Opera What is the best opera recording?

I only have a couple of opera recordings myself, one of which is John Rutter Requiem - by Reference Recordings. It has got a pipe organ that will knock your socks off!!! Check it out at www.referencerecordings.com . I also recommend another cd called "Pomp and Pipes". It too has an AWESOME pipe organ in a track titled "The Vikings".
Also, please note that Requiem is a disc used as a reference tool by many reviewers, and it is HDCD.

The previous posts are absolutely correct -- choosing one opera is a tough challenge. Rather than tackle an entire opera, you might want to start with highlights from some of the best known operas.

My mother was a music major in college, with a concentration in voice, and she sang in some small, local opera productions between 1947 and 1955. The first opera highlights she played for me was Puccini's "La Boheme". It's still one of my favorites, due to its lovely melodies and lyricism -- true "bel canto" opera. There are several excellent recordings of "La Boheme", but I still tend to prefer the version with Mirella Freni and Nicolai Gedda. It may not be the absolute best version ever done, but it's a very comfortable old friend.

Tosca by Puccini with Frene, Ramey and Domingo on DG conducted by Sinopoli and Die Zauberflote by Mozart with Fisher-Deiskau conducted by Solti on London are 2 pretty good discs( the LP of Tosca is superior) with good-very good sound and excellent performances. If you're just starting out, you may find Wagner ponderous, maybe even if you aren't starting out :-) Personally, I like the Germans, but I love the Italians. Any Verdi or Puccini are great starting places. IMHO.

If you are looking for a little adventure with opera, I suggest actually a DVD of the movie "Fitzcarraldo" by Werner Herzog, starring Klaus Kinski and featuring a soundtrack of music composed by German moog pioneer Popol Vuh (Florian Fricke), and classic opera excerpts from some of the people already listed above (Puccini, Verdi, Leoncavallo, Massenet, Bellini). The movie is stunning visually, and aurally. Herzog has an unmatched aptitude for delivering images and scenes of immesurable clarity, often decoupled from the normal portrayal or sense of time passing. The plot of the story, of course, has a central theme involving opera. You won't be disappointed.

The Ring Cycle; Weiner Philharmoniker, cond. Solti either on original vinyl or the latest CD remaster on DECCA. Great performances by the classic artists, great sound. Stereophile reviewed this CD several years ago - it might be in their archives online.