May 15, 2017

Free Introductions to 27 Great Operas on Audio

You can now listen to 27 hour-long introductions of famous operas written by Thomson Smillie and read by David Timson. The introductions are part of the “Opera Explained” series from the classical music record label NAXOS, and they offer them streaming through Spotify. Whether you are a classical music expert, or you are new to opera, these introductions serve as one of the most accessible ways to learn about and appreciate opera. The introductions contain popular excerpts from NAXOS classical recordings of the operas. David Timson is a wonderful narrator and in each introduction he provides context for the opera before going into the story and highlighting the best musical moments. You’ll also learn a great deal about the composer of each opera from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to Giacomo Puccini. Please Note: In order to listen to these introductions you’ll need a free Spotify account. You can listen for free with occasional ads and they also have Spotify software for easier listening on your computer or smart phone. If you want to listen ad-free and you love music as well, we can’t recommend Spotify Premium highly enough.

Here’s a Spotify playlist we made of all the operas in the Opera Explained series. We’ve added the first track of each album to the playlist. Click on the album for the full introduction.

Introductions to Operas on Audio from our Opera Explained Series Spotify Playlist

Here are all 27 introductions that we feature on LearnOutLoud.com:

27 Introductions to Operas by Thomson Smillie

If you’re wondering where to start, we’ll recommend some of the most beloved operas of all time:

Aida: An Introduction to Verdi’s Opera

The Barber of Seville: An Introduction to Rossini’s Opera

Carmen: An Introduction to Bizet’s Opera

Fidelio: An Introduction to Beethoven’s Opera

La Boheme: An Introduction to Puccini’s Opera

The Marriage of Figaro: An Introduction to Mozart’s Opera

In addition to these opera introductions, we’ll also feature today 11 composer biographies by Jeremy Siepmann that are offered by NAXOS on Spotify:

11 Biographies on the Life & Works of Famous Composers by Jeremy Siepmann

These 4-hour introductions to the composers alternate between telling their life story and featuring recordings of their musical works. Some of the composers you may have heard of include:

The Life and Works of Bach

The Life and Works of Mozart

The Life and Works of Beethoven

The Life and Works of Tchaikovsky

The Life & Works of Giuseppe Verdi

Enjoy these introductions to some of the greatest composers and operas of all time!