Can you recommend a good space opera?

I thought this was about music, to which I was going to say

Interstella 5555.

No such thing as a good space opera... 

" Star Wars "

Orphan series by Robert Buettner 
Old mans war- John Scalzi  
 
both are pretty good 
hope that helps

can't really think of any books of hand but as far a tv show if you haven't you should check out farscape.

Going to also throw in Legend of Galactic Heroes. Despite being anime it has none of the usual tropes that would turn you off of it. No wacky humour, no super deformed moments, no tentacle friends. 
It's not licensed in the West so it's somewhat more legal to torrent than most things and you can find it here;  http://scarywater.animesuki.com/ca/index.html 
Stick with the 110 episodes and if you enjoy that then grab all the side stories you can find (apart from Golden Wings which is dire.)

It's not really space opera, but just read Phillip K. Dick novels, and you'll have more than your fill of intelligent sci-fi.

This might sound crazy, but the novelization of Robotech by James Luceno (under the pen-name Jack Mckinney) was really good. I was a casual fan of Robotech when I was much younger, but you don't need to have seen the show to appreciate the novels.

" Hyperion "