the old Aria Database logo

The Aria Database is a collection of information about opera and operatic arias. Besides providing basic information about each aria, the Database includes translations for many arias and aria texts for those that are not affected by copyright restrictions. The Database also provides access to a collection of operatic sound files to give visitors an idea of what each aria sounds like. The Aria Database also contains information on available scores and sound files that can be purchased to aid in study and enjoyment. Currently, the Database holds information on the complete operatic aria collections of Mozart, Verdi, Berlioz, Wagner, and Puccini as well as the partial collections of over 50 other composers.

The Database is designed to be useful for singers, opera enthusiasts, and researchers. For performers, the Database attempts to provide all the information you would need to know to prepare an aria, including synopsis, range and tessitura, voice part and fach, role, and where to find the sheet music. For music lovers that prefer to sing along with recordings, the Database provides the words of the aria as well as where it happens in the opera and where you could find more recordings of the aria. For researchers, it provides a quick reference for identified operatic arias.

The Aria Database was created and is maintained by Robert Glaubitz. However, it is also the product of the online operatic community, containing translations, sound files, and information from a variety of contributors. Please consider becoming a supporting member of this community by contributing your original translation or other information to the Aria Database.

History of the Database

Aria Database design - 1997-2010

The Aria Database began as a way to fill time during in the summer of 1996 when Rob was employed at a computer helpdesk. Using HTML skills he learned in high school, the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, Rob created the web page in a non-searchable form with about 10 to 15 operas. Over the next few months, the page moved a few times, switching servers until it finally landed in a long-term spot in March 1997 where it acquired both its own domain name and a new searchable format. From the period of March 1997 to August 1999, the Aria Database grew from about 300 arias to over 1100 arias. Since September of 1999, the page has been mentioned on a public radio station in Australia and has been featured in Chamber Music Magazine's list of Top 50 Music Websites as well as in the New York Times.

From 2002 until 2010, the Aria Database existed as more of a static resource rather than a growing collection of operatic information. There are many reasons for this cessation of updates, with the major one being that Rob had very little time to update it. In January 2006, the Aria Database moved servers, although the domain name remained the same. Even with its outdated design and static collection of data, interest in the Aria Database still seems to have remained strong. Usage statistics for August 2009 to January 2010 averaged a little more than 62,600 unique visits a month with the peak in October 2009 at 76,180 visits.

In September 2010, the long-awaited redesign of the database was unveiled with a new database architecture, additional multimedia features, and an updated web design. This "Aria Database 2.0" also kicks off a complete review of the data in the database to update the entries and correct any mistakes. Over time, additional data will be added to each record and the quality of the data will hopefully improve. The intended end goal of this data improvement will be a scholarly-level database that is also useful to the non-academic community as well. As the existing data is improved, efforts will be made to add new entries to the database, especially those that involve the work of student researchers under the supervision of faculty advisors. Please contact us if you are interested in supporting or participating in this project in any way.

About the Creator

Originally from Falls Church, Virginia, Rob now resides in Edmond, Oklahoma, where he has been an assistant professor of voice at University of Central Oklahoma since 2009. His previous university experience includes two years as an instructor of voice at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, one year as a lecturer in voice at the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay, and three years as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His students have found a great deal of success, garnering first place awards at NATS competitions as well as earning spots in graduate voice performance programs and professional music theater productions.

Rob Glaubitz

Even with his extensive teaching obligations, Rob maintains a regular performing schedule. He is a member of the Conundrum Duo with guitarist Carey Harwood which performs a diverse selection of classical music for voice and fretted instruments including guitar, lute, mandolin and banjo. The Conundrum Duo has performed at the Colorado Mahlerfest, the New York City Duo Fest, concert series in several states, as well as several recital tours on the East Coast and in the Great Plains. In 2007, the Conundrum Duo won first-place and "Audience Favorite" at the prestigious Bruce E. Ekstrand Competition. As a soloist, Rob has performed on the Chazen Recital Series in a concert broadcast on Wisconsin Public Radio and sang as tenor soloist in Handel's "Messiah" with the Green Bay Symphony Choir. He has appeared in lead roles in a wide variety of shows including "Le Nozze di Figaro," "Die Fledermaus," Iolanthe," "HMS Pinafore," "Carmen," "The Old Maid and the Thief," "The Mikado," "The Music Man," "Trial By Jury," "The Merry Widow" and "Pirates of Penzance." He also has a strong interest in new music. From 1995-1999, Rob was a member of the Performance 20/20 chamber music group at the University of Hartford where he premiered numerous compositions. In 2003, he appeared in a lead role in the premiere of Randall Shinn's "Sara McKinnon." In 2007 and 2008, he premiered roles in two original musicals based on the story of "Adam and Eve." At the 2010 College Music Society national conference, he premiered two new songs in a concert of new works.

Graphic from the old Aria Database index.html

Rob graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from the University of Hartford in 1999. His major teacher during that time was the late Frederic Moses. He received his Master of Music in vocal performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2002 and later received his Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from the same institution in 2008. During both of these degrees, his main vocal teacher and advisor was Patrick Mason although he also studied with Curt Peterson and Patti Peterson during his time at CU-Boulder. His final doctoral project focused on the issues facing a collaboration between classical vocalists and classical guitarists along with a study of the repertoire available for such a collaboration. As a part of this project, Rob created an online database containing this study of guitar-voice repertoire. Please feel free to browse through this collection and suggest other repertoire for guitar and voice that might have been missed, although please keep in mind that one of his next projects will be to migrate that database into the Aria Database format.

Other Individuals Working on the Database

Jennifer Braun

A long time user of The Aria Database, Jennifer was shocked when she realized the creator was the same Rob Glaubitz with whom she attended classes. She was so impressed with this, that she decided to marry him.

Jennifer Braun received her Masters Degree in Voice Performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she studied with Dr. Joel Burcham, and her Bachelors Degree from Otterbein College. Ms. Braun has sung in masterclasses given by mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, baritone Thomas Hampson, tenor Mark Calkins, pedagogue Shirlee Emmons, and composer Libby Larsen.

She has been a soloist with the Toledo and Westerville Symphonies in performances of Handel's Messiah and Mozart's Coronation Mass. Ms. Braun has sung numerous collegiate operatic roles including Violetta (La Traviata), Cunegonde (Candide), Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus), and Countess Almaviva (The Marriage of Figaro) as well as singing with Opera Columbus and the Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra in Columbus, Ohio. No stranger to musical theater, she has performed the roles of Luisa (The Fantasticks), Mrs. Nordstrom (A Little Night Music), Mrs. Krumholz (How to Succeed), as well as premiering the role of Lilith in Cleave, for the Ruling Thumb Theater Company in Boulder, Colorado. In 2010, Ms. Braun won first place in the National Opera Association's Collegiate Opera Scenes Competition with a scene from La Traviata.

For the Aria Database, Ms. Braun concentrates on general data improvement in the database itself.

Thanks for using the Aria Database. We hope you found it useful.