User talk:BaronLarf/Opera archive

anonymous comment

You're 20-something?? I didn't know there were younger people interested in opera. But, an large audience does not tune in to the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts, and my only edit, "most people know nothing about opera" is not nonsense, nor vandalism. But, Hitler loved Wagner operas, when he was dictator from 1933 until 1945. 4.160.216.114

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Opera singer Categorization

Hello VMORO. The Category:Opera singers has been taxonomically grouped into people by voice type and also into Category:Opera singers by nationality. As such, the Boris Christoff article should go into the Category:Bulgarian opera singers, and should not remain in Category:Opera singers since this is a parent category of the Bulgarian opera singer category. The same goes for Category:Bulgarian people: Bulgarian opera singers is a subcategory of Bulgarian musicians, which is a subcategory of Bulgarian opera singers. This avoids redundency. Please see Wikipedia:Categorization if you have any addition questions. The same goes for Raina Kabaivanska. Thanks. --BaronLarf 16:15, Jan 20, 2005 (UTC)

Once again, there are no articles in the Category:Opera singers except for the ones that you are reverting there. They have all been subcategorized, as is encouraged in the Wikipedia:Categorization. I encourage you to visit the Opera singers category to take note of this. It's rather silly for Boris Christoff to be the only exception. This isn't "hiding" the article, just giving it a greater degree of categorization.

For example, someone like Renée Fleming could be listed under Category:American singers, Category:American opera singers, Category:United States musicians, Category:Opera singers, Category:American people, etc. Instead, she is just listed under Category:American opera singers since this is a subcategory under everything else. It reduces redundancy and makes categories much easier to navigate through. Cheers. --BaronLarf 20:53, Jan 20, 2005 (UTC)

Ok, I can see that now. I reverted them as the last time you subcategorised them, you had done that only with them (or you had started with them). VMORO

I guess it is a little late to be asking this question but I am wondering what the use is of categorizing opera singers by nationality. Whose idea was this? What is the point of a categories with just one entry such as Peruvian, Jamaican or South African opera singers? At some point, this level of granularity becomes counterproductive. -- Viajero 17:46, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I'm not sure whose idea it was. When I first looked at Category:Opera singers, it was only partially and arbitrarily done. (Some Italian opera singers were under the main category, some under Category:Italian opera singers, for instance.) I went through all opera singers and added two types of categorization to them: vocal range and country of origin. Thus, Luciano Pavarotti is linked under Category:Tenors and Category:Italian opera singers.

I believe that there are too many opera singers just to be listed under the main category. The division into nationality has the following benefits:

• The number of opera singers on Wikipedia (and the number that eventually should be on Wikipedia) is rather high. Subcategorization allows them to be more easily navigated.
• Division by nation and voice type is a "meaningful and useful" division, as recommended on Wikipedia:Categorization#Making groups of subcategories
• Allows the subcategory to be categorized under the nation's musicians and under the nation's singers. (Example: Category:American opera singers is under Category:United States musicians and under Category:American singers)

Your point about, for instance, Category:Jamaican opera singers is a good one. This category will never be as large as Category:German opera singers or Category:Italian opera singers. But for the subcatigorization to be complete, I believe that the category needs to be made. There are many notable opera singers that still need to be added to Wikipedia, and I believe this hierarchy will allow them to be more easily categorized and navigated through.

Cheers.--BaronLarf 18:17, Apr 2, 2005 (UTC)

National category

Hi. I noticed you categorized Ernestine Schumann-Heink in "German opera singers". She was not from Germany. She was born in what is now the Czech Republic as a citizen of the Austrian Empire, and later became a U.S.A. citizen. I changed it back to just "opera singers". (I suppose she could be placed in both U.S. opera singers and Austro-Hungarian Empire opera singers if necessary.) Cheers, -- Infrogmation 05:34, 19 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Thanks. I changed her categories to to Czech and American opera singers. --BaronLarf 05:43, Jan 19, 2005 (UTC)

Elena Nicolai

Hello VMORO. I know that you've created and contributed to the articles on several Bulgarians, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in adding to anything about Elena Nikolai. I can't find too much information about her. Cheers. --BaronLarf 15:52, Jan 25, 2005 (UTC)

I have only vaguely heard of her but I'll see what I can find. VMORO

Hi, I thought you might be interested to read the few lines I translated at Elena Nicolai's article. --webkid 23:29, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Thanks. Looks good. :^)--BaronLarf 23:32, Feb 4, 2005 (UTC)

Ruth Packer

I just added Ruth Packer to the recent deaths section. You are welcome to do a stub on her or something. (unsigned)

Sorry... I can't find any information on her. I'll add something if I can find it, though.--BaronLarf 23:32, Feb 4, 2005 (UTC)

I've created the Ruth Packer article now, after more information became available. --BaronLarf 15:49, Feb 23, 2005 (UTC)

Opera & Opera singer stub categories

Why is opera-stub not a subcategory of music-stub? Same question about opera-singer-stub (which should really be classical-musician-stub, but that's a separate issue). --Wahoofive 18:15, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)

The Category:Opera stubs is indeed a subcategory of Category:Music stubs. The Category:Opera singer stubs is a subcategory of Category:Musician stubs. If you'd like to create a classical-musician-stub, by all means go ahead.

Cheers.--BaronLarf 18:34, Mar 30, 2005 (UTC)

Strange, it doesn't show up in the subcategory listing of Category:Music stubs. Maybe it's just a latency problem. --Wahoofive 19:55, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Yeah, I noticed that too. But if you look at the Category:Opera stubs, it shows that it is categorized under Category:Music stubs. I was hoping that it would show up on the Music stubs by the time you checked the message. ;^) --BaronLarf 20:18, Mar 30, 2005 (UTC)

Hi BaronLarf, I discovered that that is a bug in the category system. It will only show up if you go to the alphabetical section in which the subcategory goes, "O" in this case. I changed the categorization of opera stub to [[Category:Music stubs| ]], at least it's consistent with the other subcategories this way. BTW, my real reason for coming here is that opera-stub is currently discussed on WSS/criteria, you might want to check that out. -- grm_wnr Esc 19:36, 31 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Figaro

As you may have noticed, OldakQuill moved it to Nozze last November. He is someone who thinks it is ridiculous to use the English names. Well, as you have come to realize as well, there is no point in being dogmatic about these things. I mean, it wouldn't be very reader-friendly to have Boris Godunov in the original, would it? ;) -- Viajero | Talk 14:03, 25 May 2005 (UTC)

Yeah, I saw that. Well, if he disagrees he's welcome to participate in the discussion on the talk page. I understand his argument and the purist in me cringes by seeing "The Marriage of Figaro" at the top of the page, but Wikipedia conventions are on the side of keeping the English title. Plus, your whole argument about Russian titles; that's when I finally became convinced of English titles, when I was about to form a redirect of The Cunning Little Vixen to Příhody Lišky Bystroušky and realized that very few people would probably type in the Czech title. --BaronLarf 14:50, May 25, 2005 (UTC)

See, this is where I believe there is some room in Wikipedia for author preferences. Article names we need to agree on, but if you create a new article on an opera topic and refer in the text to the opera as Le nozze, I would not insist on changing every instance to the English title. It doesn't weigh heavily in the final balance, but the MoS does recognize the preferences of the "first signficant author". Obviously, unilateral sitewide changes are an entirely different matter. -- Viajero | Talk 16:13, 26 May 2005 (UTC)

I think that author preference has its place when it comes to British vs. American usage when discussing a foreign opera, but not in the opera's title. Whatever convention we have, I think consistency throughout the article should be kept. --BaronLarf 13:50, May 31, 2005 (UTC)

Operas by title

DrG seems to now be adding Category:Operas by title to every single opera. This seems rather superfluous and a misuse of categories to me; what do you think?--BaronLarf 03:27, Jun 2, 2005 (UTC)

Yes, I saw that he started doing that yesterday, and this morning 3/4s of the entries on my watchlist are his adding that cat to articles. I suggest the following strategy: I am going to copy your message on my talk page to the talk page of the opera project, and answer it there more at length. It would help too if you try to articulate your objections there as well. Then I will leave a message on the Village Pump asking others to weigh in. I will also ask DrG to consult with others before creating any more categories. -- Viajero | Talk 10:18, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Ahhh, just noticed you did this already. Never mind. -- Viajero | Talk 10:20, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Did you mention it on the WP:VP? I can't find it anywhere. If not, I'll post it; just didn't want to duplicate. Cheers. --BaronLarf 14:27, Jun 2, 2005 (UTC)

No, go ahead. I ended up bringing it up on Wikipedia talk:Categorization . -- Viajero | Talk 14:42, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Duly added at WP:VPA. --BaronLarf 15:19, Jun 2, 2005 (UTC)

Well done. It is important convey that several of us are concerned; that it isn't a unilateral issue. -- Viajero | Talk 15:49, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)

The Bartered Bride

I totally agree with your reqest to move this back. Do you think that if any opera is originally titled in a non-Latin alphabet (Russian, Chinese, Czech, Hungarian....) it should automatically be given an English page name? I think that would make an excellent addition to the opera naming proposal. --DrG 23:49, 2005 Jun 6 (UTC)

Yes, I agree. I've changed the language to reflect this at Wikipedia:WikiProject_Opera#Operas:_original_vs_English_translation. Could you mention on Talk:Prodana nevesta that you support the move back, so an admin will make it so? Thanks much. --BaronLarf 02:29, Jun 7, 2005 (UTC)

List of operas

Hey! Some excellent work there! The names and years make a good addition. Radiant_>|< 14:43, Jun 16, 2005 (UTC)

Thanks. :^) --BaronLarf 15:14, Jun 16, 2005 (UTC)

Ghena Dimitrova

Hey! Yeah, I saw the article a couple of days ago. I had also been thinking about writing an article about her earlier but couldn't find too much information about her. The problem was the spelling of her name which is obviously Italian... VMORO 12:31, Jun 18, 2005 (UTC)

Hello

Hi BaronLarf,

Just dropping by to say hello: I really appreciate your excellent work on opera, an area which has needed good contributors for a long time. Oh, and cheers from a native Milwaukeean, while I'm at it... rather miss that town. Antandrus (talk) 02:13, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Thanks. :^) Any support on Wikipedia:WikiProject Opera would be greatly appreciated. (And don't the Wisconsin and Milwaukee pages suck? I need to get at those, too.) Cheers. --BaronLarf 02:55, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

Opera

I am giving up writing about opera. It is just too stressful. I hope all goes well for you. Peace-out --DrG 06:20, 2005 Jun 23 (UTC)

Getting Porgy and Bess to FA

Hello! Loved the work you did on productions and recordings. The article has improved beyond sight over the last month, but I would be grateful if you could write a quick checklist of things we still need to do. Also, I would appreciate some comments about the leitmotifs example. It was my interpretation of the score, but perhaps I have missed the point. --Alexs letterbox 11:20, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for your note! I edited entirely for idiomatic flow and more specific detail. Hope you approve. --Wetman 23:59, 25 July 2005 (UTC)

Of course! Thanks much for your additions. --BaronLarf 02:34, July 26, 2005 (UTC)

Congrats. on Porgy and Bess

I would like to conglatulate you on getting Porgy and Bess to FA. The page has undergone some amazing work over the past semester, and most of it has been you. Now I need something else to occupy my time. Do you want to try another opera page? I was thinking Wagner's Ring. --Alexs letterbox 06:59, 29 July 2005 (UTC)

Yeah, I'd be interested in working to get another opera article to FA, but just not right at the moment. I've started an unrelated wikiproject WP:WPWI and I'm devoting my time right now at getting off the ground. Congrats to you, too. --BaronLarf 12:43, July 29, 2005 (UTC)

Congrats on Porgy and Bess Front Page

Just wanted to drop a line and congratulate you on the Porgy and Bess article. I don't think I've seen a front page article have as few edits and vandalism as this one did. I'd say that was due to the article's overall excellent shape. Best, --Alabamaboy 00:56, 21 August 2005 (UTC)

Thanks again for your improvements, too, and for the kind note. Cheers. --BaronLarf 04:22, August 21, 2005 (UTC)

Porgy and Bess

This will be much easier since it is you. I was cleaning up Category:Classical albums and discovered Category:Opera albums. What would you think about placing the Porgy and Bess recordings in a subcategory like Category:Porgy and Bess albums, Category:Porgy and Bess opera albums, Category:Albums of Porgy and Bess etc.? What to do then with the jazz albums? Anyway, I wanted to run it by you before changing anything. -Acjelen 20:04, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

Works for me. This is a weird exception, since there are both opera and jazz albums based upon the original work. --BaronLarf 01:57, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

I used Category:Porgy and Bess recordings. At the moment, only the operatic recordings are included. -Acjelen 02:49, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

Broadway WikiProjects

Hi. You have listed yourself as a participant in one or more of the following wikiprojects: Wikipedia:WikiProject New York Theatre Wikipedia:WikiProject Broadway Wikipedia:WikiProject Off/Off-Off Broadway

I wanted to send out this bulletin to re-spark interest in these projects and hopefully advance their progress. Please contribute in any spare time you may have, in order to make this section of wikipedia even better.

If you know anyone who may be interested in working on this project, please say something to them.

Clarkefreak ∞ 02:07, 3 January 2006 (UTC)