Opera

Allmusic has a basic definition and history of opera. At the bottom of the page, find featured albums and top performers, albums, and composers.

Operabase lets you search for artists, opera companies by name or address, and performances since 2006. You can also look for rare or premiere performances or find opera festivals listed by country and type.

OperaGlass , Stanford University’s database, is probably one of the most comprehensive opera resources available. It’s excellent for detailed information about individual operas, including libretti, synopses, and performance history. You’ll also find a directory of composers and opera-related events, and many other useful research tools. Though the site isn’t organized very well, it’s chock-full of information and well worth your time.

Operissimo Concertissimo is an opera and concert database full of information on composers, artists, agencies, opera houses, and recordings. Unfortunately, there’s no index, so you must have search terms in mind before you start. If you know what you’re looking for, the information you’ll get is extremely comprehensive. Remember to select the British flag near the top of each page to see it in English.

Music With Ease doesn’t have a particularly fancy design or smooth navigation, but you’ll find many of the best-known opera composers listed. Read their bios and find lists of their most famous works.

Streetwise Opera was started in the 1990s when a British Member of Parliament claimed that homeless people were the ones you stepped over on your way out from the opera. Radically altering that perception, Streetwise provides singing and acting lessons for the homeless, culminating in one opera performance per year. The organization operates across the United Kingdom and in Boston, Massachusetts.

Opus 1 Classical searches for classical music concerts and operas in New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Sydney, and other major cities around the world. Use the “concert finder” box on the right to search for upcoming concerts by city and/or date.

AllAboutOpera.com , cited in the first section for its news resources, also provides season schedules for all the major U.S opera companies. Select a company and then choose to read a “Summary” of the season, the “Next 30 Days,” or the “Next 60 Days.” The latter two choices list actual performance dates, as well as links about the opera’s history and its composer.

PlaybillArts , noted earlier as a worthy opera news source, posts worldwide opera listings. Choose a time frame between today’s date and three weeks from now, as well as a location, and get all the essential information about a performance, including who’s in it, how to buy tickets, and how to get to the venue.

OperaGlass , a useful research tool offered by Stanford University, has a worldwide list of opera companies. It includes many more companies than the AllAboutOpera.com company season list, and it links to particular companies for more season information. View the list geographically (by continent and country) or alphabetically (by company or theater name).

The Seattle Community Network provides links to opera companies in the Northwest including companies located in Washington State, Oregon, and British Columbia. The site’s attention to smaller companies in those areas makes it stand out; however, as you scroll down the page, you’ll find that the list inches its way southeast until it’s covered pretty much the whole country. There are some international companies listed as well.

Coast To Coast Tickets is a small, easy-to-navigate online ticket sales company that offers alphabetized lists of operas and venues in Europe and America. Find your show, select your seats and performance, and then follow directions to purchase the tickets using the site’s secure connection.

StubHub is a branch of eBay devoted entirely to the reselling of tickets to concerts, plays, and sporting events. On the “Classical Music and Opera” page you’ll find listings of all available performances. Use the search tool on the upper left of the page to find a specific production.

Opera Meetup unites opera enthusiasts all over the country for friendship and group trips to the opera. This page features two lists: the largest groups and the newest groups. Scroll down to the “see all Opera Meetup Groups” link for a full list of groups around the country and abroad.

CUNY (City University of New York) has an opera listserv that anyone can join. Even without joining, you can visit the site and take a peek at posts to see if you’re interested.

WagnerBlog is written by a New York City amateur singer who’s especially interested in Wagner operas. He primarily reports on opera and theater in New York City, but he includes major opera news and reviews from around the world.

The MetBlog , written by the Met staff, is a casual way to keep track of the Metropolitan Opera season from an insider perspective. Posts are daily and often focus on an upcoming performance.

Brian Dickie is the general director of the Chicago Opera Theater. Although his blog centers on Chicago, he travels frequently and interacts with the worldwide opera community. He also reflects on opera news and culture.

The Standing Room is the popular blog of a San Francisco-based opera fan. It covers opera and also branches out into other varieties of music and pop culture from the perspective of a hip and modern fan.