# Confessions of an Opera Packrat



## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

So I've spend much of the day so far condensing and packing 10+ years of operagoing keepsakes in advance of my move to New York(!) at the end of the year. I'm proud say to I've gotten three or four scattered collections of opera, symphony, and various other programs down to a single office box, mostly by tearing out the "guts" containing the actual program and discarding glossy color part full of ads and donor lists. (They seem to be designed to do so.) It's actually been a pretty fun exercise for a chilly afternoon and jogged a lot of memories of great performances and a remarkable amount of personal history that took place the opera house and symphony hall. And many of the names in the programs mean alot more to me looking back as a more seasoned opera-goer.

I was just wondering if I'm the only one who holds onto this stuff. I suppose it wouldn't be the end of the world if the box happened to fall off the truck between here and there, but I couldn't bring myself to part with it all just yet. I should also mention that I generally archive every ticket to every performance too, but those are alot easier to haul around.


----------



## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Cavaradossi said:


> So I've spend much of the day so far condensing and packing 10+ years of operagoing keepsakes in advance of my move to New York(!) at the end of the year. I'm proud say to I've gotten three or four scattered collections of opera, symphony, and various other programs down to a single office box, mostly by tearing out the "guts" containing the actual program and discarding glossy color part full of ads and donor lists. (They seem to be designed to do so.) It's actually been a pretty fun exercise for a chilly afternoon and jogged a lot of memories of great performances and a remarkable amount of personal history that took place the opera house and symphony hall. And many of the names in the programs mean alot more to me looking back as a more seasoned opera-goer.
> 
> I was just wondering if I'm the only one who holds onto this stuff. I suppose it wouldn't be the end of the world if the box happened to fall off the truck between here and there, but I couldn't bring myself to part with it all just yet. I should also mention that I generally archive every ticket to every performance too, but those are alot easier to haul around.


When I moved from London to New Zealand I left my opera programmes behind. Now I really wish I hadn't. Half the time I can't remember what I saw because I went so often. Wish I even had the cast lists to jog my memory! Sometimes something comes up on Youtube and I remember it as I start watching!


----------



## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

I have to admit that the only opera programs I've been saving are the ones from Washington National Opera, which for me is the "big time" as far as opera-going is concerned (because I can only afford to go there very occasionally). I personally hate clutter, so I get rid of all my other programs within a day or two after seeing the performances. When I used to get "Opera News" magazine I would save the issues I really loved (such as the big Verdi-year issue from 2001) -- but I've even gotten rid of those. The one thing I don't mind having a lot of is opera CDs and DVDs. The ones I have at present fill two drawers and two boxes, but I couldn't live without them. I did, however, recently give away a few recordings I don't really like.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> When I moved from London to New Zealand I left my opera programmes behind. Now I really wish I hadn't. Half the time I can't remember what I saw because I went so often. Wish I even had the cast lists to jog my memory! Sometimes something comes up on Youtube and I remember it as I start watching!


Oh what a shame that you left them behind.

At the moment I'm keeping all my programmes, tickets etc & not sure I could throw anything away. And my box sets are something to treasure. I've got all my music backed up but I also have a CD player & love to play a disc & sit with the libretto.


----------



## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

I try to keep the tickets from every show (opera or otherwise) I go to, although some got lost during relocations. I never buy programs but I like to get opera related fridge magnets if I see good ones.


----------



## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

I've saved all of the programs from the operas I've attended, plus the occasional ticket stub (_Fidelio_ in New Orleans with Siegfried Jerusalem; _La Traviata_ in Chicago with Jonas Kaufmann), and a pen -- the one with which Herr Jerusalem signed said program. I clip magazine articles I want to save; however, I've saved entire issues of _Das Opernglas_ when Herr Kaufmann was the cover boy.


----------



## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

I don't save much. Right now I have only one ticket from operatic performance and one program. The first I kept for non-operatic reasons, the latter because it was damn expensive and included some interesting things. But wait, I think I have put the ticket from that performance inside the program. SO I HAVE TWO... TWO OPERA TICKETS, AH-AH-AH-AH, I LOVE TO COUNT!

I'll certainly start to save more when/if I'll have more opportunities to collect singatures of favourite singers on this stuff.


----------



## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

I've never been one for hoarding tickets/programmes etc but then I've never been one for hoarding records either.
If I find a recording that's better than the one I've got - it's a replacement and not an addition to the collection.
Opera is a little different as I may have several recordings to cover each of the principals/conductor/orchestra etc.
The few box sets I have are reserved for soloists as I've yet to find a conductor who can 'nail' all the symphonies, or a singer that can nail all of the operatic roles.

Boring, huh?


----------



## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Couac Addict said:


> or a singer that can nail all of the operatic roles.


don't be silly, there's plenty of singers who can do that


----------



## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

deggial said:


> don't be silly, there's plenty of singers who can do that


There are certainly singers who can screw all their operatic roles.


----------



## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

I also keep programs and ticket stubs. I had to cull through what I had when I left Arizona for NYC but I think (hope?) I kept most of it. And of course I have been gathering them a greatly increased rate since moving; they are currently pushing out books (another thing I had a lot of when I had space in AZ) on a bookshelf.

I have often thought of picking out the guts but I just haven't gotten around to it.


----------



## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> When I moved from London to New Zealand I left my opera programmes behind. Now I really wish I hadn't. Half the time I can't remember what I saw because I went so often. Wish I even had the cast lists to jog my memory! Sometimes something comes up on Youtube and I remember it as I start watching!


On their website, the Lyric Opera of Chicago now has an archive of every cast list going back to their inaugural season in 1954 (so I can't use that excuse!), maybe some of the London houses have that too.

I must say though, somehow holding the program in my hand is far better memory jogger than just reading the cast list. There was only one program, a single Cosi Fan Futte, for which I couldn't remember specific details of the performance. The odd show like that I didn't see any point in keeping.


----------



## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Cavaradossi said:


> On their website, the Lyric Opera of Chicago now has an archive of every cast list going back to their inaugural season in 1954 (so I can't use that excuse!), maybe some of the London houses have that too.


I just found that ROH *does*.


----------



## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

It doesn't seem to be part of the main official site (but is linked to from there) but the Metropolitan Opera Archives site has this information, too.


----------



## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

they should make these things part of the main site, like the Salzburger Festspiele does. That one is really easy to access.


----------



## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

Continuing my packing and sorting, I came across the official beginning of the archive, and what a beginning it was:

Chicago Orchestra Hall
September 20, 1987
Vienna Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein, Conductor
Christa Ludwig, Mezzo Soprano

Mozart Symphony No. 29
Bernstein Symphony No. 1 "Jeremiah"
Sibelius Symphony No. 5

This was my first visit to Orchestra Hall. I remember the $20 upper gallery seat seemed like quite an outlay at the time, but even then I knew that Bernstein conducting Bernstein, much less with the Vienna Philharmonic, was musical history in the making.


----------



## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

I am hopelessly sentimental when it comes to these things, I save all tickets and programmes. In my kitchen I have a corner where I once hung a framed picture. It is now completely covered in opera tickets. I especially like those 1 sheet flyers you get at the ROH. THis frame is also a very nice topic starter when guests wander into my kitchen.


----------

