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Opera

Last Updated: 11-Apr-2013

Research Skills

Find printed music

Opera resources in the Music Library, the Archive of Recorded Sound, and beyond.

Subject Librarians

Ray Heigemeir
Public Services Librarian, Music Library
Music Library
(650) 384-9985

Subjects

Music
Opera
Voice

Related guides

Songs and singing

Around Stanford

Archive of Recorded Sound

Printed opera music

Search in SearchWorks for individual operas and excerpts by title and composer name. Choose format "scores".

Browse the stacks:

M 1500 Complete works
M 1503 Complete works, with piano accompaniment
M 1505 Excerpts
M 1507 Excerpt collections, with piano accompaniment
M 1508 Excerpts from individual works, with piano accompaniment
M 1611-1612 Aria collectiions

New opera score arrivals

Request "in process" items via SearchWorks.

› See all 7244 results
  1. 6 Sonatas, op. 5 : for violin and basso continuo, H. 109-114

    Francesco Geminiani ; edited by Christopher Hogwood ; continuo realization by Valeria Tarsetti. 2013

    Music Library » Scores » (No call number)

  2. 6 Sonatas, op. 5 : for violoncello and basso continuo, H. 103-108

    Francesco Geminiani ; edited by Christopher Hogwood ; continuo realization by Valeria Tarsetti. 2013

    Music Library » Scores » (No call number)

  3. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32 : opera in three acts

    G.F. Handel ; libretto prepared anonymously from Teseo in Creta by Pietro Pariati ; performing edition by Peter Jones. 2013

    Music Library » Scores » (No call number)

  4. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32 : opera in three acts

    G.F. Handel ; libretto prepared anonymously from Teseo in Creta by Pietro Pariati ; edited by Peter Jones. 2013

    » On order » (No call number)

  5. The authors : solo for marimba with spoken text

    by Stuart Saunders Smith. 2013

    Music Library » Folio » (No call number)

Sound and video recordings

A strength of the Music Library's media collections are recorded opera performances. Several thousand CDs and over one thousand DVDs are available onsite; additional older formats (audio cassette, LP, VHS, Laserdisc) may be paged from off-site storage. Resources are greatly enhanced by the Archive of Recorded Sound.

Some notable recording collections include:

Maria Callas, Complete Studio Recordings, 1949-1969

The Record of Singing, vol;. 5: 1953-2007

 

See also our streaming media databases for access to audio and video recordings.

 

New opera CD arrivals

Request "in process" items via SearchWorks.

› See all 10798 results
  1. Uthal : 1972 Londres

    Mehul. 2013

    Music Library » Recordings » MCD 24835

  2. Die Abreise [electronic resource] = The departure

    Eugen D'Albert. 2012

  3. Adrast [sound recording] : D. 137 : [Einzelnummern und Entwürfe zu einer Oper]

    Franz Schubert. 2012

    Archive of Recorded Sound » Recordings » MCD 24867

  4. Apollo et Hyacinthus [sound recording]

    Mozart. 2012

    Music Library » Recordings » MCD 25454

Books and articles

Read the article on Opera in Grove Music Online stanford only

Find in the Reference Room:

 
 
 
Browse the stacks
ML 1700 General histories; also by country and time period
ML 3858 Philosophy and aesthetics
MT 95-100 Analysis and appreciation
MT 955 Production and direction

 

See a list of opera periodicals here.

Librettos

Online sources

Some site below provide text in modern type; most provide scans of original publications in the public domain. Availability of translations varies by site.

Opera Folio
Opernführer
Kareol
Opera Glass
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Digital Collections
Digital scores and libretti at Harvard
Virtual Library of Musicology libretti links
Internet Archive texts
Naxos Music Library libretti

Opera librettos are published separately or in collections. You may also find them contained in the booklets accompanying opera recordings.

Browse the stacks:

ML 48 Collections, multiple composers (or authors)
ML 49 Collections, single composer
ML 50 Single works, alphabetical by composer
ML 2110 Books about libretto writing, translating, etc.

 

Antiquarian publications:

Venetian opera libretti 
1286 libretti on 41 microfilm reels. A printed guide is in the Reference Room.

Terence Rees Collection of Opera Librettos 
Green Library, Department of Special Collections (M1173).

The Music Library also holds a number of late 18th- and early 19th-century librettos published primarily in France and England.

Opera collections in the Archive of Recorded Sound

Mario Ancona

Mario Ancona Collection

The Mario Ancona Collection includes photographs, memorabilia, sound recordings, and more related to Ancona's career.

Richard Bonelli

Richard Bonelli Collection

The Bonelli Collection includes letters, programs, scores, scrapbooks, recordings, posters, and news clippings.

 

Ruth and Mario Chamlee in Manon

Ruth and Mario Chamlee Collection

Tenor Mario Chamlee sang at the leading opera houses in the United States and abroad. His wife Ruth was a soprano and noted singing teacher.

Richard Crooks as Pinkerton

Richard Crooks Collection

Richard Crooks was a tenor with the Metropolitan Opera Company.

Ted Fagan

Theodore Fagan Collection

This is the personal collection of Theodore Fagan, United Nations translator, author, and music collector.

Kirsten Flagstad

Kirsten Flagstad Collection

Kirsten Flagstad (1895-1962) was known as the premier Wagnerian soprano of her time.

Lehmann as the Marshallin

Gary Hickling Collection on Lotte Lehmann

Includes correspondence and research notes related to Hickling's discography of Lehmann performances.

Opera resources on the web

Operabase (current news and schedules)
Operacast (internet radio)
The complete studio recordings, 1949-1969 [sound recording].
[London]: EMI Classics, ℗2007.
Music Library » Recordings » MCD 16035 BOOKLET
The Record of singing. Volume 5 [sound recording] : 1953-2007 : from the LP to the digital era.
Germany : EMI Classics, p2009.
Music Library » Recordings » MCD 19282
Earlier volumes also available.