Classical music should be for everyone. These overtures are a great way to get into orchestral music.

An overture that doesn’t get anything like the performances it deserves is Mendelssohn’s “Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage”. Along with Elgar’s “In the South” which does get more exposure, it’s my favourite of all.

I'm dating myself, but I know all these overtures. I'm a retired ice skating coach, and, back in the day, these were all popular to skate to. Lots of good tunes and excitement!

"Light Cavalry", "Donna Diana", "The Hebrides", "The Wreckers" "and any of Sullivan's G&S overtures remain favourites. Gloriously tuneful !

Nice list David. Not sure how often it gets played, possibly more in America than elsewhere, but I've always enjoyed Barber's School for Scandal overture. The second subject is just so lovely.

A few years ago, when conductor James Judd came out to NZ to conduct the NZSO Youth Orchestra and Rossini's "William Tell" overture was on the programme, he described it as a little symphony and I think he is right about that. I had thought of three overtures that I love and which I don't recall ever hearing at concerts, although I concede they might not be of the sort you were considering. They are: Vaughan Williams "The Wasps"; NIelsen's "Masquerade" and Sibelius's "Karelia", Op. 10 (I heard the Suite a few times over the years) - all masterpieces, surely..

Thankfully my “home” orchestra, the Alabama Symphony, still does some fun overtures in their concerts. They have a thing they do in May each year called “Symphony in the Park” where they do 3 concerts in a weekend for free to the general public to come sit and watch in a big park in Birmingham. Its a great way to get non-classical audiences to see a concert. The last time I went they did the Orpheus and the Underworld overture. It was such great fun!

Paul Paray is for me THE reference for playing that music

I would add one of my favorites, Berlioz' Roman Carnival Overture. A hoot to play and listen to.

Any discussion of overtures makes me leap to Carl Nielsen's opera Maskerade. But I guess like all of Nielsen, it was never in the mainstream repertoire? Pity, because that overture is an orchestral showpiece in the Rossini style but with a 20th century kick.

I have the utmost respect for composers who can master light music (Johann Strauss, J., Offenbach, Leroy Anderson). It is anything BUT easy, even for geniuses... Even Brahms acknowledged this and revered Johann Strauss, Jr. The actor Edmund Gwenn, on his deathbed, said "Dying is easy. Comedy is hard."

Three other ouvertures that I came across in compilations and heard a lot are Boieldieu's "La dame blanche", Strauss' "Die Fledermaus" and Flotow's "Martha". These along with "Donna Diana" that you mentioned were some of the musics I loved most when I was a boy.

I am so pleased that you listed Reznicek's Donna Diana. I first heard this music as a teenager watching reruns of Sgt Preston of the Yukon. Then one day I borrowed an LP of opera overtures from the local library and thought, Oh wow, that's where Sgt Preston came from! Thanks for a great video, Dave.

At least four of these are alive and well on our local Classical radio station. The Auber, Herold, Reznicek and Kabalevsky. We give a LOT of air-play to those old warhorses that Paray and so many others recorded back in the day. Sadly in the Columbus Symphony's major concert hall, not so much. More often heard in (excellent) transcriptions for band at Summer Pops concerts in the Park or at The Ohio State University wind ensemble concerts.

I'm very much in agreement. There used to be a radio programme in the UK called Friday Night is Music Night which played a lot of this kind of music. As a kid, I would listen under the covers after lights out. It's how I first learnt to love the music of Donizetti, Offenbach, the Strausses, Zeller et al.

Thank you for mentioning Wolf-Ferrari. Among the overtures I would like to see G&S overtures, in particular HMS Pinafore or any arrangement of Mikado.

I got to know many of these delightful pieces through the Andre Kostelanetz "Festive Overtures" LP that came out on Columbia when I was in high school. That recording was also my first introduction to William Walton's music.

Laurel and Hardy were in a film adaptation of Fra Diavolo. Thomas' Mignon is a motif in one of my all time favorite films, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, by the magnificent Archers, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

My Hurwitz, I just listened on KZfaq to the overture to Il Segreto di Susanna on your recommendation. It IS delightful. Right alongside it was a link to your video titled "Wolf-Ferrari's Atrocious Orchestral Works!" 😅

Cats are wonderful creatures and real personalities.

Totally agree about the Mignon overture! I first came across it in a movie - The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - but NEVER a live performance. Pity!

Mehta is conducting La Forza overture later this month with the Israel PO…

You are correct about the smaller orchestras playing overtures more often than the big orchestras. I believe Panama City Orchestra in florida had a program where they did not 1 but 2 Rossini overtures in a Masterworks program

I hardly ever go to a live concert now. But, if I can recall a favorite LP, it's the old Beecham LP called My Favorite Overtures. It includes 2 Rossini pieces: The Thieving Magpie & The Marriage Contract (yes, you caught me translating) 2 Mendelssohn pieces: A Midsummer's Night Dream and The Fair Melisina, then last, but certainly not least, a smoking performance of Berlioz's The Corsair. Man, what an album!!! Mark Lee Austin, Tx

I'm so glad you mentioned Orpheus in the Underworld. What incredibly infections music.

Glad you brought this up. Years ago, I bought a budget label box set of overtures. Produced by Madacy of Canada. They cranked out a lot of these low price discs. At any rate, practically every overture you mentioned was in that set. Would love to see another collection like that.

I couldn't agree with you more... I mean I enjoy serious, dramatic, long-form works, but light classical is really what got me into classical music in the first place, and I still love it just as much today. I can't stand "serious" musicians who scoff at these types of works for not being respectable enough (unfortunately I've met a lot of those ppl). We need to bring this music back some way! P.S. another great overture by Auber is "La Muette de Portici"... very underrated IMO

The first two live symphony concerts I attended opened with two overtures: 1958(/Cincinatti Symphony -"Fingal's Cave" and 1961(Minneapolis Symphony - "Semiramide" followed by Bartok's "Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta" and Beethoven 7th! And a personal favorite is "Il Guarany." AND THE CATS ARE WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bravo Dave! let's hope more of this music gets programmed. If I ever get my dream job, Maestro I'll program them! Johann Strauss overtures are wonderful too. I saw only two Rossini Overture performances Rostropovich. They were amazing Mildred looks wonderful. Toscanini did one hell of a Siege of Corinth overture. I can't tell you how many times I have played it.

You want excitement? Try Cherubini's "Ali Baba" overture, the Toscanini recording.

Thanks for the video Dave. I agree 100%. Now I am going to listen to all of these.

I like the Spring Overture of Karl Goldmark

Hérold isn't completely forgotten. He wrote the music for the ballet La fille mal gardée. The score which has since been reworked for Frederick Ashton's production, I think, by John Lanchbery. The ballet is still popular and in many ballet companies' repertoire.

I Vespri has an amazing overture, probably the best part of the opera. Zubin did it at the first three tenors concert, haven't seen it anywhere else.

Couldn't agree more about concerts being a mix. And, great dark serious music is better appreciated when it is NOT the only mode at a concert.

A lot of these are still popular in the wind band tradition . Especially summer wind band pop concerts.

I am surprised you had Forza del Destino on your list as this was a favourite encore piece of Riccardo Muti and I heard him conduct this two or three times. He came with the Philadelphia Orchestra to the Proms one year and the orchestra set up included two harps which were not required in any of the pieces performed, which was intriguing. When the "official" programme had ended two harpists took their places at their instruments and Muti re-appeared to give us the Forza del Destino overture. It was fantastic - I think he must really love it. He did it again after a Chicago Symphony concert at the RFH too.

As a kid Orpheus in the Underworld was the first live "classical performance" of any kind I had ever attended. That was at the Santa Fe Opera in August 1983. I thought it was a blast!

Chabrier's Gwendoline, Lalo's Le roi d'Ys, Borodine's Prince Igor should also be played more often.

These pieces are still very familiar to me. We have some on piano rolls that are fun to play, especially Zampa and Semiramide

Donna Diana's overture was used in the ancient TV show "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon". An interesting first half of a concert would be one of these overtures followed by Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini". Just the right length, and with a comic ending.

Overtures are an endangered species- here in New Zealand I note that the NZSO’s concerts this year include only two overtures.

I found an article by Heinrich Heine, in an anthology of writing on music, in which he describes the state of The Paris Opera around 1831. Prior to Dr. Veron becoming the director, "...most people went to the Opera out of habit... [Veron] had a stroke of genius by which he decided to satisfy people's lust for spectacle so completely that the music scarcely annoyed them at all...".

Not sure if it qualifies as "delicious", but Malcolm Arnold's "A Grand, Grand Overture" definitely needs more exposure. I suppose two things work against it; one being, How Do You Follow That? and two being the need for 3 vacuum cleaners, a notoriously difficult instrument to master...😀

I find that these genre is used in most concerts, mainly so people can have extra time to cough or find their seats without ruining the big numbers later in the concert. But it never included any of the pieces you mentioned, perhaps with the exclusion of la forza.

Vaughan Williams' overture to "The Wasps" is a great, bubbly concert opener. We played his "Poisoned Kiss" overture here recently - if "The Wasps" is a 10, "The Poisoned Kiss" is at least a 9.5. Both would be welcomed by audiences.

In Italy we still play a lot of Semiramide and Forza, and sometimes you play Susanna'Secret as an opera but almost never as an opening ouverture in a concert. The other works, frankly, I never heard of 😅

Back in the day, Los Angeles' KFAC used the Reznicek as the theme music for one of their weekend shows.

When Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra did a tour stop in Seattle, they played the Verdi Vespri Siciliani Overture as an encore. It was one of the best things in the concert along with the Busoni Turandot Suite. I was told by two people who attended it that Toscanini and the NBC Symphony in Seattle played the Colas Breugnon Overture as the encore. Some people didn't know it and thought it was Copland's Hoe Down! There is a certain similarity, actually. I've recently heard two separate archival live recordings of concerts with the Short Overture by Don Gillis. It's great fun and would get any concert off to a rousing start. Since this is his centenary year, when was the last time any of us heard Smetana's Bartered Bride Overture in a concert? Or the three sparkling, infectious dances which used to get heard fairly often?

"nobody complains better than classical music people" I can confirm that 😂

Go back a hundred years and Sibelius' Karelia Overture was more popular than the eponymous suite. I'm a big fan yet i may die and never having heard a live performance.

These bring back memories of that wonderful Reader's Digest boxed set called "Festival of Light Classical Music" from the early 1960s that had 12 wonderful LPs in it. I confess I borrowed that off my aunt about 35 years ago when I was a teenager...and it's oddly still sitting on my shelves. I have no idea how that happened. *cough*

Locally, in place of a light harmonious overture we are forced to suffer a compulsory, discordant, cacophonous modern work by a contemporary, usually talentless, composer.

Just a quick word in favor of Thomas' Raymond Overture. But one must hear it in Bernstein's jawdropping recording! Zampa: It's basically Don Giovanni, but the statue that's his undoing is a woman, and not the dad of Donna Anna.

Thanks for this video, Dave. I totally agree. In my youth, I was drawn to classical music largely by such overtures, and they became a favorite form.....tuneful, richly orchestrated, and succinct in form and always enjoyable. I would have included a Beethoven overture in this list. I mean....when was the last time you heard Consecration of the House in a concert hall?

I will suggest one more that is virtually gone : Borodin Prince Igor. Though I’ve played a lot from your list recently (and also many of those mentioned in the comments), and one of the orchestras I play in does an all-overtures program every year JUST for this reason, I do think that the frequency of the old standby overtures has been eclipsed by works like Jessie Montgomery’s “Strum” and “Starburst”, Caroline Shaw’s “Entr’acte” and Lili Boulanger’s “D’un Matin de Printemps” in the important and recent effort to showcase works by females composers. These come up all the time for me.

A couple of greats I'm puzzled aren't covered more often on record are Die Fledermaus and Rosamunde. The two great earworms from Herold have to be the overture to Zampa and the Clog Dance from La Fille Mal Gardee, a wonderful miniature even if I can't work out what's happening on stage!

Some of the finest classical music ever written is of the light variety. All these overtures deserve a place in the concert hall with regularity. Let’s have some fun, G-d forbid.

Maybe Leonard Slatkin will do a program of overtures. He's very innovative in many ways. I wouldn't put it past him. LOL I've played a number of these in both concert bands and orchestras. La Forza del Destino was particularly popular with concert bands. It was fun (and challenging) to play - especially for the euphonium players.

Richard Heuberger's effervescent overture to Der Opernball would have fit this list, although in all honesty I'd have to question if it was in the repertoire to begin with. It's a delightful piece of music nevertheless.

To me these overtures would be the natural and most logical way to start a concert! The entire point of an overture is to introduce the opera, so why not start a concert with one!

I agree: today’s concerts are too restricted by the time limits set by unions. There is no time to practice an overture. One of my favorites is The Spring Song by Sibelius. Others by Beethoven ‘King Stephen’ ‘Ruins of Athens’ . Also a great piece is ‘The Russian Easter Overture’ by Rimsky-Korsakoff (sp?)

Riccardo Muti likes to whip out an overture as an occasional encore too - last week I saw him conduct the Chicago Symphony in the overture to Verdi's Giovanna d'Arco in the Musikverein.

How about Mendelssohn's Ruy Blas? Its got a groovy tango in the middle! Also love Weber's The Ruler of the Spirits, Oberon and the rest. All beautiful!!

Semiramide is one of those pieces that piccolist will study until they are deaf for orchestral auditions and then never play😂

Maybe it depends on where you live. I've played La Forza, Orpheus, Semiramide, Light Cavalry, and Colas many times in the past few years. Rehearsing Semiramide this week actually. The issue with the others is that so many conductors just don't know them or are interested in it, like you say.

The same is true at the pops level as well. How much John Williams do you really want? When I was young the Boston Pops (Arthur Fiedler days) programs were in three parts. Part I was overtures and small works, Part II was a serious work (I heard the Boston premiere of the Bartok third piano concerto there), and Part III would be show music. I am not sure that Mozart and Haydn symphonies will not be the next to go. I am in my eighties and am lucky to remember the days when there were many nights when going to concerts was just plain fun. A comment to Paul Lewis below. Not a great Elgar fan but “In The South” is wonderful!

I get the impression that La Forza del Destino still gets played a decent amount. I think I would nominate Vaughan Williams's overture to The Wasps to replace it in the list. Otherwise good calls. I've played the Zampa overture once, but I've never heard of it being programmed otherwise. The Colas Breugnon overture was the very first orchestral piece I heard live, in 1995. I haven't seen it programmed near me again. I wonder if it suffers from being seen as too similar to Glinka's Ruslan and Ludmilla or Shostakovich's Festive Overture, which seem to be more in vogue as showpieces recently.

Totally agree with your points on the dull, boring, profundity. How many years ago did EMI/Legge/Schwarzkopf produce a series of operettas? No-one sings that stuff anymore. Light froth is fun too!

I couldn't agree more, concerts should include much more music that is actually easy to listen to. To be honest, the seasons of big orchestras focus much on "heavy music". The way you say "Ahh Bruckner" in your videos, kind of reflects this behavior in big orchestras for me. Kiril Petrenko, now that you mention him, has done both Capriccio Español and Italien, and Waxman Riders of the cossacks. But big orchestras, they focus too much on Brucker, Shostakovich and Mahler, displacing Overtures like this you mentioned or a lot of other music just because they consider it "not intellectual" or something. You should recommend recordings of light music. For example, my favorite Fra Diavolo is the one conducted by Paul Paray. And Semiramide, well I have to admit I love Karajan's because it has some beautiful touches with the bass drum. Great musical chat this video.

I love La forza del destino too, it's such a terrific ouverture and I was wondering if you would've referenced it in this video :) It's also the name chosen by C. Duggan for his (brilliant, in my opinion) book on italian history between 1800-2000, going from the birth of the first nationalist movements to its recent history

Three comments: 1. I've just got back into listening to Classical Music after many years, because it's good music which speaks to me and is pleasurable to listen to. Just as Jazz, or Rock can be in other ways. It seems like we're suffering from the 20th Century academicalisation still, and there's too many 'Beard Scratchers' in charge, who want that profundity to make it an exclusive club. 2. My cats refuse to play fetch. The most they do is look at me to ask why I'm not getting the toy back to throw for them again... 3. I'm a member of several non-mainstream groups, and they all have lots of people who love to complain. Sometimes justifiably (like this video), sometimes because they're just grumpy and seem to enjoy it...

As you say, the overtures that seem to have been squeezed out are the lighter ones, and everything in the concert has to be "serious".

The biggest problem with the Wolf-Ferrari is its length. It's over almost before it gets started. That said, it's utterly delightful music. I've made a wind transcription, but it is yet to be played.....it's just too short.

Guess I'll add my two cents worth.. You mentioned Thomas' Mignon Overture, but how about his Overture to "Raymond"? Good slow tune and what a bouncy tune to follow. Then there's LALO: Overture to "Le Roi d'Ys. A moody piece with good tunes. Best performance is by Jean Martinon and The Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Goldmark's IN ITALY Overture is another nice overture. Not an overture, but a sadly neglected piece is JAKOV GOTOVAC'S Kolo-Dance from "Ero The Joker" Andre Kostelanetz did a recording of this, but Sony hasn't released it on CD yet, that I know of. The only other recording that I know of is with The Vienna Philharmonic with Rudolf Kempe. Very good stuff. THANKS DAVE

Another great overture no longer in the repertoire is the Secret Marriage Overture by Cimarosa

How about the Tritsch-tratsch polka as an encore after Mahler 9 !

You hardly ever hear ANY kind of overture these days - I miss the old days of Overture-Concerto-Symphony. it worked.

Agree that the “death of light music” is lamentable. Life is too short not to indulge in fun stuff.

Maybe we could hear something like Cherubini's Demophon Overture even Beethoven consider him the greatest composer at the time.

I ❤ Dave Hurwitz. No, really!

I typed "fra diavolo" in YT - and got tons of recipes. Go figure... :-) There is a fine Fra Diavolo with Nicolai Gedda and Mady Mesple btw.