What is the Site For?

I want to create a worldwide opera database, listing performances and singers for all of the most important opera houses and festivals. A tall order, I know, but with various Internet resources available, and their number growing month by month, I think there is a need for an attempt to draw all of this information in one place. With the internet, I hope to make contact with others all over the world who might be interested in helping me by digging around in archives and newspapers and on the net, to bring together data which we can use to create a useful resource. So if you are the type of person, like me, who picks up a new book on singers, conductors or opera houses, and immediately turns to the back to see what the appendices are like, please get in touch. If you have already collected data on your local opera house, please do let me know.

I have thought long and hard about format, and have decided to use (slightly revised) the tables in Rosenthal's book about Covent Garden as a template. It seems to me that this is a huge venture, and trying to collect the names of every comprimario is going to take too long. I'm looking to create an index which researchers can use to take research further.

Have a look at the first few trial pages I post and let me know what you think. if enough of you get in touch, I will create a Google Group for use to discuss material and methodology.