Four masterpieces that made me love opera

Imposing voices singing in foreign languages, long performances in huge theaters, intricate stories loaded with drama: Opera can be intimidating! The good news is that the aspects that might intimidate you at first are the same ones that will win you over when the time and the circumstances are right. Looking back, I can pinpoint four key moments that made me a lifelong opera lover: discovering the magic of character building in Carmen (which you can watch on medici.tv with a flawless Rolando Villazón as Don José); being awestruck by the power of grand myths magnified through epic music in Wagner's Die Walküre and the full Ring cycle; finding all the enchantment of luminous Baroque music on the opera stage in Handel's Hercules (available with a stunning Joyce DiDonato, conducted by William Christie); and finally, learning to dismantle clichés and prejudices in Italian masterpieces like Verdi's La Traviata (impeccably staged here with a marvelous Aida Garifullina and a world-class Javier Camarena, two of the best I've ever seen in the tragic lead roles).