned the status of a rarity. Its last performance prior to this one was in Munich in 1942 in a German translation.
Jakov Gotovac’s Ero the Joker is an absolute delight. It is a lively comic opera with fresh, vibrant music that never lets up for a minute. A tale of the countryside, Ero could be a 1930s update of The Bartered Bride, but there are enough piquant harmonies to assure its individuality. The impression given is of a first-rate composer at the top of his game, writing with confidence and ease; there is never an awkward moment, nor any sense of fill. The music is continuous, with accompanied parlando serving the function of recitative. One thing Ero does not have is long, spun-out dramatic arias-these folks don’t suffer much. The plot has a touch of The Bartered Bride, too: Mića (Ero) is a well-off suitor from another village who woos his Dula as a pauper. When the mood darkens a bit in act III, family quarrels are set amid excited barkers peddling their wares at a country fair. All ends happily with an exuberant chorus.
On BR Klassik is a new recording of the opera with the Munich Radio Orchestra and the Choir of the Croatian Radio under Ivan Repušić.
Does it include the jolly genocide ballet sequence?
@@DavesClassicalGuide that's maybee from a american opera, in this masterpiece is only firstclass music :)
@@dvorakslavenskiples I know. I have it. I was kidding.
To continue the slavic comedy survey I would add Stanisław Moniuszko's "Straszny Dwór" - "The Haunted Mannor" as it is truly witty in Moniuszko's display of idiomatics within Polish national self understanding to a point where it frequently borders to tongue in cheek self ridicule; The overtly chevalier manners, high ideals etc. wonderfully underscored by Moniuszkos music which is bursting with a la Polonaise archtypes @@DavesClassicalGuide.
@@igorgregoryvedeltomaszewsk1148 As a Pole I'm very happy and surprised that other people know Moniuszko!
I would include Shostakovich's THE NOSE. It is very funny in a Monty Python/absurdist way and the music is great.
you're a Juggernaut brother!!!! may the Gods bless you and hold you dear, it's astonishing how many videos you do everyday- YES!!!!!
Bernstein's "Candide" seemed like a natural, The overture sendups of the: "Tannhauser" overture., "Auto-de-fe" and "Bon Voyage" are brutally dark, but not darker than the ending of "Mahagonny", Maybe my love for the work is that DG recording. It evokes some serious Gilbert and Sullivan vibes for me.
Looking at all the interesting suggestions in the comments on your excellently curated selection, I thought I’d mention Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre. It is clearly a comic opera, even with a bizarre S&M scene and parodies of earlier opera styles. Whatever you think about Ligeti, he definitely carried forward that focus on humour from Haydn etc that most (not Poulenc) 20th century composers would or could not :)
Ariadne is the wittiest comic opera that turns its sights on opera itself. It’s my favorite along with Capriccio. After all, there’s only so much opera seria that you can take seriously :)
Yes, Ariadne is a joy.
I would love to see a video on great musicals!
Great list. Just before the Pandemic, the Met put on a wonderfully funny production of Handel's Agrippa.
Agrippina.
@@DavesClassicalGuide I need to get a grip on things!
That's a great talk! As you, I'm convinced that comedy is more difficult than tragedy - and sometimes, comedy says more about a nation than a tragedy.
Concerning the Czech: I think it has to do with the Habsburgian state. To live in an oppression or to have escaped one, real or felt, makes the best comedians, not only in opera, think on Jaroslav Hasek's "Swejk". I guess that the Czech's tradition is to express the feelings in comedies, and you're right, of course, that the "Bride" and "Kate" are two of the best. The tradition is continued by Jaromir Weinberger in "Svanda" with a hilarious scene in hell.
Two operas you mention are not real comedies in my understanding of comedy: "Poppea" is a very dark piece about the triumph of immorality, one can understand it as black comedy, but in this case, "The Silence of the Lambs" is also a comedy (it IS, I'm convinced, but one needs a vein for a special sort of humor).
The other is the "Midsummer Marriage": I understand this piece rather as something about magic and lust, as an initiation to "true" sexuality without moral chains. It's a wonderful work, and the great Sosostris-scene is a marvel, but can I laugh in "Midsummer Marriage"? Rather not.
But I can laugh in Britten's "Albert Herring", and this is in my view one of Britten's finest operas. And it has a moment of true black comedy, when all stand around the empty coffin and mourn and get furious, when Albert is alive. Moreover, a Christmas Song as hymn for the May King... And so on. I love this work!
So I do with Bernstein's "Candide", which, in my opinion, is one of the most sophisticated comic operas ever. "What a day for an autodafé..." THAT I call dark comedy at its best. What a marvellous witty and funny work, which tells so much about humanity, too!
One more: Nino Rota's "Il cappello di paglia di Firenze" is a wonderful comedy in the best Rossinian vein, because the music in itself is witty and funny. But I like even better "La notte di un nevrastenico", which is for me one of the freshest and livliest musical comedies at least from the 20th century.
The buffa which makes me laugh most, you did not include in your list: It's "Gianni Schicchi". In fact, I went with my friend in a performance, who has absolutely no ear for classical music, but likes theatre, and she shed tears of laughter.
You mentioned Švanda (or pronounce - Schwanda), which in translation means fun. But it was his name Švanda the bagpiper.
Also, the word "Sláva" is often used for example in Dvoŕak´s opera Jakobín... or on a daily basis of language.
Sláva means fame, and glory but also it means "Hurray" It's also the female name Slava or the male name Slavo.
The great Czech football team is Slavia, but it comes probably from name "Slavic"
@@alenaadamkova7617 I didn't find the háček... Being Austrian (from Vienna), the czech culture is not only geographically near, but also emotionally.
@@edwinbaumgartner5045 Yes. :) My brother liked the movie Světaci.... It's a bit crazy black and white comedy, but very accurate of human imperfections and mentality and about scamming and lying about love etc.
They are singing in Beethoven´s piece with the music of "Ode to joy" but with the Czech text "Ode to education", about passion for the knowledge of culture and arts.
I realized I like the movie too.
I knew I liked you Dave!! Love you!!!
It seems to me that Germans in some way acknowledged the humorous side of Czech nation, because in 1980 Czech actors made humorous Fairy tale series about a princess "Arabela"
Most of it is about humor, and about human imperfections, and the magician who who wants to get the magical ring and all the wealth and manipulates everybody.
In 1993 The German and Czech production made another episodes called "Arabela returns"...but most actors were czech.
And on youtube is a video about Germans enjoying the German production of Bartered bride Opera and explaining shortly Smetana´s work and legacy...But they probaly usually translate Operas to German.
Hey Dave, great video! I would add Die fledermaus to the list. In spite of the humour being of the "aristocrats behaving badly" kind, I find an enjoyable experience.
I want to mention "L'Amico Fritz" because it is such a gentle comedy! Not a thigh-slapper, but a heartwarming triviality. Also has a Rabbi as a sympathetic character.
Hello Dave, Would you consider WOLF-FERRARI'S: The Secret Of Suzanne as something you would have put on your list if you went further than 16? As for Dvorak, is SELMA SEDLAK (The Cunning Peasant) a comic opera? Haven't listened to the opera, but the OVERTURE seems to show it might have come from Dvorak's humorous side. Another great video... THANKS !!!!
No, I would not include Wolf-Ferrari. It's cute, but very, very insubstantial As to the Dvorak, the title kind of speaks for itself, doesn't it?
Parsifal also a great funny story 🦇
One can’t include everything, but may I suggest a tremendously underrated opera, A Midsummer Night’s Dream? (since I don’t really care nearly as much for Albert Herring, although the latter is more “ha-ha funny.”)
I find the Barber of Seville funnier than the marriage of Figaro. VW's Sir John in love is IHMO better and funnier than Verdi's Falstaff. Peterson-Berger's The Doomsday Prophets is genuinely funny and so is Nielsen's Maskarade.
HMS Pinafore makes me grin from ear to ear. I think it is funnier than Mikado, but of course, that is a matter of taste.
And may I add Sondheim, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. And the music in Rick Besoyan's Little Mary Sunshine is not up to the quality of this list, but boy is it funny!
Do more Gilbert and Sullivan, please! I don’t care if there aren’t samples! You are enough!
Just a nitpick, but Poppea and Nero were lovers, not mother and son. You might be thinking a bit of Agrippina in your description. But boy, what an opera L'incoronazione di Poppea is. Coming from the perspective of the standard opera repertoire (roughly Mozart to Puccini, though I knew a bit of Handel's opera works by that time) my first experience with it was nothing short of a personal revolution. For one thing, some of the characters feel more like real people than they do in almost any other work. Amazing to think that this being the case in one of the foundational works in the genre. For another, the closing duet is one of the most beautiful in all of classical music, all subgenres included, all eras encompassed, and it is such a stunning way to end this triumph of vice over virtue. As you say, knowing Poppea's eventual fate puts it all into perspective but makes it all the more impressive.
Well, in those days being mother and son didn't prevent them from being lovers, but I take your point! I did have Agrippina in mind. I was thinking of including that in the list too, actually, but Partenope won out. Thanks!
Someone once said this opera could be called "What Poppea is Willing to Do to Get Crowned."
Hi David...regarding versions of G&S that you could play on TH-cam - Naxos released the mono 1950s D'Oyly Carte series...all the operas except Utopia and Grand Duke.
Thank you for the list, because I didn't watch all but le Nozze. Probably often a form of black humor, but I found listening and watching Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre also very funny.
And also Schönberg's Von Heute auf Morgen. A short opera, compared with Ligeti the music is more serious, but there is real fun in the dialogues and staging.
I couldn’t remove any of your choices from the list, but I would make a case for Chabrier’s L’Étoile - the nearest a Frenchman ever came to writing G&S (though sadly he had no French Gilbert to write his libretto). D’Oyly Carte appreciated the piece very much, and it had a long run at the Savoy Theatre (albeit in a heavily modified, Anglicised form).
Offenbach and Sullivan were very fortunate in their librettists. With two exceptions Strauss and Smetana weren't so lucky.
Lecocq also had a good text for Fille de Madame Angot and made great use of it.
@@jasonclark901 It certainly contains some truly exquisite music (I wish the Minka/Alexina duet was as popular as the overrated Flower duet from Lakmé), but whereas the plot of L’Étoile does hang together (in its own surreal way), Le Roi is just plain barmy. Still wish I could see it on stage again, mind.
I so agree. I cannot tolerate depth in art, music or people. I really just want to be entertained and then have them leave me alone. Bravo!
gosh, i REALLY want to see Kate and the Devil now lol but alas, I'm moving /away/ from Atlanta [not that they'd be likely to play it, but hey! the ATL Opera recently did Kaiser von Atlantis, which I never though I'd hear in person... and didn't get to T_T]
oof, never thought i'd see Mahagonny listed as a dark comedy, but yeah... I guess you're right. The ending is SO heavy-handed though, but I adore it as well.
I have a dvd of Danae that's.... there's an upside down piano, but the music really is gorgeous. Especially when the shower comes. Just gorgeous. And hilarious too and rather sentimental.
What? No "Abduction of Figaro"?! Or maybe "Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice"? Oh well...
But in all seriousness (sic) I've always loved Bernstein's "Candide", especially the concert video of Bernstein conducting it, complete with his asides (which are just as funny, if not more so, than the work itself). I know it's a genre crossing work, but I figure it's close enough.
I’ve always been a big P.D.Q. Bach fan.
Surprised that Mahler’s completion of Carl Maria von Weber’s “Die drei Pintos” didn’t slip in under the wire since Mahler has, so far, made an appearance in these new “16!” lists. Maybe it’s a rare case of something by Mahler that isn’t necessarily cosmically fabulous (though it is certainly a lot of fun)?
It is fun, but there are only two recordings and the best one isn't available at all, so I didn't see the point.
I'd like to add Pergolesi's "La serva padrona" and Wagner's "Parsifal" and of course Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi"
Unlike Palestrina (the opera), which was Parsifal without the laughs. .
Thank you Bob Levine.
Hi David, would you consider doing a list of operettas? I was listening to the Merry Widow the other day, and thought, Dave has not done any operetta lists. Though I did see that you mentioned the Mikado the other day. Ooh, and I see a talk on Sullivan!
And if you can't be with the one you love, honey
Love the one you're with---Stephen Stills
Tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight.
The characters in Meistersinger are so real, the people, the mileau and I respectfully disagree that it's not funny. Beckmesser is treated no worse than Bartolo, Don Pasquale, Baron Ochs and he'll make out alright.
I'm not at all crazy about Schweigsame Frau, noisy and too busy, Zweig's libretto is better than Strauss' music; but Gianni Schicchi is an absolute scintillating comic masterpiece. Everything is perfect.
Handel's Serse, no doubt about its comic bona fides if you've seen Stephen Wadsworth's production.
Handel's contemporary Telemann wrote a hilarious opera, Der Geduldige Sokrates, , the ultimate henpecked husband, craziness reigns with arias alternating in German and Italian and Telemann satirizing opera seria. Hungaraton made a terrific recording of it.
Best introduction to G&S for my money is Trial by Jury, under 40 minutes, sung throughout, and you have to hear the Sargent recording with a great cast of 1st class singers.
I'd list Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream but mainly for the third act and the Pyramus and Thisbe parody; the first two acts are marvelously atmospheric but have pacing problems.
P.S. I'm not sure it's exactly a comedy but I get tired of people who sneer at Flotow's Martha. Yes, silly contrived plot but Flotow's music is marvelous, tuneful and lucious and often very sophisticated. The only opera I can think of that works equally well in French, German or Italian. He embraced all three styles.
Thanks for this wonderful review. There is one funny thing -- if one watches various opera comedies (or comic operas), one somehow realises -- more than on other occasions -- how interconnected over time and space European cultures are and that they form a common heritage. I realised this fully when watching Rameau's Platée for the first time, and have confirmed this on every occasion since. Another remark, this time specifically on the Czech operas. The Bartered Bride is sometimes played abroad, and I can guarantee that at least one critic comes with a suggestion it should in fact be banned and/or the 'unacceptable' libretto completely rewritten. (Political correctness kills humour, IMHO... you can hardly have both, simultaneously. Strangely, no one ever suggests banning Rossini's La Cenerentola...). Next, you really took me by surprise by mentioning Dvořák's Kate and Devil. It is wonderful music, the libretto does not rhyme... The reason that made me wonder is that it humanizes hell and devil(s)... which is a traditional phenomenon of Czech folk tales, and is usually considered taboo outside Czechia. The devil is just an almost normal guy (who likes what most good people like -- a beer, a card game, a friendly chat with others...) who has the hard job of the execution of the afterlife justice. Probably it was the Jewish openness to all ideas and thoughts that allowed you to enjoy it. Finally, just couple of suggestions. A big Martinů fan here. He also wrote several opera comedies you might want to look into...
Then.. one question. What about the operas where the tragic and the comic are balanced? Mozart's Don Giovanni comes to my mind. Or the Nose by Shostakovich...
What's the question? They are wonderful operas, but really comedies also.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Well, maybe that could be a 'category' of its own...
@@jankucera8180 I'm not sure. I think the idea of comedy is very broad.
@jankucera8180
You’re so right about political correctness killing humor. After all, how many jokes are there about straight white men?
@@valerietaylor9615 Oh, did I write this lot? OK, while not answering your question (oh, was it a question? 😀) I believe you might even find a certain level of white-straightness (or straight whiteness?) comical in some theatre characters ... Think of Mr Horace Vandergelder of 'Hello Dolly'... However, is the humour of 'Hello Dolly' politically correct? Certainly not. In theory, someone could suggest it should be banned/rewritten, too... but it is not such an easy target as a little known Czech opera... Of course, I just wanted to show how absurd is the whole idea of, say, rewriting the libretti, is... IMHO...
I want to just add something. For me, one of the funniest moments in opera comes in Das Rheingold, right after Alberich curses the Ring. When Loge says to an oblivious Wotan "Did you hear his fond farewell?" I laughed and laughed the first time I watched it. Good thing it was the televised 1990 Met production on Great Performances. Why does that line make me laugh? I really can't say. Just the irony I suppose, and the fact that Loge seems to be the only character who has any clue whatsoever. Serious operas need occasional comic moments too.
I was writing this just before you mentioned not including Meistersinger. Yeah, I didn't find that to be so funny either, so thanks for showing that I'm not alone. Love the Act I prelude though.
I love the whole opera, musically, but funny it ain't. There are many excellent comic roles in tragic works. That's what makes the tragedy stronger when it hits.
And he says "das ist kein mann"...have you seen the average Brunnhilde?
@@garysikon1812 That's Anna Russell.
@@garysikon1812 don’t know if she’s “average” but I did see Jane Eaglen sing it in Seattle in 2005.
I saw once an absolutely wonderful production of The bartered Bride at Pepperdine College at Malibu.
I've been lucky to have seen great performances of The Marriage of Figaro, La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein with Frederica Von Stade. a great Opera a la Carte The Mikado with Eli Villanueva as a right on NankiPoo, and several Don Pasquale performances, one at the Rome Opera House. I've seen Falstaff including the one of the LA Philharmonic conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini.
You're right about Les Mamelles de Tiresias. I've seen Mahagonny three times, but I don't get the comedy...I haven't seen Platee, Die Schwiegsame Frau, and The Midsummer Marriage. But why no mentioned of Die Fledermaus? It's funny and has beautiful music.
It's not mentioned because I didn't mention it.
The Tippett is one of the few works that is improved by cuts, at least the ones Davis makes. There are some nasty plot elements that can be heard in the (awful) first recorded aircheck. The Lyrita recording is a masterpiece, containing probably Helen Watts's finest hour as Sosostris (a parody of Ulrica from Ballo?).
Poppea is the rival lover of emperor Nero. She wants to replace his wife and thus get Nero to coronate her as the new empress, which we see happening at the end, with one of the loveliest of duos, "Pur ti miro". In one of my favorite performances of this duo, we see Rachel Yakar as Poppea clutching and, indeed, cradling and caressing the oversize crown as Nero caresses and cradles her. She seems even more in love with her accomplishment of being crowned the new empress as she is with Nero himself (or with being the new favorite for his erotic attentions).
Great. Comedy rules! But also, don't forget, comedy is a serious business. Think of politically-inspired operas making fun of contemporary tyrants and wonky politics. Can you imagine a contemporary comic opera ridiculing Putin, for example? It could be fun.
Just as Gilbert and Sullivan did, for example...
I got this idea when I saw him sitting with the two generals at the looong table. This was surreal!
Poppea isn't Nero's mother -- she is his mistress and eventual wife.
Same difference.