Opera on Video was founded in September 2018 to document every full opera performance ever recorded, broadcast or streamed on video, first going live with approximately 5,000 performances.
The Entertainment ID Registry (EIDR) has been using Opera on Video as a source of trusted information when EIDR needed to research a data quality issue with an opera-related record in EIDR. Now, Opera on Video’s full catalog is registered in EIDR under the University, Archives, and Museums (UAM) program for non-profit organizations.
“The proposal was that we’d use their metadata to match or register EIDR records for the opera recordings they’ve catalogued and provide links in our Web UI that take users back to the Opera on Video web site via Alternate ID hyperlinks so people could research the programs further and link to a streaming service to view the actual opera recording,” said Richard Kroon, EIDR’s director of technical operations. “Along the way, the process of EIDR catalog registration has helped Opera on Video improve their own catalog by identifying potential duplicate records and other metadata issues.”
The Opera on Video streaming links have come in handy for EIDR, Kroon said, as EIDR can now more easily differentiate between very similar recordings (e.g., two recordings of two different performances of the same opera by the same creative team are properly identified by two different EIDR IDs, but the descriptive metadata for them is almost identical. “In some cases, you actually have to watch the operas to note the differences in the actors’ performance and the program editing to confirm that they’re different shows or to identify that they’re the same recording presented by different services,” Kroon said.
The partnership shows how EIDR documents and identifies all audiovisual content: movies, TV, podcasts, games — and opera. It also shows that EIDR IDs are useful for a wide variety of applications from supply chain automation to academic citation (e.g., https://citation.doi.org/).
Today, Opera on Video documents 32,000 performances/videos and provides links to more than 25,000 full video performances. Opera on Video is a database or catalogue of information, or a playlist. It is not a streaming service. Linked videos are viewed on other sites.
Opera on Video also provides information about opera-related documentaries, interviews, movies, vocal concerts, oratorios, early vocal music, operettas and Zarzuela. Information on performances include singers, conductor, artistic staff, publisher, date and location and much more, as well as links to commercial availability on DVD and Blu-ray Disc and paid streamings.
Opera on Video was created by Flamand Olivier with the objective of promoting opera worldwide and give people who otherwise would not go to the opera a plethora of easy opera access and information. Any new opera performances being broadcast or streamed are immediately appearing on Opera on Video. It is not only the most up-to-date video opera resource on the Internet, but also the largest and most unique.
The website is published, maintained and expanded by Olivier single-handedly. He also funds the site privately, via donations and some advertising.
For more information, please contact Olivier at [email protected].