To complement the chronological listing of works, here is an alphabetic one:
AÏDA (abridged) Vitale, Frozier-Marot, Luccioni,
Cambon, Gressier
CARMEN (major excerpts) Cernay, Berthaud, Guillamat, Lovano,
Ingelbrecht
LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN (abridged) Richard, Doria, Brega, Rolland.
Pernet, Gressier
LA DAMNATION DE FAUST Crespin, Gedda, Blanc, Markevitch
DON CARLOS Sarroca, Dourian, Liccioni, Manuguerra, Mars, Lecomte
HÉRODIADE Sarroca, Delvaux, Finel, Massard, Mars,
Dervaux
LES HUGUENOTS Lebrun, Clarke, Vanzo, Massard, Bastin,
Roy, Gallois
IDOMÉNÉE Micheau, Monmart, Sellier, Corazza,
Cloëz
MIGNON (excerpts) Richard, Michel, Turba-Rabier, Gressier
MIREILLE (abridged) Angelici, Richard, Dens, Gressier
LA NAVARRAISE Moizan, Vanzo, Mars, Hartemann
ORPHÉE Gorr, Sautereau, Selig, Bruck
OTELLO (abridged) Vitale, Luccioni, Cambon, Gressier
PÉNÉLOPE Crespin, Jobin, Massard, Ingelbrecht
LE ROI D'YS (abridged) Cernay, Guillamat, Micheletti, Ingelbrecht
SAMSON ET DALILA (act 2) Michel, Verdière, Cambon,
de Froment
SIGURD Guiot, Esposito, Chauvet, Massard, Bastin, Rosenthal
THAÏS (abridged) Dosia, Cabanel, Noré, Gressier
LA TRAVIATA (abridged) Turba-Rabier, Richard, Cambon,
Gressier
CONCERT SELECTIONS Bacquier, Bottiaux, Boué, Cabanel, Créspin, Depraz, Lance, Lucazeau, Luccioni, Monmart, Micheau, Sénéchal, Stich-Randall
Biographies of the principal artists
I am delighted to be able to publish this material and to express my appreciation to the collector who prepared both the audio and graphic material for it. The sources vary in quality and one may argue with the decisions our benefactor made to include some audience noises, spoken introductions and other elements. Those are accurate components of the programs as broadcast and in my judgement are properly incorporated into a volume of an encyclopedia. It is significant that these broadcasts originated live, but from the studios of ORTF, not from the opera stage. As a result, the levels and balances are those selected by the engineers for the presentation and we have not 'corrected' them to conform to modern taste.
The biographies for this disc originated at http://www.operissimo.com/ and were translated by volunteers. The libretti included were those readily available from the libretto home page at http://php.indiana.edu/~lneff/libretti.html. Those sites offer far more value than we could represent here; they are heartily recommended for both research and entertainment..
The source of the recordings also provided the graphics and layout of this disc - which I have modified in some respects for general use. This page is laid out as a starting point for convenient access to the recordings; you are urged to take advantage of the esthetics of the chronologic listing when showing it off to others.
The correct pitch of the recordings on this disc cannot always be determined precisely. Except in the case of the Carmen, it seemed clear that any engineering errors from the original broadcast to this copy were within uncertainties of tuning. However, that opera was undoubtedly too high. Both listening tests and quantitative analysis suggested that it had to be dropped nearly a full tone and that adjustment (1.4 semitones) has been made.
As this disc is being prepared (February 1999), a player is available from http://www.sonique.com/ which allows the user to adjust pitch during play of the file. While nothing can be done to alter the contents of a pressed recording, you may want to experiment with the Sonique player or other resources to second-guess me.
Macintosh users are urged to read macread.htm or macread.txt on this disc as well as the following.
The audio files on this disc are recorded in MP3 format. Players for such compressed sound are available for most platforms. Since most users of personal computers when this disc was published have 32-bit Windows installed on their systems, we include a licensed browser and a freeware player for Windows 95, 98 and NT. Most users of these discs will find that they automatically load the browser and its support programs; in that case, all functions should be directly accessible in the same way they would be with any other browser.
Those running Windows who do not find that the browser begins automatically may start it by running I_VIEW.EXE from the root of the CD-ROM drive. Those running other systems, such as Mac and Unix boxes, will need both a browser and an installed MP3 player. Even Windows users may use their preferred browsers equipped with MP3 players. Operation with any browser other than the one on the disc requires that you point it to the CD-ROM and WELCOME.HTM as the URL.
In some instances, an option is provided to play the selections in sequence with the M3U format. That function is available only when using the software on the disc itself and when playing on a Windows system. If you choose to use a different browser, you may assemble your own playlist, but those on the disc will not work.
With the exception of the playlists, every effort has been made to ensure that all files are accessible to all users. The prototype of this disc was tested on a variety of computers and all reasonably modern ones have managed to work in the configurations tested. There is little that can be done if your computer has problems with these files short of upgrading the computer. As an indication of its modest needs, the disc proved fully functional on a Pentium 75 laptop with 8 MB of RAM and a 2x CD-ROM drive. On some slower computers, the recordings of highest quality (such as Les Huguenots and Sigurd) may be difficult to reproduce smoothly.
Those using their own browsers will certainly need no assistance from me. That is fortunate, since it would be difficult to cover all the options of browsers and MP3 plugins and helpers. If you are running the I_VIEW browser, you should find all operations familiar. Simply click on a link to access it. If you have trouble seeing everything in the browser, please make sure that the page is maximized by clicking the icon one to the left and one down from the top-right corner. Unfortunately, the browser does not 'remember' that setting and you will need to click the icon each time you start the program.
One easy way to integrate MP3 playback into your own browser is to visit http://www.audioactive.com and to download and install the helper appropriate for your system. At the time of publication, they offered helpers not only for Win95 and NT, but also for Windows 3.x and Macintosh; however, the Macintosh browser at this time does not handle our files and the instructions here should be followed instead.
The WinAmp player here is not the current, shareware version. However, it is an excellent freeware release quite sufficient for the needs of this disc. It has been preset to the values needed for operation - which is fortunate, since those values cannot be recorded to the CD-ROM and therefore will return to the presets whenever the disc is first accessed. I urge those with more general interest in MP3 playback and those seeking players for other browsers to explore http://www.nullsoft.com/ and http://www.winamp.com/ for the current offerings for Mac and PC.
The concept of an audio encyclopedia occurred to me late in 1995. It is simply to provide encyclopedic coverage of aspects of recorded history through audio selections connected through HTML, the language of the World-Wide Web.
A prototype disc was distributed early in 1996 with the complete recordings of Enrico Caruso. It was well received in very limited distribution and both its comprehensive coverage and its sound quality were particularly noted. Several lessons were learned in the process which are incorporated in later releases.We have upgraded the sound quality so that it is now nearly that of FM radio. That fidelity is sufficient for the intended encyclopedic functions. Our hope is to use the broad coverage of each volume to inspire publication of at least selected materials in higher quality from better sources using modern processing. Ideally, the Encyclopedia will become a reference work, summarizing in sound a portion of our history otherwise preserved only on paper. As with any reference, the Encyclopedia is intended to support research and education while pointing to the best materials for further investigation.
This volume was preceded by Men of Empire, covering male singers of the British Empire born in the 19th century; Stars of David, singers of Jewish heritage; Callas at Juilliard, the master classes of Maria Callas; and San Francisco Opera - the Adler Years. The last and this disc are the first volumes in a projected survey of opera around the world. Our hope is that we can convey the uniqueness in style and sonority heard at each of the great houses and the nations in which opera is performed.
Your input is solicited to me, Mike Richter, at mrichter@mindspring.com with ideas for future volumes and sources of material to include in them. Production of the volumes is time-consuming and requires both an extensive library of recordings and knowledge of the subject, so I appreciate all input I receive. You are invited to visit my opera page at http://mrichter.simplenet.com where additional volumes will be announced as they are released.