Top Ten Fridays: Fantasy Operas

In light of a certain film that was released this week, and in anticipation of another to be released on the subject of one of these operas, we present you with this this week's Top Ten Friday List. We're getting a little help this week from the fantastic Omniscient Mussel's archive of clever opera plots from her #operaplot contest. You can also click on the titles for a truthier synopsis from our friends at The Met.

Vote for your favorites on our poll!



1. Magic Flute
@librarianjess – prince falls for painting, befriends bird-crazed eccentric; survives fire, water, & lethal high Fs, gets to keep girl AND flute

45% of voters called this a favorite

The Magic Flute, Vancouver Opera: Hwan Sin Nyung as Queen of the Night Photo: Tim Matheson



2. Midsummer Night's Dream
mlaffs – Monarchs fight, Rude Mechanicals rehearse by night, lovers get lost, confused and duel over height. Magic makes all things right.

18% of voters called this a favorite

A Midsummer Night's Dream at the English National Opera: Peter Rose as Bottom and Sarah Tynan as Tytania in Act II Photo: Bill Cooper



3. Rusalka
@primalamusica – Soluble, voluble sprite prays to moon for love. Gets wish and legs. Loses voice and the boy. Comes to a Grimm end.

This was voted favorite fantasy opera with 54% of voters.

Rusalka at Minnesota Opera: Kelly Kaduce as Rusalka Photo: Michal Daniel



4. Orfeo ed Euridice
@ogiovetti – He goes thru hell to retrieve her. They say don’t look back. He does anyway. No do-overs.

27% of voters called this a favorite

Orfeo ed Euridice at Metropolitan Opera



5. Faust
@ogiovetti – He sells his soul. He knocks her up. He kills her brother. She kills her baby. She dies in jail. Devil of a time.

Faust got 18% of the voters to call it a favorite.

La Damnation de Faust at Metropolitan Opera: Marcello Giordani as Faust Photo: Nicholas Samartis



6. The Cunning Little Vixen
Dr.Geoduck – I’m gonna catch that fox! Argh, a frog! Wait, is this the prologue or epilogue? If the latter, then I’ll throw in some metahumor.

Only 9% of voters called this Vixen a favorite.

The Cunning Little Vixen at the Arcimboldi: Anna Katharina Behnke as the Fox and Rosemarie Joshua as the Vixen Photo: Andrea Tamoni



7. The Nose
@debaroos – man is sad b/c nose ran away. nose refuses to return to face: becomes more successful than man. what an ungrateful shostakobitch.

Nobody picked this as a favorite in our poll that ran we week we posted this.

The Nose at Mariinsky Theatre. Photo: Mariinsky Theatre.



8. The Tales of Hoffman
@ogiovetti – One lover’s a diva, one’s a doll, one’s dead from singing, and one’s diamond-crazed. Stick with the muse disguised as a student.

Hoffman tied with Magic Flute with 45% of voters calling a favorite.

Les Contes d'Hoffmann in Satander Spain: Giuseppina Piunti as Juilette



9. The Flying Dutchman
@musicbizkid – Let me get this straight: unfathomable treasure if I betroth my loopy daughter to a ghost? Deal. She’ll meet you by the fjord.

27% of voters called The Dutchman a favorite, tied with Orfeo and...

Der Fliegende Hollander at Bayreuth: Simon Estes as The Dutchman



10. Where the Wild Things Are
@vancouveropera - Max throws fit, Wild Rumpus ensues, King Max gets dinner and warm wolf jammies after all.

Wild Things got 27% of the voters to call it a favorite too.

Where the Wild Things Are at New York City Opera: Karen Beardsley as Max


Wasn't that fun? Now go vote or check out our other polls, including the results of our last poll: Top Ten Sci Fi Operas

~ Christopher Libby, Managing Director