#jokes aside without knowing your taste I'd say go for la traviata as your introduction to opera!

[lenskij]

My cello teacher told me I should start listening to opera. He recommended I start with Puccini or Verdi. Are there any particular operas you'd recommend to start with?

Welcome to opera! There's drama, there's blood, there's crossdressing, vengeance, rivalries, love, and more drama!

There are as many opera opinions as there are opera listeners, and there is so much variety in opera. The most played operas are always a safe bet - there's a reason they're popular! - and it's a good place to start, pick something that tickles your fancy, maybe an intriguing synopsis or a composer you like.

If you want to start with Verdi, I recommend La Traviata and Rigoletto - both are beautiful and devastating in their tragedy. I like to listen to them when I want something familiar to bawl my eyes out at :) I think that's maybe the best place to start!

Another great "starter" opera is Bizet's Carmen. It's full of banger arias and tunes that are well-known even outside of the opera world.

If you want to check out Puccini, I'd recommend La Boheme or Tosca (with the caveat that I don't personally like Puccini operas hehe, they're just not for me).

And of course I cannot not recommend the best opera of all time (as judged by yours truly): Eugene Onegin by the one and only Tchaikovsky. I love it so much I can't even articulate why I love it. It's the inevitable tragedy caused by the characters' own actions, not from malice, but from who they are as people. It's how Tchaikovsky's music beautifully makes the drama soar. It will break your heart and you'll thank Piotr Ilyich for it!

Good luck on your opera journey! There's lots to explore. I mean, the operas listed above are all from the second half of the 19th century, which is just a narrow band of all opera history!