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What a fabulous series! I am about to go back and listen for the second time. The pace is fast, so keep your wits and ears alert. I listened to the first one three times in a row planning to do the same with each episode but I got so fascinated with it that I decided to go all the way to the end and then go back. I highly recommend this series to both Opera lovers or people interested in finding out a little bit. They will find out a lot!

Loving your style. Fresh, natural and erudite. Excellent. Looking forward to watching your second instalment!

Having sung in operas myself as a kid and creating a webcomic about opera now, finding this gem has really brightened up my day! An absolute pleasure to listen to your lectures while I work! Thank you!

Really enjoyed your review of opera. Learned a lot. I am happy that we agree on my operatic heroes, Monteverdi, Mozart, and Puccini. I need more experience with Wagner operas.

Dear John how can you not even mention the great Bellini...?

thank you for your effort in creating this series. it's WONDERFUL. I'm taking an opera appreciation class at Oxford University and your work complements it perfectly!

Great video John I'm glad I found this.

Sir plzzzzz provide subtitles

Wonderfull explanation!

So happy to have found this video! It does deserves more views!

Excellent presentation. I suggest for your next lectures that you reduce the background music level when talking over it. Thank you very much.

Thanks for series! Great example of how to disseminate knowledge while keeping rigour at heart. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

Very nice and informative series. Educationally sound with a comfortable delivery. Thank you.

Im starting your mini course. Thank you for your time!

Great! Thank you! 👍

Thank you so much for creating this series of rich in content and insightful videos on Opera. I've been searching for a body of knowledge like this for a long time and am grateful to you for putting it together. Excellent! Thank you!

Great content, congrats!! I saw that you are reading your text and I was wondering if it's possible to send these information in written form?

Breath taking examples and concise descriptions full of priceless context. I have not seen a better overview. Thank you so much for putting this together. Bravo!

Thanks thanks thanks a lot for your work, John. May you turn on the subtitles so we better follow your explanaitons for non-native English speakers? All the best.

I just happened upon this while researching the origins of European opera (I’m subject to sudden, inexplicable obsessions). Echoing other commenters, I want to say thank you for this series of videos. Exactly what I was looking for.

Thank you for this series. Great to have a succinct but broad overview of Opera. A pity (from the viewing numbers) that many didn't last the whole course.

Terrific series--I viewed each episode at least twice. Taking selections from Wikipedia's list of prominent operas, I've so far seen 120 full operas on RUclips since Feb 2021 in roughly chronological order by composition date and watched the art form evolve up through the mid-20th century. I knew only a bit about opera beforehand but this amazing journey exposed me to some stunning productions, not infrequently with music by composers I had never heard of before. Once my viewing covered a certain time period, I would then go and watch your video corresponding to that period and learned how these works fit into the whole of opera history. This was extraordinarily enlightening and fun, as I was by then almost always familiar with the operas you featured and composers you mentioned. This is to say "Thanks" for the work put into these videos. All the best to you from the USA.

Thank you for this wonderful series! To see the contrasting visions of composers for what opera could be is somewhat enlightening and I enjoyed your content very much.

I too adore this series and share in the befuddlement as to the paucity of views. That said, I really think Berlioz deserves a mention, and not simply b/c he is a quintessential romantic. I am listening to Benvenuto Cellini (1838) and am hearing traces of bel canto and grand opera, to which I think perhaps Berlioz can be seen as a bridge. More, I find myself wondering had he dedicated himself to writing opera rather than turning them out once a decade, might he have been to French opera what Verdi and Wagner were to their respective nations?

Hello John, thank you so much for this beautiful series. I'm wondering if there exists a visual timeline of these composers and how they fit in with each other, their country, or even just where they are placed in time relative to one another. I'm working on a project and having some kind of visual, almost like a family tree, that traces influence from composer to composer would be incredibly helpful. If one doesn't exist, I may take a crack at making one, inspired by these videos. This has been such a great introduction to Opera, and I'd love to learn more of the history. Do you have any books you'd recommend I check out to explore this further? Thank you so much for your time!!

The level of culture, heritage etc that Italy gave to the world is astonishing

Thank you for this wonderful and informative series!

Fabulous, thank you so much 🙏

This is absolutely fantastic! Thank you.

Very informative! I learned so much from these videos. Thanks so much for doing these!

hi mark

I binge-watched this wonderful series of talks on opera history and I thought it was just perfect. I am impressed with your generosity to put this together and offer it for free.... this is content I would gladly have paid for. If I had to choose one particular moment of inspiration it would be your description of Wagner. I'm not a big fan but at least, I understand it more. Thank you very much Maestro Andrews. (I'm not sure why Facebook isn't pushing this content out more. It's truly unique).

Oh... I love Gluck. I'm so happy you took the time to talk about him. Iphigénie en Tauride is in my top 5 favourite operas. Great drama and musicality.

I need you to know how much this series is helping me finish my last incomplete class so I can graduate from music school haha! I have never been fond of opera or the traditions that is upholds today but I have definitely gained an appreciation for its larger collective story that propelled us forward musically. Thanks so much!

Learned a lot about Operas from all six series...............I will keep learning.................Thanks so much !!!

I just found this and it deserves way more views! I am getting interested in opera and this is a great series of videos, can't wait to finish the series!

This is a wonderful series; many thanks.

Thank you for all the work and knowledge you have put into these videos. I have enjoyed them greatly!

Thank you very very much for these videos!

Pilgrim's Progress should get an honorable mention. I don't find it as interesting as Toward the Unknown Region, or RVW's symphonies (though admittedly I haven't heard the entire opera). Still it's a small part of opera history. Oh you know what's a fun little piece (aside from the subject matter)? Patrick Hadley's Fen and Flood. I haven't heard it for ages, but used to enjoy these obscure works that get little attention. I've read that Hadley was called 'the link' between RVW and Benjamin Britten, though I couldn't personally confirm that, knowing very little of Britten's operas.

i've learned a lot. thank you so much!

Thank you so much for taking the time and care to make these videos!

I have very much enjoyed your series. I enjoy opera but now I also have an insight in the history and development of the genre. Thank you!

John, can u put these videos into a playlist for people to save. Thx.

Can you turn on the automatic subtitle for this video, sir? I have an exam in 1 week and I am studying opera, since English is not my native languages, it is really hard for me to understand every Word. It means a lot for me and also thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us!

Can you turn on the automatic subtitle for this video, sir? I have an exam in 1 week and I am studying opera, since English is not my native languages, it is really hard for me to understand every Word. It means a lot for me and also thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us!

I am really happy I found this! :)

This is very understandable, lucid, and scholarly. Thank you!

I have one question regarding Jenufa's premiere though. You say it wasn't performed until 16 years later after it was written in 1904, but I read somewhere that it was written a little before that and it was premiered in 1904. I am confused. Could you clarify this for me, please?

I love this series of history of Opera, but could you please enable subtitles? It would be really helpful as English is not my 1st language. Thanks!