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The Aria Database. Robert Glaubitz. http://www.aria-database.com/ (Accessed June 2007) [Requires a Web browser and an Internet connection.]
The Aria Database is one of those Web sites that has been around for quite a long time, and it gets linked to from many music library pages. The database was begun in 1996 when the owner/creator, Robert Glaubitz, had ample spare time while working at a help desk back in his student days. Over the years it has grown from a nonsearchable database covering ten to fifteen operas to its present scope of 170 operas searchable through three separate databases (arias, ensembles, operatic roles). According to the Web site, the user can access 1,278 arias, 60 composers, 381 translations, 223 files, and 1,027 opera texts. Included in this list are all the arias from operas by Mozart, Verdi, Berlioz, Wagner, and Puccini along with partial coverage of more than fifty other composers.
The front introductory page provides a quick search box with some search limiters provided, a brief description of the database, a statement of responsibility, and a point of entry to the database. The main page of the database leads the user in a variety of directions including separate links for searching the database, browsing, a short list of operas in translation, a bibliography of books on opera, rules for contributing to the database, information about the creator, how to make donations, and a link to "Help" that is very well organized. Careful documentation and giving credit to others where it is due is apparent throughout the database.
It must first be acknowledged that there is a lot of useful information in this database for the singer as well as for the opera lover. The search screen provides a suffi- cient variety of choices for searching: all fields (or keyword),...