TOP 5 OPERAS for BEGINNERS 

If someone asks me how to start getting to know opera, I ask which do they like, action/adventure movies, drawing-room comedies, or swords-and-sorcery fantasies like Tolkien? If they choose action/adventure, I recommend _Don Giovanni;_ if they like drawing-room psychological comedies, _Le nozze di Figaro_ and if they like swords and sorcery, _Das Rheingold._ That usually works pretty well.

I discovered opera with Carmen. Got hooked right away. But my favourite opera is Don Giovanni. I'd say The Magic Flute should make the list, because of its fairytale simplicity and its relatable characters.

The first opera I ever watched in the theater was Massenet's Werther, and I must say I absolutely loved it. I had tried to get into opera at home before, but that was what made me really love opera. Great list.

oooh, nozze di figaro is certainly lovely, but it's a bit long and invloved for a beginner(just my opinion). certainly magic flute, tales of hoffman and lucia might have been better choices. But even after having seen hundreds of live operas - I still come back to Cav/Pag, Rigoletto, Traviata, carmen,La Boheme, and....Aida!

Gotta be gutsy. Add Rheingold. Shortest of the 4 Ring operas. Has giants, dwarves, gods and goddesses, magic helmet, castle in the sky. It was LotR before LotR. And the music. Just the initial strains of the double-basses playing the music representing the Rhein river...

I'm with you. "Le nozze di Figaro " was my first opera long time ago and I still love it. "The magic flute" is my favorite but a little too long for beginners I guess.