The Stony Plain Library is proud to Announce that The Edmonton Opera Guild has lent to us on Permanent loan a collection of 38 DVDs of some of the greatest operas ever written from Mozart to Gershwin and from Pirates of Penzance to the Barber of Seville.

Our DVD's (English Title in Brackets):

Il Trovatore (The Troubador) - Verdi (1857)
Porgy & Bess - Gershwin (1935)
Der Fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman) - Wagner (1839)
L’Elisir d’Amore (The Elixir of Love) - Donizetti (1832)
L’Orfeo (Orpheus) - Monteverdi (1607)
Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar) - Verdi (1842)
Pirates of Penzance – Gilbert & Sullivan (1880)
Otello (Othello) - Verdi (1887)
Les Indes Galantes - Rameau (1735)
Pagliacci (Clowns) - Leoncavallo (1892)
Lucia di Lammermoor (Bride of Lammemoor - Donizetti (1835)
Hänsel und Gretel (Hansel and Gretel) - Humperdinck (1893)
La Cenerentola (Cinderella) - Rossini (1817)
Carmen - Bizet (1875)
Manon Lescaut - Puccini (1893)
Tosca - Puccini (1900)
Cavalleria Rusticana (Rustic Chivalry) – Mascagni (1890)
Madama Butterfly - Puccini (1904)
Serse - Handel (1738)
Der Rosenkavalier (The Cavalier of the Rose) - Strauss (1911)
Die Fledermaus (The Bat) - Strauss (1874)
Falstaff - Verdi (1893)
Orfeo ed Euridice (Orpheus and Eurydice) - Gluck (1762)
A Village Romeo and Juliet - Delius (1907)
La Bohème - Puccini (1896)
La Traviata (The Fallen One) - Verdi (1853)
Fidelio - Beethoven (1805)
Macbeth - Verdi (1847)
Idomeneo - Mozart (1781)
Le Nozze di Figaro (Marriage of Figaro) - Mozart (1786)
Manon - Massenet (1884)
Aida - Verdi (1871)
Mitridate, re di Ponto (Mithridates, King of Pontus) - Mozart (1770)
Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) - Mozart (1790)
Samson et Dalila (Samson and Delilah) – Saint-Saёns (1877)
Das Land des Lächlens (Land of Smiles) - Lehár (1923)
Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) - Rossini (1816)
Pique Dame (The Queen of Spades) - Tchaikovsky (1890)

(All DVD's in collection contain English subtitles)

Opera Frequently Asked Questions

What is Opera exactly?
A mixture of music and drama in which singers convey drama. Everything from Fidelio by Beethoven to more contemporary works, even The Who respected the medium so much they refer to Tommy and Quandrophenia as a Rock Operas.

What is the difference between Opera and Musicals?
The difference between musicals and opera is that musicals contains spoken dialogue and opera is completely sung throughout, also there is no dancing in opera. But many operas do contain dialog and many “musicals” are sung throughout so the genre difference is rather “fuzzy”.

Why should I check out the Opera DVD Collection?
Because Opera is one of the oldest and most beautiful forms of artistic expression. Created by some of the greatest composers who ever lived (Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Gershwin) and based on some of the greatest stories ever told (myths, folktales, Shakespearean plays, among other sources). Great music, great stories, great costumes, and great sets that would put the biggest Broadway productions to shame.

Is it true that most Opera’s are in foreign languages and have complicated plots, how will I know what is going on?
All of the DVD’s have English subtitles. As far as complicated plots go, most of the DVDs have booklets to explain what the opera is about. I will give five dollars to anyone who can explain the last episode of Lost to me, I still enjoyed it. To quote Shakespeare “the play is the thing”.