[woodsyi]

The castrati thread has got me to think about the those magical moments in opera when your senses just get overwhelmed.  There are so many moments:
Va Pensiero from Nabucco,
E Lucevan Le Stelle from Tosca,
the Willow song from Othello,
Sono andati from La Bohem,
Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde,
Brunnhilde's immolation from Gotterdammerung among others.

The most poignant one for me is when Violetta agrees to give up Alfredo after Germont convinces her why she is bad for his son, Alfredo.  This is true love.  In the story the father's love for son triumphs but musically Violetta's love and sacrifice soars above all.

Tell me yours.

[jaywills]

Thank you.

[rpf]

Agreed. Those moments make for some of the most beautiful experiences of life.

Others:

Contessa Perdono from Marriage of Figaro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwf6kYO41YE&feature=related

O Mio Babbino Caro from Gianni Schicchi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKvT5eCfqLE

Ebben? Ne Andro Lontana from La Wally: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1mvuPk47Xg&feature=fvst

Soave Il Vento from Cosi Fan Tutte: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMY3Ou9L5xE

Presentation of the Rose from Der Rosenkavalier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuS337uc-4Y

Tannhauser Overture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDwiYOCnuao



I'll have to read up later on how to embed the links in the titles: that's cool.

Rob

[jimdgoulding]

Opera in general?  You'll always find an aria in any Puccini I know of that will tear your heart out.  I think that is why he is so beloved.

[rpf]

Another Puccini:

Ch'ella Mi Creda from La Fanciulla del West:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM9dF4WodDY

[geezer]

For poignancy, I'll take va pensiero on the Met DVD, where the combination of the music and the outstanding camera work on the chorus always tears me up. Nothing else that I've seen or heard can approach it.

It's not poignant, but the grand march in another Verdi work, Aida, always makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

As my wife says, "that Verdi is a goer."

[woodsyi]

I was going for the tearjerker type which leave your heart aching with pain but we can include happier moments.   This aria from L'elisir d'amore applies to some of us audiophools who fall for snake oils.  Nemorino thinks his love potion is really working to make Addina love him as he sees her shedding Una furtiva lagrima (a secret furtive tear).

[rpf]

Got that when I re-read the title: I originally focused on the first line of the post. Sorry.

But in my defense, I find the unrealizable ideal love portrayed in the Presentation of the Rose leaves my heart aching with pain as well as joy. And the others have at least some degree of loss or longing present in them.

[woodsyi]

It's Okay.

We can start a most exhilarating moments thread too.  Geezer's triumphal March would surely be included there.

[Russell Dawkins]

I was hooked on opera for the first time at the age of 26 (as a fairly typical young man I didn't get it 'till then) by Leontyne Price singing Verdi's aria "Se vano e il pregare" from I Lombardi.
I had bought the RCA record to serve as a midrange test for the speakers I was designing, but when this track came on my world came to a stop and I was dealing with a massive lump in my throat.

That was 35 years ago, and even now I have only to think of Leontyne singing this to get that lump in my throat again.

The original RCA disc was so sloppily produced that a 60 cycle hum came up with the fade in on each track. It would have been so easy for the engineers to have fixed this on an expensive boxed production such as it was, but apparently it wasn't worth it. It has been fixed on the 1992  release which contains it (track 39):
http://tinyurl.com/yzbj3zb

I grew later to appreciate how beautifully Verdi wrote for voice and his way with the very long melodic line.

[Ericus Rex]

The end of La Boheme gets me everytime I see it!

[rpf]

The end of La Boheme gets me everytime I see it!

The ending still brings tears to my eyes almost 5 decades since I first heard it (on my parents' 78).

[no1maestro]

The other posters have done a good job on suggestions but for me it is the final scene of Walkure; the Leb Wohl with Wotan saying his farewell to his favorite daughter fully knowing that he will never see her again. One of the most heartbreaking and touching music for me in opera. I know that Wagner is an acquired taste but that always dampens my eyes.

[pjg66]

Great thread!  There are indeed dozens of such moments I recall from the live operas I have attended.  But two stand out:

- the entire single act of Elektra.  I had the good luck to see it with Birgit Nilsson.  This opera is dramatically and musically powerful.  Right from the beginning the tension begins building, and it just builds and builds, without relief or let up.  All of it leading, of course, to a shattering climax. 

By the end my heart may not have been aching, but I was indeed overwhelmed, being totally drained emotionally, psychologically and physically.  It was mesmerizing, and quite unlike anything else I have experienced in live opera.  Strauss was a genius to do it all in one act.

- the final scene (scene 5, Act 3) of Wozzeck.  Wozzeck has just murdered Marie and Marie's young son is outdoors playing on his hobby horse.  Suddenly the other children are abuzz with the news of Marie.  One child confronts Marie's son - "Du! Dein' Mutter is tot!"  Marie's son does not understand and continues riding around, singing "Hopp, hopp! Hopp, hopp! Hopp, hopp!" 

Then the other children decide to go look at the dead Marie who lies out on the path near the pond.
Marie's son continues to ride, but hesitates for a moment and then rides after the other children.
This is the very final action of the opera, and it is heart-wrenching.  Still brings tears whenever I think of it.

pjg66

[Rob Babcock]

That's a list I'll have to listen to.  Thanks!

[jimdgoulding]

E Lucevan Le Stelle from Tosca from Woodsyi.  Oh, hell yes!

What's the most shamelessly popularized aria in gangster movies (well, those with Italians)?  My copy is from 1966 with Joan Carlyle and Carlo Bergonzi with the Orchestra of La Scala, 1966, on DG.  Love this set.  The orchestra and singers are so very nicely recorded.  "Vesti la giubba" from I Pagliacci.  Even so, it remains aching heart city.