I have recently started corresponding with a poster on a non-music forum who said she was very keen to develop an interest in opera.

I started off by advising her to listen to the real stuff and avoid crossover at all costs (well I didn't quite put it like that ) then pointing her in the direction of a couple of Naxos opera lollipops CDs, which she loved.  There was nothing on them that she didn't like.  (The selection ranged from Gluck to Dvorak with all the obvious stuff in between except for anything heavy and German.)

Specifically, she has pinpointed that she likes energetic men enjoys energetic male singing, particularly based on the excerpts she's now heard from Figaro, Barber, Trovatore and Rigoletto.  Figaro is currently her particular favourite.

As she lives on the south coast and isn't likely to have a chance to get to a live performance anytime soon, my instinct was to recommend DVDs/videos rather than CDs, and I have now offered to make her copies of my off-air TV recordings of Figaro, Rigoletto and Carmen from the ROH.  I've pointed her in the direction of a couple of promising Trovatores (the Verona one - with a warning not to expect much from the acting! - and the recentish Covent Garden one) and one or two other things.

So, question one: can anybody suggest a decent Barber of Seville DVD, preferably at budget or mid-price?  I don't think I own a single one - I've only ever seen it live.

Question two: any other surefire winners based on the way her tastes look to be leaning?

Question three: in which direction might I guide her next?  I think she might get on with Handel, but she does have a preference for male voices.  I think she will probably love Don Giovanni.  What else?  More Verdi, I think... How about other composers?

Thanks strina - I might have known you'd come up with the baroque goods!  That's a really good suggestion, which I might not have thought of myself (at least not for some time).

I am not quite sure why now but when I was a teenager I really loved Fidelio. I think it could be the rather romantic story line but the prisoners coming into the sunshine was so memorable.

( I did wonder how his voice had stayed so wonderful though after that time in a damp dungeon !!)

A

Perhaps she could be coaxed into the 20th century. What about The Rake's Progress or anything by Britten? Good music, real stories and no struggling to understand other languages (or having to tolerate awful translations or subtitles!).

Since she likes male voices Billy Budd would be ideal. (Or Midsummer Night's Dream; or Peter Grimes.)

At the risk of being too obvious, you could always send her to the beginnings of opera with L'Orfeo.  Good, "proper" male voices in that.  And La Musica makes a pretty good case for the beauty of the female voice.

Glad to hear there are other Britten/Stravinsky enthusiasts here.

Going back to the previous century and thinking about operas where she might know extracts (always useful to have something to hang onto), what about The Magic Flute or Carmen?

Or another one with a well-known tune which is heard (again and again!) would be The Pearl Fishers.

(Dare I mention Wagner?  Die Meistersinger is a great introduction, possibly beginning with the spectacle of the last scene.)

She has had bits of Carmen and The Magic Flute on her highlights discs, and Carmen is among the off-air recordings I'll be sending her.  In fact it's interesting that you should mention those two, as both are on this autumn's Glyndebourne tour.  Glyndebourne is easily the nearest major house to her, and the tour is relatively informal and not violently expensive.  I was thinking of asking whether she might be interested in one of the tour performances as her first live experience (I'm on the mailing list and have the application form on my coffee table at home).

Well, Ruth, there are some glorious male arias in Tannhäuser, too, if you can find a suitable DVD. At the risk of straying into crossover territory there's a fair bit of good stuff from the likes of Hakan Hagegard, Rene Kollo (&, of course, Kiri) on the soundtrack of 'Meeting Venus'; though I must admit I can't remember if the excerpts in the film itself (which I didn't much like) are as lengthy as those on the soundtrack album. 

Lakmé is full of hummable stuff from male characters, as well.  Once again, though, the only film I can think of is one I saw on the Performance channel with Joan Sutherland proving how much more wonderful she looks in ones imagination than on telly.  She's great on CD, though, with Alain Vanzo, Gabriel Bacquier etc.