Operabase
Encyclopedia
Operabase is an on-line database of opera performances, opera houses and companies, performers themselves as well as their agents. Operabase, found at operabase.com, is owned and operated by Operabase Ltd, a company located in Luton
, England. The (web)site started in 1996 as the hobby of Mike Gibb, becoming his full-time occupation three years later. The database is now operated by Gibb and Muriel Denzler, who provide services to opera professionals for a fee, although the site is searchable by any web user at no charge.
As has been noted by Gibb and Denzler in an article on the European opera service organization's website, opera-europe.org (an organization similar to those which exist in the US and Canada, OPERA America
and Opera.ca) they provide specialized services to opera professionals, with the site including "casting tools, artist records, management details, productions information". But they emphasize that "the site was originally created for the general public, who still provide 96% of its users". Operabase "is international in flavour; its information spans Australia and Eindhoven and it is translated into seven languages."
By its tenth anniversary, the site received "about 10,000 visitors a day to the public site, who look at over four million pages a month between them. Of these, fewer than half use English, 17% use German, 12% Italian, 10% French, 9% Spanish." In 2006, the free public site was estimated to have 30,000 performances, 20,000 artists, 950 addresses of opera companies, festivals and theatres and 230 agencies' contact details and rosters. In June 2011, the site shows 27,000 performances, 35,000 artists, and 600 companies, with 19 active language sections.
A new feature compares five opera seasons, 2005/06 up to 2009-10. This is the "Statistics" section, which enables users to search for the total number of performances by country; per capita by country; by the number of performances in each city; by rankings of 1005 composers (with Giuseppe Verdi
topping the list with 2259 performances of his operas; by modern composers; by the rankings of 60 female composers with Kaija Saariaho
having 15 performances given of her work; and, finally, by the number of operas given (2153), with the list topped by 451 performances of Mozart's The Magic Flute
, followed closely by Verdi's La traviata
with 447.
Luton
Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....
, England. The (web)site started in 1996 as the hobby of Mike Gibb, becoming his full-time occupation three years later. The database is now operated by Gibb and Muriel Denzler, who provide services to opera professionals for a fee, although the site is searchable by any web user at no charge.
As has been noted by Gibb and Denzler in an article on the European opera service organization's website, opera-europe.org (an organization similar to those which exist in the US and Canada, OPERA America
Opera America
Opera America, officially OPERA America, is a service organization in North America promoting the creation, presentation, and enjoyment of opera...
and Opera.ca) they provide specialized services to opera professionals, with the site including "casting tools, artist records, management details, productions information". But they emphasize that "the site was originally created for the general public, who still provide 96% of its users". Operabase "is international in flavour; its information spans Australia and Eindhoven and it is translated into seven languages."
By its tenth anniversary, the site received "about 10,000 visitors a day to the public site, who look at over four million pages a month between them. Of these, fewer than half use English, 17% use German, 12% Italian, 10% French, 9% Spanish." In 2006, the free public site was estimated to have 30,000 performances, 20,000 artists, 950 addresses of opera companies, festivals and theatres and 230 agencies' contact details and rosters. In June 2011, the site shows 27,000 performances, 35,000 artists, and 600 companies, with 19 active language sections.
A new feature compares five opera seasons, 2005/06 up to 2009-10. This is the "Statistics" section, which enables users to search for the total number of performances by country; per capita by country; by the number of performances in each city; by rankings of 1005 composers (with Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
topping the list with 2259 performances of his operas; by modern composers; by the rankings of 60 female composers with Kaija Saariaho
Kaija Saariaho
Kaija Saariaho is a Finnish composer.Kaija Saariaho studied composition in Helsinki, Freiburg and Paris, where she has lived since 1982. Her studies and research at IRCAM have had a major influence on her music and her characteristically luxuriant and mysterious textures are often created by...
having 15 performances given of her work; and, finally, by the number of operas given (2153), with the list topped by 451 performances of Mozart's The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
, followed closely by Verdi's La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
with 447.