hello, first off i’ll admit i used to be a leecher and an all around douche back in the day when i posted on here and pianoworld (i was da bbbworship, and i was on tons of adderall). Well for the past few weeks i was looking through random past threads trying to expand my knowledge, and the old account got banned I guess cuz I never posted anything. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve dived into the classical repertoire again, and my passion iz renewed. I wanna get into Wagner’s music. There must be a reason da 
, da Nietzche and all the other composers of his day worshiped him so much. There are many hindrances tho. I don’t really like singing that much in general, it’s a pain to have to follow along with libretto, (i’m focusing on the words while the music passes by) and I can’t seem to shake off the extreme cheese factor. Should I start with Tristan and Isolde, or maybe Tannhauser? or a completely different composer? so many questions…
i got into opera by studying the ring cycle. and by studying i litterally mean playing the score, learning all the leitmotives and recognizing and naming them, learn the stories, etc.
then you totally get the awesomeness behind it and how grand it really is.
tru, the ring cycle is fucking epic. i saw it staged last summer and i was floored by how epic and grand it is, musically and otherwise.
marriage of figaro pozz mah fav opera theze dayz 
I think Wagner can be a bit heavy if you’re a n00b.
Maybe try Carmen, Norma, Traviata or Onegin which are all great and pretty accessible.
yeah, tru, carmen is probably the best noob opera out there. incredibly easy to listen to, to follow the plot, etc.
don giovaaannni
i remember that thread da robbah dreamed he was IN da opera!
this and da LULU is what got me into opera
but you gotta follow along with da LIB
no luv for Zauberflote?
hahahah thiz clazzic!
Haha da LSD effect on da robbah 
hahasha tru i remembah thiz dream vivdily
it twuz tha premier of zum opera about a random zupah-highway bein built, n i didnt hav mah part memorizd, but tha chick who waz in tha opera wuz lyk, “tru u can uze tha zheetz; i am alzo uzin them”
but then tha perf cummah n zhe wuz lyk “tru i memorizd mah part” and i wuz lyk fuckkkkkkkkk
bazically a gud dream 
avant-garde
ahahah da rob dream, almoz az random az DIZ ZHEEYAT:
haha, nixon in china is a pretty awesome opera.
Don Giovanni and Zauberflote fo sho.
For Cosi and Figaro, I find them great on an aria to aria basis, but less successful as complete works.
Don’t neglect Puccini or Verdi. Tosca, Butterfly, Boheme, Falstaff, and Aida all live up to their reputation.
If you want something extreme, Messiaen’s St. Francis is fucking insane. There’s a scene where Francis does nothing but meditate onstage for 15 minutes.
tru, i just bought a DVD set of st. françois d’assise and it’s one of the most epic non-wagner operas ive ever seen.
bernd alois zimmermann’s die soldaten is another pretty extreme opera. the opening alone will blow you out of your seat, heh.
heh, love that comment “makes wozzeck sound like haydn”. needless to say, i love these kinds of operas. oh, and wozzeck is another great option.
wow thanks for all the replies. shows that dis forum is far from dead.
I will consider either don giovanni or carmen for my first
And Saint Francois for my next psychedelic trip 
haha, we just gotta talk more about things that da tm doesnt know jack shit about or doesnt care about. in other words, non-piano music or modern music, heh.