Datalogue® Entry Fields Defined

 

Opera:  the original name of the opera, in the original language (most of the time      e.g. not Cyrillic) is entered in this field; also listed is the date of first performance

LP Name:  this is the name of the opera as it appears on the album, more often than not in the language of the country issuing the album e.g. I PURITANI might appear as DIE PURITANER on a German pressing

Other Names:  the name of the opera in various translations when they are listed on the album but not featured as the main title on the album

Libretto:  name(s) of the librettist(s) and usually the name of the author of the literary source from which, or upon which, the libretto is based

Composer:  the name and dates of the composer of the entry opera; in this field, the name will always be spelled in the language of the composer's national origin; in instances where there are many different spelling of a composer's name, one standard will be established and will be used for every entry in this field

LP Spelling:  if the spelling of the composer's name on the album is different - in any way - from the accepted standard spelling, as established in the initial composer field, that spelling will be listed in this field e.g. Tschaikowsky (German) or Ciaikowskij (Italian) etc.

Alternate Standard Spelling:  if there are commonly known spelling variations of a composer's name, not listed on the album in either the initial composer field or in the LP spelling field, they will he listed here

National Origin:  this field lists the national style of the entry opera in its adjectival form e.g. German, Italian French, American, English etc., rather than by the country of birth of the composer; interesting example is that although Mozart was born in Austria, DON GIOVANNI is an Italian opera,  DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE is a German opera; many "cross-over" examples while Wagner wrote all German operas, even though there is a Paris version of TANNHÄUSER, it is still a German opera; this index tool will allow the easy finding of obscure national operas, for example, in a search for Lithuanian operas you will find 4 listed; to the best of my knowledge this will be the first time this opera nationality search service has ever been available in this manner

Set Number:  this is the identifying number assigned to this album by the record manufacturing company, usually found on the spine of the album, the inserted booklet or on the record labels; this number will be the primary identification symbol for each opera entry

Individual LP Numbers:  often within a specifically numbered set, the individual LPs are numbered with a numerical series used by that company for all single LPs whether or not they are part of a set e.g. this London set of CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA is numbered OSA 12101, the individual LPs within are numbered OS 25363 and OS 25364; often all numbers are the same and this field is not used

Label:  the name of the record manufacturing company is generically called 'the label' and will be entered in this field

Phonics: indicates whether the opera is recorded in monaural, stereophonic, quadraphonic sound; or reprocessed into electronic stereo etc.

Number of LPs:  the number of LPs in each opera set are entered in this field; if a libretto is included in this opera set, the languages of the libretto and liner notes are indicated here

Playing Sequence:   manual playing sequence numbers the individual LPs
Sides 1 & 2; 3 & 4; 5 & 6 etc.; automatic playing sequence numbers individual LPs
Sides 1 & 6; 2 & 5, 3 & 4 etc.

Recording Location:   the city in which the recording was made; the hall,auditorium or opera house in which the recording was made are listed in this field - when available; when this information is not included in the liner notes, many of these locations are very difficult to ascertain and must be gleaned from many other reference sources -  often from conversations with the artists themselves

Recording Date:  the date of the performance or recording sessions(s); as with recording location, when this information is not listed in the recording package, many reference sources must be gleaned to ferret out these elusive dates

Year:  the year entered here is taken from the above recording date; this date is strictly for computer sorting purposes only, to be able to list all the recordings of a single opera chronologically by the recording date e.g. sorting the opera FAUST by year would show 33 recordings dating chronologically from 1908 to 1986

Packaging:  the packaging of opera sets uses a diversified arrangement of boxes and sleeves, varying in size, depth and physical construction; the standard being a single hinge box which can accommodate anywhere from 2 to 6 LPs; all opera packaging variations are described in this field

Autographs:  hundreds of these opera sets have been autographed by composers, librettists, conductors, singers, stage directors etc.;  every autograph on each set is listed in this field

Notes:  this field is the collective 'footnote' for adjunctive information pertinent to each individual recording, not listed in specifically designated fields: e.g. anecdotal tales, historical notes, performance curiosities, explanatory notations etc.

Bonus:  when an opera recording occupies only 5 sides out of 6 sides, often recording companies add 'filler' recordings for the 'blank' 6th side; more often than not, the 'filler' recordings relate in one way or another to the primary recording of the set, but sometimes non-related recordings are put on these blank sides;  for Archival purposes, three appendices have been created to display these 'filler' additions so therefore, in this field will be the hyperlink connection to the appropriate appendix

References:  any information and recording data concerning the entry, yet not obtained from the opera recording itself, is noted in this field; reference sources include biographies, discographies, encyclopedias, musical journals, personal interviews and correspondence with associated recording artists, Internet information etc. reference sources may also include different pressings of the same recording - sometimes later pressings include information not included in the first issue pressing; all of these reference sources are noted in this field by a computer hyperlink symbol (OONY) which connects the record entry to the corresponding reference entry for this specific reference source

Coupling:  when two, or more, operas are packaged together as a single unit (most commonly PAGLIACCI & CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA or Puccini's TRITTICO, or Wagner's RING) and share a single record number, the opera(s) not appearing in the opera entry field are listed in this coupling field e.g. if the opera entry is PAGLIACCI, then CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA will be listed by name in this coupling field; then, when the same CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA is the opera entry, PAGLIACCI will be listed in this coupling field

Also issued as:  often there are different pressings of the same recording (the same recording sessions or recorded at the same 'live performance') e.g. most major recording companies have subsidiary labels to be marketed as 'budget labels' sold at reduced prices hence another packaging with a new number; or, the same performance is packaged and numbered on a recording company's international label, now another packaging with a new number; there are many reasons why the same performance is reissued by many different companies, each with a different packaging and a different number; when there are multiple pressings of the same performance, all of those not included in the opera entry field will be listed, by record number only, in this field

Conductor:  the conductor of the orchestra used in the recording of the opera entry is listed in this field

Orchestra:  the name of the orchestra used in the recording of the opera entry is listed in this field

Chorus:  the name of the chorus, choir or choral group(s) used in the recording of the opera entry are listed in this field

Cast:  This is the most complex of all fields since there is no single listing for opera "casts;" hence any field search on "cast:" will yield nothing. "Cast:" is used as a visual indicator, that in this area of each opera entry, the names of all roles and performers are listed.  The names of the roles themselves become the field names, e.g.  Otello: ,  Hans Sachs: ,  Lohengrin: etc.  When this role/cast information is not listed within the recording, every effort is made to find it elsewhere through research.

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NOTE:  When fields have more that one word in the field name, it is always the last name - the name which immediately precedes the colon - which becomes the operative field name for searching purposes.  For example,  in the field "Number of LPs:," LPs: is the operative field name; in "Recording Location:," Location: is the operative field name; in "Also Issued As:,"  As:  is the operative field name; in "Individual LP Numbers:, Numbers: is the operative field name. 

The same principal applies when role names are used as active field names.  For example, for "König Heinrich:," Heinrich: is the operative field name; for "Lucia di Lammermoor;" Lammermoor: is the operative field name; for "Walther von der Vogelweide:," Vogelweide: is the operative field name.

Just remember, any word immediately preceding a colon is the operative field name; any word(s) following a colon, is data.