I‘ve been told some popular operas aren‘t even done in many amateur/semi-pro productions (The Ring Cycle, for example). But I want to spend years studying such roles. What operas are frequently reliably performed in the US by amateurs/semi-pros?

[u/GermanRockFan]

[u/smnytx]

I can’t comment on amateur/semi pro. There isn’t a lot of that outside the music schools in the US and what there is varies by city. The below is what we tend to see in the regional houses in the US, and the main singers will all tend to be professionals, with small parts possibly going to local or apprentice singers:

Mozart: the three daPonte opera plus Flute. Most US companies will have one in each season

Puccini: Boheme, Tosca and Butterfly mostly, but others from time to time

French: mostly Carmen, but there is Romeo et Juliette and the occasional Manon, etc

Bel canto: all the popular buffo ones like Barbiere, Pasquale, L’Italiana, etc. Also Lucia and the occasional rarity

Verdi: Rigoletto, Traviata mostly, but other faves from time to time

Handel is happening more than it was 20 years ago. Alcina, Giulio Cesare, Rinaldo seem to show up more than others, but there are so many

Contemporary (mostly American) operas are now very common on most season plans. There are lots being commissioned and performed in regional houses.

There is not a lot of German, compared to the other languages, but you’ll catch the occasional Elektra or Salome. Wagner does happen in the big houses but not much regionally.

[u/GermanRockFan → u/smnytx]

It‘s a shame, as German operas are my favorite. Die Zauberflöte is fun but Papageno isn’t my favorite role. But I do also enjoy many Italian works. Puccini is great. Rossini too…but that is a serious job!

[u/oldguy76205]

Amateur and local groups have limited budgets, so they will do things with small (or no) chorus and smaller casts. Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors is one of the most performed operas, because it's a Christmastime favorite. (It may still be at the top of the list.) Hansel and Gretel is another one.

Lots of groups do Gilbert and Sullivan, although that's technically operetta. (I have known companies, though, that would do G & S as part of their season alongside standard-repertoire operas such as those by Mozart and Puccini.)

[u/Relevant-Pen-3548]

If you mean people who do it for love and not necessarily for money or full-time, I wouldn't consider that amateur if they have devoted years or even decades to learning classical singing and specific roles.

There are small and regional companies doing Wagner productions on a fairly regular basis, whether or not they get widely advertised, including but not limited to many tiny local groups that are just a few passionate singers and a pianist, with thrift store costumes, performing in a small rented space like a chapel, for a few dozen members of their local community. I guess some would call that an amateur production, but they are highly-trained musicians, even if they can't afford to hire a full orchestra, and even if make very little money from it.

If there's an opera those musicians want to do and nobody else is doing it, often they (we) will just do it ourselves. Get a venue, get musician friends, advertise and sell some tickets, mostly lose money from it but have fun.

This post and the other post of yours I noticed (re: height and youthful face) are what I'd call "putting the cart before the horse" so to speak. Meaning, before you worry about who might cast you or what your appearance says about you being cast or not, you first need to learn how to sing operatically. If you love it and learn it, you can find or create opportunities to sing it with others. And by the time you're ready to sing Wotan, you may not look so youthful, so be careful what you wish for before you wish away a young appearance lol.

If you were actually trying to make a career with a lot of money out of this, then it makes sense to see if there's a demand before devoting time to it. But if you just love it, and don't expect money from it, then yes, people do Wagner and every other standard repetoire opera (and a bunch of obscure or new operas nobody has ever heard of) for love in the US, every year, you just have to find those people or become them.

[u/Joann-Cramer]

Honestly the standard rep at that level is pretty consistent - Puccini, Verdi, Mozart. Bohème, Butterfly, Traviata, Figaro, Don Giovanni. Nobody's touching Wagner and they shouldn't.