Fidelio, Act II, scene 3 ("Er sterbe") From the "Wiener Hoftheater-Almanach" 1815

Welcome to this online guide for new and faithful opera friends!   Did you know that your favorite form of classical music is in increasing demand?  This is what this writer (you might know my writings from the yahoo!Geocities website Beethoven:  The Magnificent Master) has again heard Edmonton Opera's artistic director, Michael Cavanagh, explain during the season preview to Edmonton's upcoming opera season of 2001/2002.

Coming from Munich, Bavaria, and having hereditary family ties to Vienna, Austria, I can call myself very fortunate to have grown up in an environment in which easy access to exciting opera performances is something that one almost takes for granted.

With this in mind and realizing that, whenever and wherever opera is offered in remoter north-American centers, it is, by and large, just as exciting and inspiring here than anywhere in the world!  The difference is merely that one does not have many chances of seeing one particular work very often!  For example, Beethoven's Fidelio was last staged in Edmonton in 1995, and Mozart's The Magic Flute last in 1994, while we will have the pleasure of seeing it again in the fall of 2001.

While Saturday afternoon broadcasts from New York's Metropolitan Opera (as, for example, by CBC Radio Two: Classics and Beyond) are a great way of becoming acquainted with a wide variety of operas, one or the other listener might want to find an opportunity to find out more about the creation history, content, libretto, music criticism and other interesting related topics right in his/her own home.  This new site is intended as a small contribution towards that end.