Opera houses can be intimidating places, with their grand exteriors, formal ‘dress codes’ and multi-layered plot lines unravelling in foreign languages. Even in the stuffiest opera houses, though, a select few operas are so packed with charm, humour and drama that they can be enjoyed by newbies and old timers alike. Here are some of the best operas for beginners.
Best operas for beginners: seven brilliant, accessible gems
1. The Magic Flute
Composer: Mozart
Written: 1791
Top of our list of best operas for beginners is an eternal favourite. One of Mozart’s best-loved operas, The Magic Flute tells the story of Prince Tamino, who is rescued from a monster, shown a photo of Pamina (daughter of the Queen of the Night) and, naturally, falls in love with her instantly.
Classic operatic melodrama. Armed with his magic flute, Tamino duly sets off on a mission to find and rescue Pamina from Sarastro, the sorcerer who is holding her captive. It’s a classic story of love triumphing over evil – with a raft of tunes you’ll no doubt already be familiar with.
We included The Magic Flute in our round-up of the best Mozart operas. And one of its famous arias, the 'Queen of the Night' aria, features in our list of the hardest songs to sing. Have a listen below...
2. Carmen
Composer: Bizet
Written: 1875
The ‘Habanera’ and the ‘Toreador Song’ from Bizet’s Carmen have both enjoyed success beyond the walls of the opera house, so will probably be familiar to you already. The opera itself is packed full of brilliantly catchy melodies and hummable tunes – and that’s before you even consider its dramatic plotlines.
Carmen is a brilliantly bold heroine, smoking, drinking and seducing her way around town. Don José falls instantly in love with her and ends up running away from the army to be with her. Shortly after, however, our heroine grows tired of him, and instead pursues the bullfighter Escamillo. The romance shifts to tragedy as Don Jośe pursues Carmen in a fit of jealousy. He stabs her at the amphitheatre where Escamillo is about to perform.
Carmen has become one of opera’s most iconic characters. She's a big part of the reason why the work that bears her name makes one of the best operas for beginners.
In recent years, choreographer Matthew Bourne has created The Car Man, a ballet based on Bizet’s opera but with an entirely new plot. Instead, he sets the action in a garage in a small Italian American community in a midwestern town in the US.
We included Carmen in our round-up of the best Bizet works. And, if you’re already a fan, here are our choices of what to listen to if you like Bizet’s Carmen.
3. Rigoletto
Composer: Verdi
Written: 1851
Giuseppe Verdi's dramatic opera Rigoletto is blessed with a memorable plot and some famous arias, including the powerful 'La donna è mobile' (which means something like 'Woman is fickle'). Emotionally intense and accessible, Rigoletto makes one of the best operas for beginners in the repertoire.
Love, desire, betrayal and revenge are the themes of this great Verdi opera. Rigoletto is a jester to the womanising Duke of Mantua, and shares in the latter's mockery of his victims. Count Monterone curses both men after the Duke seduces his daughter. Here is the legendary Pavarotti as the Duke, singing that famous 'Woman is fickle' aria.
Things get complicated when Rigoletto’s own (secret) daughter, Gilda, falls for the Duke, who deceives her. The courtiers abduct Gilda, who is promptly seduced by the rapacious Duke. Rigoletto, vowing revenge, hires an assassin, Sparafucile, to kill the Duke.
Gilda, still in love, sacrifices herself and is killed instead. When Rigoletto discovers her dying, he realizes Monterone’s curse has come true, leaving him devastated.
4. La bohème
Composer: Puccini
Written: 1896
If you’ve seen the iconic movie Rent, you’ll find the plot of La bohème eerily familiar. Puccini’s 1896 opera is such a timeless classic that Jonathan Larson used it as the basis for his 1996 musical, which we had no hesitation in naming one of the greatest stage musicals of all time.
Just as we’ve all been worried about the cost-of-living crisis, the characters of La bohème were too. The plot follows four bohemians living in Paris. Their worlds are turned upside down when Mimì knocks on their door and quickly falls in love with Rodolfo. We discover that Mimì is gravely ill and Rodolfo is unable to support her. It’s a tragic story of young love, friendship, mortality and heartbreak.
Seven leading singers and directors named La bohème as one of Puccini’s best operas. And we named the best recordings of La bohème here.
More best operas for beginners
5. La traviata
Composer: Verdi
Written: 1853
Quite a few of our choices are rather tragic, but heightened emotions are the name of the game when it comes to opera. Verdi's La traviata is no different, telling the tragic love story between Alfredo Germont and the courtesan Violetta.
Against the backdrop of a divided upper-class society, their love is illicit and threatens to destroy the Germont name. Again, it’s helpful to have a film to hand for an entry into an opera. And, like La bohème, La Traviata has enjoyed new life on the big screen. In 2001, its story was adapted for the film Moulin Rouge!.
6. The Barber of Seville
Composer: Rossini
Written: 1816
Second-last in our list of best operas for beginners is one that will bring a bit of light relief for all you opera beginners. The Barber of Seville is a frivolous, fizzy feast of fun, packed full of wit, excitement and vocal fireworks. Rossini’s most famous opera focuses on a barber, Figaro. He must help Count Almaviva prise his love Rosina away from her evil, manipulative guardian, Dr Bartolo. The opera combines vocal jollities with physical comedy, making The Barber of Seville an opera for all the family to enjoy.
- Four of the best Rossini recordings
- Rossini features in our list of the best Italian composers of all time
7. Tosca
Composer: Puccini
Written: 1899
A gripping drama with intense emotions, beautiful arias, and an unforgettable score, Tosca is simply a great introduction to Puccini’s world... and to opera in general. The Italian composer's librettists also came up trumps, and Tosca is also blessed with strong characters and a compelling plot.
Set in Rome, the story centres on a singer, Floria Tosca, who is in love with Mario Cavaradossi - a painter, and a Republican. To complicate matters, Tosca herself is desired by Baron Scarpia, the ultra-disciplinarian chief of police.
Things come to a head when Cavaradossi is arrested for helping a political prisoner to escape. Floria Tosca faces a terrible choice: either she gives in to Scarpia's attentions, or her lover will be killed. She manages to negotiate a safe escape from the city for herself and her lover, and then kills Scarpia.
However, her lover must submit to a fake execution before the lovers can make good their escape. And it turns out that, from beyond the grave, Scarpia has one final trick up his sleeve...
This great opera has drawn some of the genre's biggest stars. Opera's great sopranos including the incomparable Maria Callas have given us memorable Toscas, while a host of great baritones including Bryn Terfel have embodied the evil Scarpia.
Need more opera?
Elsewhere on the site, we ask which are the best opera houses in Italy, and we list the greatest opera composers of all time. We also leap forward into the here and now to profile six of the best contemporary operas. Last but not least, we ask: which are Wagner's best and most famous operas?
