Quote Originally Posted by Caversham Green View Post
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I'd forgotten about that, and when I googled it it turned out to be a different aria from the one I was thinking of. It's from Mozarts 'The Marriage of Figaro - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzuM2XTnpSA

Probably my favourite aria from my favourite opera is the very dark 'Va Tosca' from ....Tosca. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3lPxwct2sk
Your Gianni Schicchi link was one that I would have posted as befitting of a 'beautiful track'

My turn to be accused of overblown romantic guff - - I'm a sucker for 'Mi chiamano Mimi' and 'O soave fanciulla' from La Boheme and hide no shame in admitting to a fondness for 'Un bel di vedremo' from Madama Butterfly

I'm a big Puccini fan and would rather listen/see his work than Verdi, for example, notwithstanding the quality of what Verdi wrote. Tosca is outstanding and like so many of Puccini's works it tells a tale that is essentially an eternal truth and is therefore easily translatable into different settings and eras - a truly timeless story.

My favourite however is La Fanciulla Del West, sadly under-performed nowadays. Some of the duets are sublime and the mostly male arias are sumptious. It's a shame the opera isn't performed more often, I believe it was Puccini's favourite of all his compositions.