It’s that time of year again. The season when you want to enjoy some Halloween music, but are tired of listening to “Purple People Eater” on repeat and you don’t know where to turn. Well, why not turn to the world of opera? There are plenty of Halloween-appropriate works to really get you into the, ahem, spirit.
1) Macbeth (G. Verdi) – Hmmm, what do we need for Halloween? Ghosts? Check. Witches? Check. Violent murders? Check and check. You really can’t find a better opera for traditional Halloween than these scenes from Mean Joe Green. And for an even bigger scare, try learning all of the music by Thursday!
2) Don Giovanni (W. Mozart) – Like all great horror movies, this one starts out with a girl in trouble. The tension slowly builds as the cast gets separated and the main character breaks the number one slasher movie rule: don’t have sex. In fact, he breaks that rule 1,003 times in Spain alone! No wonder at the end of the show a ghost arrives and drags him into the bowels of hell. Bonus Halloween Feature: At one point the cast puts on masks and goes to a party!
3) The Ghosts of Versailles (J. Corigliano) – This one isn’t so scary I suppose, but the entire cast is made up of ghosts! That alone makes this a fine opera to see on October 31st. And did I mention that the ghosts are French? Ooooooooo! Spoooooooky!
4) The Turn of the Screw (B. Britten) – Speaking of ghosts, here is a show that is full of them! And not funny ghosts like in that Versailles show. Weird pedophile ghosts. Hauntings, possessions, death, and terror, this show is a must for your Halloween opera experience.
5) Elektra (R. Strauss) – Man, this opera is freaky. It’s only one act, but that’s all it needs to tell the story of death and madness. And while many operas feature death and madness, it’s the music here that really provides the horror you are looking for. When Elektra dances herself to death after various murders have happened, you will feel the madness in yourself as well. Beware.
6) Faust (C. Gounod) – Really this entry should also include the operas Mefistofele (A. Boito) and La Damnation de Faust (H. Berlioz), but they are all the same story. Guy makes a deal with the devil. It ends poorly. Halloween gold.
7) Salome (R. Strauss) – Okay, most of this opera isn’t really scary or spooky or ghostly, but it makes it onto my list for the final scene of the lady making out with the severed head. An image fit for a nightmare.
8) Der Freischütz (C. Weber) – Three words: Wolf’s Glen Scene. You could pretty much just have that scene on repeat all Halloween night and be plenty spooked. But add in magical bullets controlled by the devil and you just can’t go wrong with this one!
9) Wozzeck (A. Berg) – This is a tale of a killer’s descent into madness. Or is it the tale of a madman’s descent into murder? Either way, it’s pretty scary, and that kid at the end… Yeesh. Creepy! And sad. The atonal music really fits the story, and by the time you are done it is the traditional, tonal music that sounds spooky instead of the other way around. Well played Mr. Berg. Bonus Halloween Feature: if you rearrange the letters in Alban Berg’s name it spells “Banger Lab,” which sounds like the sort of place a mad scientist would hang out.
10) The Phantom of the Opera (Non-Opera Composer) – The scary thing about this show is that people actually think it is an opera. It’s not. It’s a musical. I suppose the show has some Halloweeny stuff in it too, like phantoms and the like, but that is irrelevant. It is not an opera. It is about an opera house. Saying it is an opera is like saying “The Lord of the Rings” is a piece of jewelry. And yet people continually tell me that Phantom is their favorite opera. Terrifying.
I believe you forgot my kitschy favorite: Der Vampyr!