Opera Resources

[Sean]

Remember Nigel Wilkinson? His blog:

http://npw-opera-concerts.blogspot.com/

I think it was me who made him leave actually- my Promethean impudence cheesed him off pretty good.

[knight66]

No Sean, it was not anything to do with you.

Mike

[71 dB]

LPs for opera?  How many LPs is an 4 hour long opera? Well 4*60/45=5.33..

DVDs is the way to go! Blu-ray if you can.

[Wendell_E]

How many LPs is an 4 hour long opera? Well 4*60/45=5.33..

Yep.  And the original LP release of Solti's recording of Götterdämmerung took six LPs.  Some of those LPs did have great booklets:  the RCA Soria series, Solti's Rosenkavalier.  Nice stuff, but I don't really think it's necessary. 

[knight66]

The Rosenkavalier really was exceptional, beautiful illustrations by Roller and I think it had a foldout page with musical motifs.

Mike

[Scarpia]

What have they done to the opus arte went site?  It used to be an elegant listing of their wonderful products, now they've attempted to make is some sort of amazon.com of classical music.   Whenever I search for one of their DVDs I get an endless listing of audio downloads instead of the dvds I'm looking for.   

[sospiro]

Thanks everyone. Lots of books to go on my 'wish list'.

Some sites I've found useful (many of you will know these already).


http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/main.jsp - Not ordered from here, yet

http://www.bachtrack.com/ - Good for finding operas to go to

http://www.diverdi.com/tienda/default.aspx - Have bought several CDs from this site

http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/search.html - Search for lieder

http://www.opera-guide.ch/opern_komponisten.php?uilang=en&first-letter=A - Good libretti site

http://www.operatoday.com/ - News & reviews

http://www.operissimo.com/ - Search for an opera/concert

http://www.musicroom.com/Browse/Series.aspx?seriesid=series1169 - Schirmer's libretti

http://www.selections.com/music/ - Some good bargains

[kishnevi]

Not sure this is answerable:
I'm trying to find actual cast rosters from the productions the Met toured with during the late '70s.  I was a college student in Atlanta, and each year when the Met came for one week in May, I would attend as many productions as possible--usually at least three, one year all seven (I was lucky enough to be an usher that year). 
Problem is, while I can remember some of the individual productions--the Chagall Magic Flute, Zefferelli Otello, the Tosca production that was toured with twice in the four years I attended, Boris Godunov, Favorita, etc.--I can not remember any of the singers.  The lone exception is John Alexander in Favorita, and that is only because he was a last minute substitute announced from the stage (to the great displeasure of the audience,  because Pavarotti was the scheduled tenor.) I remember Jon Vickers also cancelled at the last minute from Otello, but don't remember who sang the role in his place.

So I would like find information online as to whom the singers were
I've hunted and pecked through the Met's website but don't see anything that would help.  Can anyone here make suggestions where to look?

[Guido]

The best way would be to contact the met directly - they'll definitely have records and are usually only too pleased to help.

[Wendell_E]

Not sure this is answerable:
I'm trying to find actual cast rosters from the productions the Met toured with during the late '70s. ....Can anyone here make suggestions where to look?

The Met's online database is at http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm
Or if you're at the regular Met website, you can click the "Archives" link near the bottom of the page, then on the next page click "MetOpera Database".

Just put atlanta in the "Search box" and the date range in the appropriate boxes, and you'll get a list of performances.

Based your "the late '70s" comment here are some of them:

Atlanta, Georgia
May 7, 1977 Matinee
In English (Translation: Ruth and Thomas Martin)


DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE {221}
Pamina..................Carmen Balthrop
Tamino..................John Brecknock
Queen of the Night......Rita Shane
Sarastro................John Macurdy
Papageno................Donald Gramm
Papagena................Betsy Norden
Monostatos..............Nico Castel
Speaker.................Morley Meredith
First Lady..............Elizabeth Volkman
Second Lady.............Jean Kraft
Third Lady..............Sheila Nadler
Genie...................Peter Fekula
Genie...................Adam Guettel
Genie...................Adam Hyman
Priest..................Charles Anthony
Priest..................Gene Boucher
Guard...................Philip Booth
Guard...................John Carpenter

Conductor...............James Conlon

Atlanta, Georgia
May 1, 1979


OTELLO {235}Giuseppe Verdi--Arrigo Boito

Otello..................Richard Cassilly
Desdemona...............Gilda Cruz-Romo
Iago....................Sherrill Milnes
Emilia..................Jean Kraft
Cassio..................Frank Little
Lodovico................James Morris
Montàno.................Robert Goodloe
Roderigo................Andrea Velis
Herald..................Arthur Thompson

Conductor...............James Levine


Atlanta, Georgia
May 3, 1978


BORIS GODUNOV {208}
Boris Godunov...........Jerome Hines
Prince Shuisky..........Robert Nagy
Pimen...................John Macurdy
Grigory.................Misha Raitzin
Marina..................Mignon Dunn
Rangoni.................Morley Meredith
Varlaam.................Fernando Corena
Simpleton...............James Atherton
Nikitich................Andrij Dobriansky
Mitiukha................Philip Booth
Shchelkalov.............Allan Monk
Innkeeper...............Batyah Godfrey Ben-David
Missail.................Paul Franke
Officer.................Richard Best
Xenia...................Loretta Di Franco
Feodor..................Robert Sapolsky
Nurse...................Shirley Love
Khrushchov..............Charles Kuestner
Lavitsky................Robert Goodloe
Chernikovsky............Charles Anthony
Boyar in Attendance.....Charles Kuestner

Conductor...............Richard Woitach

Atlanta, Georgia
May 4, 1978
In Italian


LA FAVORITA {21}
Leonora.................Bianca Berini
Fernando................John Alexander
Alfonso.................Louis Quilico
Baldassarre.............James Morris
Inès....................Alma Jean Smith
Don Gasparo.............John Carpenter
Dance...................Diana Levy
Dance...................Lucia Sciorsci
Dance...................Marcus Bugler

Conductor...............Michelangelo Veltri

The above link takes you

[Wendell_E]

Speaking of opera companies' online databases, La Scala's is now available again (it was available at one time, but hasn't been for the last few years).  Unlike the Met's, you will need to register:  http://www.archiviolascala.org/

[kishnevi]

The Met's online database is at http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm
Or if you're at the regular Met website, you can click the "Archives" link near the bottom of the page, then on the next page click "MetOpera Database".

Just put atlanta in the "Search box" and the date range in the appropriate boxes, and you'll get a list of performances.

LA FAVORITA {21}[/b]
Leonora.................Bianca Berini
Fernando................John Alexander
Alfonso.................Louis Quilico
Baldassarre.............James Morris
Inès....................Alma Jean Smith
Don Gasparo.............John Carpenter
Dance...................Diana Levy
Dance...................Lucia Sciorsci
Dance...................Marcus Bugler

Conductor...............Michelangelo Veltri

The above link takes you

Thank you! I've bookmarked it for further use. 
I vaguely remembered Milnes singing in Otello,  but wasn't sure if my memory was correct.  Glad to see it was, for once.

I do remember Bianca Berini, but not by name, because she was apparently a very large lady.  Whenever Alexander was directly behind her, he was hidden from view. Presumably, of course, she was cast with the idea of singing with Luciano, who was by then well advanced in stomach girth, and therefore not easily hidden. (I'm fairly certain she wasn't the soprano who sang the role in the NYC performances.) Her acting abilities seemed to be fairly limited, and of the old school: when she sang an aria,  she would simply walk up to the front of the stage, face forward and sing away.  That, and Pavarotti's non-appearance (which drew some very loud boos when it was announced from the stage),  gave the night a feeling of below-par.

I don't remember Zauberflote being sung in English, but I do remember an agitated staff member running around demanding we ushers find a doctor because Donald Gramm had managed to get a big splinter in his thumb somewhere near the end of the opera.  Rather inconveniently, she waited until after the audience had completely gone, so there was no possibility of "Is there a doctor in the house?" (which, given the audience demographics at that time, there would certainly have been)

Ah, memories...

[sospiro]

New book which looks interesting.

[sospiro]

First edition La Donna del Lago.

[Guido]

Does anyone know if there's somewhere online that I could get the Libretto for Die Liebe Der Danae? Usually I use this site:
http://www.opera-guide.ch/opern_komponisten.php?uilang=de&first-letter=A
but they don't have die Liebe Der Danae. An English tranlation alongside would be even better! It would also be good to have the English for Die Schweigsame Frau, Friedenstag and Die Aegyptische Helena.

[Cato]

I was not sure how to classify this:

A scene from Hamlet via Bizet's Toreador Song from Carmen via Gilligan's Island: 

http://www.youtube.com/v/bXId5jOTxdg&list=PLB025904E99F6A678

[huntsman]

Do you opera-buffs have a favourite site for buying Blue-Ray or DVD, perhaps?

Well-priced would be a welcome addition, but is not a requirement. 

[mjwal]

My favourite book on opera is Dallapiccola On Opera,because it offers an insider's selective insights on his and others' operas. It is not comprehensive at all, though. I am eagerly waiting for the second volume, presumably on non-operatic music. A fun book is James Camner's The Operatic Quiz Book. "What famous singer also answered to the names Jacob Pincus Perelmuth, Pinky Pearl, Jascha Pearl, Paul Robinson and Randolph Joyce?"

[Octave]

My favourite book on opera is Dallapiccola On Opera,[...]

I bought that book just several days ago, on your recommendation.  (An opera friend echoed your enthusiasm as well.) 
Glad to see you back at GMG.

[mjwal]

I bought that book just several days ago, on your recommendation.  (An opera friend echoed your enthusiasm as well.) 
Glad to see you back at GMG.

Why, thank you, Octave. I only left for the space of a depressive sulk  ...Cheering to know a recommendation has borne fruit.