What's your favorite Mozart opera?

@helenS OK. But I think it's boring. I love The Magic Flute!

@FrogManSometimesLooksBothWays Very hard to pick one favorite. I know Figaro the best, & I've fiddled in the pit for Magic Flute & Don G as well

@MissPriscillaPrim I saw The Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera. Tremendous!

@FrogManSometimesLooksBothWays Congratulations on being able to afford that. Which production?

@MissPriscillaPrim And I don't even live in New York! I had to take the train from Philadelphia.

@FrogManSometimesLooksBothWays [i]Idomeneo[/i] was Mozart’s favorite Mozart opera, by the way, and for a reason.

@helenS Wow. Learn something new every day. What reason?

@MissPriscillaPrim Beethoven's Third Symphony was Beethoven's favorite symphony!

@MissPriscillaPrim He had a stay in Paris before he composed [i]Idomeneo[/i]. His earlier operas (such as [i]Lucio Silla[/i] or [i]Mitridate[/i]) were deeply rooted in the Italian [i]opera seria[/i] style. [i]Idomeneo[/i] contains important French [i]tragédie lyrique[/i] elements, such as a choir. This is what makes the opera incredibly strong.

@helenS Thanks. Music History class was a long time ago... so are all his operas before Idomeneo little-performed minor ones? I could check Wikipedia but it's more fun conversing here

@MissPriscillaPrim He wrote Idomeneo to apply for a position as First Composer at the Munich court, but he had no success. So he had to carry on as the Archbishop’s underling in Salzburg.

@MissPriscillaPrim
“are all his operas before Idomeneo little-performed minor ones?
– They belong to an opera tradition that has been made obsolete/irrelevant by Mozart.

@helenS Best of Gluck to you!

@MissPriscillaPrim The French version of [i]Alceste[/i] is what you want. There's an other-worldly version available on DVD, staged by Robert Wilson, Director John Gardiner. A study in blue. Highly recommended.