(Originally $150, now $89 ea.)

World renowned diva and operatic singer Natalie Choquette, brings her entertaining and unique focus to many of the world's best loved operas.   From La Traviata, to Carmen, to Don Giovanni and beyond, every Opera Easy program comes dramatically alive with history, composers, performance and clarifying perspective.  Opera Easy bridges the language and times to the story and characters.  Operatic musical excerpts of the most famous and loved arias further enriches the experience. If you have ever wondered how and why these great opera's have endured now is your chance to know.  Allow this wonderful collection of enriching operas to enhance your musical appreciation.  It's Opera Easy!

1• Carmen
Carmen, a French tragic opera first produced in Paris in 1875.  The most famous of Bizet's operas, with its exotic Spanish setting, introduced a note of realism into opera that proved unacceptable to many who saw the first performances. Objection was taken to the wild and immoral behavior of Carmen, the chorus of cigarette factory- girls and the final murder of Carmen on the stage. The Opera is set in the year 1820, in Seville, Spain.

2• Cavalleria Rusticana / Pagliacci
Cavalleria Rusticana (Rustic Chivalry) by Pietro Mascagni, is a tragic one-act Italian opera composed in 1890. Pagliacci (Players, or Clowns) is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe. The pairing is referred to in the operatic world colloquially as "Cav and Pag”. The entire action of the opera takes place between 3 p.m. and midnight on August 15th, the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin. As part of the celebration, a provincial troupe of strolling players has come to town to perform. They have been here before, and the villagers know them.

3• Cosi Fan Tutte
The title "Così Fan Tutte" is roughly translated as "All Women are like that". The theme deals with women’s fickleness and infidelity.  The opera begins with two sisters, their fiancés, and a bet—Will the women be faithful? “Of course,” brag the men. “Nay,” says the cynical Don Alfonso. Thus we enter a world of disguises and trickery in which the women—and love itself—is put to the test.  Mozart’s genius turns a farce into a scintillating blend of thought provoking humor.

4• Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Mozart's beautiful, troubling comedy about the clash of values between Enlightenment Europe and Ottoman Turkey. Brimming with vivacity and exotic color, “Die Entführung aus dem Serail” represents Mozart finding his feet in Vienna with confident exuberance. The opera premiered during the composer's first full year in Vienna, July 1782. The singspiel (featuring spoken dialogue rather than sung recitatives) was both a wonderful achievement in itself and a gesture to Vienna's infatuation with "Turkish" music.

5• Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute)
The last of Mozart's operas to be staged in his lifetime, Die Zauberflöte makes considerable use of masonic ritual and ideas. In this witty and whimsical story, the wise but wily Sarastro kidnaps the beautiful but naive Pamina , whose mother is the Queen of the Night. Understandably upset, the Queen commands Prince Tamino to rescue her daughter, but while Tamino soon falls in love with Pamina, he also comes to believe that the Queen who commands him is the real villain, not Sarastro.

6• Don Giovanni
Mozart’s Don Giovanni has been widely regarded as the greatest opera ever composed.  Don Giovanni, the infamous womanizer, makes one conquest after another until the ghost of Donna Anna's father, the Commendatore, (whom Giovanni killed) makes his appearance. He offers Giovanni one last chance to repent for his multitudinous improprieties.  Often classified as comic, in reality Don Giovanni is a brilliant combination of human tragedy.  Every character stands out in this musical masterpiece.

7• Faust
Faust is a grand opera in five acts. Composed by Charles Gounod in 1856-1859. The setting is Germany, 16th  century. Gounod changed much about his Faust following its 1859 premiere, but the core story remains. The aging scholar Faust, on the verge of despairing suicide to end his life’s ebbing energy, signs a pact with Méphistophélès. In exchange for Faust's renewed youth, Satan will serve him on Earth and will sanction his love of Marguerite, whom he sees in a vision.

8• Hänsel & Gretel
Hänsel und Gretel is an opera by 19th century composer Engelbert Humperdinck, who described it as a Märchenoper (fairy tale opera), based on the Grimm Brothers' Hansel and Gretel. It is much admired for its folk music-inspired themes. The opera was first performed in Weimar in 1893, conducted by Richard Strauss. It has been associated with Christmas since its earliest performances and today it is still most often performed at Christmas time.

9• Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Gioacchino Rossini’s much beloved opera The Barber of Seville (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) is considered the most popular opera buffa (comic opera) of all-time. The opera, first performed in 1816 in Rome is set in Seville, Spain.

10• Il Trittico
Il Trittico (The Triptych) is the title of a collection of three Italian one-act operas; Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi composed from 1916-1918 by Giacomo Puccini. First Performance: was 1918 at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. The three operas in Il trittico do not have a common theme, although in an odd way they are balanced.  Il trittico is a violent tragedy, Suor Angelica is a sentimental melodrama and Gianni Schicchi is a bright, sunny comedy.

11• Il Trovatore
Il Trovatore (The Troubadour) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The opera was first performed In Rome, in 1853 where it "began a victorious march throughout the operatic world". Today it is given very frequently and is a staple of the standard operatic repertoire. While it is true that the story of this opera seems to be a good deal of a mix-up, it is also fact that, under the spur of Verdi’s music, even a person who has not a clear grasp of the plot can sense the dramatic power of many of the scenes. Swift, spontaneous, and stirring is the music of "Il Trovatore."

12• L’Elisir d’Amore
Since its premiere in Milan in 1832 Gaeteno Donizetti’s tuneful romantic comedy “L’Elisir d’Amore” (The Elixir of Love) has always been popular with its endearing story. A country bumpkin, Nemorino, falls for a capricious, wealthy farm owner, Adina. The painfully shy Nemorino is an easy target for a quack doctor who peddles an elixir of love, which turns out to be just a cheap Bordeaux. L'elisir d'amore is one of the most frequently performed of all Donizetti's operas and contains the popular aria "Una furtiva lagrima," one of the most famous and often-excerpted arias in all of opera.

13• La Bohéme
"La Bohème" is considered by many to be Puccini’s finest score. The story is set in Paris around 1830. It essentially focuses on the love between the seamstress called Mimì and the poet Rodolfo. They almost immediately fall in love with each other, but Rodolfo later wants to leave Mimì because of her flirtatious behavior. However, Mimì is mortally ill, and Rodolfo is consumed by guilt, since their life together likely had worsened her health even further. They reunite once again for just a brief moment at Mimi’s deathbed.

14• La Cenerentola
Rossini's enchanting La Cenerentola. Rossini composed La Cenerentola when he was 25 years old, following the success of The Barber of Seville the year before. La Cenerentola, which he completed in a period of three weeks, is considered to have some of his finest writing for solo voice and ensembles. The opera was first performed in Rome's Teatro Valle in 1817. The Barber of Seville might have made Rossini famous, but it was La Cenerentola that cemented his reputation and made his comic style the world's favorite.

15• La Traviata
Verdi's opera La Traviata is a story of doomed love in 1840’s Paris.  Violetta,who is the mistress of a wealthy baron, hosts a lavish party to celebrate her improved health after a bout with tuberculosis. There she meets Alfredo and becomes smitten with him.  Violetta leaves the baron, so she may join Alfredo at a secluded country villa. Now together, the lovers live happily for a while.

16• Le Nozze di Figaro
Le Nozze di Figaro" was composed by Mozart by command of Emperor Joseph II, of Austria. After congratulating the composer at the end of the first performance, the Emperor said to him: "You must admit, however, my dear Mozart, that there are a great many notes in your score." "Not one too many, Sire," was Mozart’s reply. First performed in 1786 in Vienna, The Marriage of Figaro is set in Count Almaviva's castle in Seville in the late 18th  Century. Mozart composed this score in a month. The finale to the second act occupied him but two days. In the music the sparkle of high comedy alternates with the deeper sentiment of the affections.

17• Les Contes d”Huffmann
Offenbach’s erotic fantasy, Les Contes d'Hoffmann is a French opera in three acts. The world premiere was in Paris, in 1881. In a tavern, the poet Hoffmann tells of his three former lovers. First, he lusts after a mechanical doll, Olympia. Next, he falls madly in love with an ill singer, Antonia. Finally, Hoffmann falls in love with Giulietta. At the end of the opera, Hoffmann is so drunk that he fails to see the woman who truly loves him, Stella.

18• Madama Butterfly
Opera by Giacomo Puccini, set in Japan, early twentieth century.
A Japanese maiden catches the fancy of a caddish American Naval officer, crosses cultural boundaries to become his bride, and grapples with a serious dilemma while faithfully awaiting his return. Puccini’s story of tradition, romance, yearning, and sacrifice has been one of the world’s most beloved operas for over a century.

19• Manon Lescaut
Manon Lescaut is an opera in four acts by Giacomo Puccini. The premiere took place in Turin in 1893 and, as biographers often point out, although it was Puccini’s third opera, it was his first great success. Manon Lescaut tells the story of the titular heroine, who - although she initially rises to fame and glory on the basis of appearance - withdraws from her wealth and notoriety to abscond with her soul mate - a decision that plunges her into tragedy and unspeakable despair.

20• Norma
This opera by Vincenzo Bellini premiered in Milan in 1831. Set in Gaul (modern day France) during the Roman occupation around 50 BC. Bellini's Norma combines the requirements of both a coloratura and a dramatic soprano, calling for not only perfect vocal agility but intensity, stamina, and a wide range of characterizations as well. Vincenzo Bellini was born in 1801 and died, prematurely at the age of 34. Norma is one of Bellini greatest operas and was written at the peak of his career.

21• Orfeo ed Euridice
In 1762, Christoph Willibald von Gluck wrote his Orfeo ed Euridice, heralding a new era in the history of opera. Combining the classical ideals of beauty and simplicity with an innate sense of dramatic impetus, it broke down many of the overwrought formal conventions of the Baroque and set the standard for a whole generation of operatic composers. Based on the Greek legend of Orpheus, Orfeo ed Euridice is one of the oldest operas in the repertoire. Its beautiful simplicity, poignant story and moving arias have made the work a favorite of audiences since its first production in 1762.

22• Rigoletto
Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto premiered in Venice, Italy in 1851. Based on a story by Victor Hugo, Rigoletto is a darkly tragic, gut-wrenching opera that ends in a senseless death. It tells the tragic story of a father’s thwarted revenge on the man who abducted his daughter. Verdi’s Rigoletto is one of the most popular operas ever written.

23• Roméo & Juliette
Roméo et Juliette (Romeo and Juliet) is an opéra in five acts by Charles Gounod and based on the Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique , Paris in 1867. This opera is notable for the series of four duets. A chorus introduces the story of the endless feud between the Montague and Capulet families, and of the love between their children, Roméo and Juliette.

24• Tosca
Tosca is an Italian romantic tragedy composed by Giacomo Puccini. The opera is set Rome, in June of 1800, the year when Napoleon invaded Italy. Tosca is set during the 4 days after Napoleons battle at Marengo. Cavaradossi and Angelotti are supporters of the liberal group hoping for Napoleon’s victory.  Angelotti has been convicted of the crime of treason because he was known as pro-French.

25• Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini. Turandot was unfinished at the time of Puccini's death and was later completed by Franco Alfano. The first performance was held in Milan in 1926, and conducted by Arturo Toscanini. It is perhaps the grandest of grand operas, a huge spectacle with a prominent role for chorus and one of opera's most sophisticated orchestral scores. It has also been called the nineteenth century’s last great opera, too, even though it was composed well into the twentieth. Turandot is Puccini's only foray into the realm of the fairy tale.