The greatest opera of them all?

THE Met

Returning from a lengthy hiatus, I will be offering a number of "top" lists, culminating with the (drum roll please) the 3rd annual "Huey's"!






But back to business.  Anthony Craig, on the Grammophone blog, offers his top ten list of the greatest operas of them all.  (I cannot disagree with #1.)

1. Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro
2. Verdi: Falstaff
3. Verdi: Otello
4. Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier
5. Puccini: Madama Butterfly
6. Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
7. Wagner: Die Meistersinger
8. Delius: A Village Romeo and Juliet
9. Rameau: Hippolyte et Aricie
10. Verdi: Simon Boccanegra

Three Verdi's and not an American in sight.  We certainly have some work to do.

The Guardian came up with their own list, but it came in at 50-strong and only in chronological order (bloody chickens!)

Stephen McLeod's Listmania offering of Amazon's 10 Best Opera CDs has a Callas Lucia on top with (according to the author) "The greatest achievement in the history of recorded music" (the Solti Ring) coming in third.

Next up:  the divas--with a few surprises.....