The 5 Best Operas

September 01, 2010, By Josh Katzowitz 10 comments

Josh Katzowitz

I’m sitting in an old building – the kind that was erected in 1873 and has been a beautiful monument in what was once a beautiful part of town – and when you’re in the balcony looking down on the orchestra and the stage, you can feel the history.

It’s the kind of place where, when one of Johann Strauss’ symphonies made its city debut late in the 19th century, Strauss was actually the one conducting the orchestra. In a place like this, you can smell the decades gone by.

This is a matinee show, but if I was here five hours later, I’d see plenty of tuxedos and suits, because in a house of music like this, you dress formally out of respect – for the building and for what takes place inside. In this kind of place, you can sense how life used to be.

In effect, hot and stuffy – both the air and the attitude. But cultured, nonetheless.

I’m waiting for an opera to begin. It’s not my first, but every time I walk into this building, it’s like a brand-new experience (most likely because my shirt has been freshly starched). I look at the gorgeous chandelier that hangs high above the crowd, and I take in the ceiling mural that looks imported directly from the Renaissance.

You want to be a better man? You visit a place like this. Throw on your tux, go out to a nice dinner and make your way to the opera. Who cares if the average age in the joint would qualify for a 25-year AARP membership award? Liven up the place with your youth and your hipness.

I’m 31 years old, and I love the opera. Love the whole experience. I love golf-clapping, I love the electronic screen that interprets the words that sound so beautiful in another language, I love the “Bravos” and the standing ovations and the singers who seem so … well … pleased that you appreciate their art.

The opera, though, makes you work for it. You fight to stay awake in the dark theatre midway through a three-hour performance. The legroom is so bad that even the airlines feel sorry for you. The air conditioning – at least in this building – blows hard enough only to prevent the sweat rolling down your back from becoming a flash flood warning.

But none of that matters. In order to be a gentlemen, you need to attend an opera, whether it’s a six-hour German marathon or a love story in which the main characters unbelievably fall for each other five minutes after meeting or a comedy that features enough mistaken mix-ups that you could swear Jack Tripper is in the cast.

Here are the five operas you should see in your lifetime. For the record, I’ve watched three of them, so that means I have some work to do as well. Maybe, five is too much for you. Go to one, then. Listen to the best vocal chords the world has to offer. Enjoy the chocolates at intermission. Bask in the history.