Wikipedia:WikiProject Opera/Article styles and formats

For stub and start class articles:

For articles that are aiming at either good article or featured article status, the following extra sections are recommended:

{{Notelist}}

Opera articles use the Day-Month-Year format for indicating the dates of premieres, performances, etc.

Day is written numerically but without the use of a leading "0" before a single digit day, 1 to 9. Months are written out in full and not abbreviated. The year always uses four digits.

References may be linked to 'Music by year' pages, for example "The opera was first performed in Prague on 31 March 1928", coded as "The opera was first performed in Prague on 31 March 1928."

The day and month should not be wikilinked; see Manual of Style (dates and numbers).

• Over-categorization of voice types in role tables should be avoided, e.g. use tenor instead of tenore di grazia, use soprano instead of coloratura soprano. The voice types specified in the printed score should normally be the ones used in the role table. Finer distinctions and differing performance practices (if any) should be discussed in the text of the article itself.
• In line with the 2020 RfC on table captions to aid accessibility for those using screen readers, role tables going forward should have an incorporated caption as illustrated below.

;Wiki code for the table above

When updating existing tables the caption can be added by placing +Roles, voice types, and premiere cast as the second line in the table code, e.g.

::

;Wiki code for the table above

For the numbering of acts, always use Arabic numerals: 1, 2, 3 etc., not the Roman: I, II, III. The words act and scene are not proper nouns and are not capitalized, except when MOS:TITLECAPS applies. See also this discussion: {{oldid|Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Capital letters|1137614255#Acts_and_scenes|Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style § Capital letters}}.

Articles such as I masnadieri or La fanciulla del West illustrate the format:

I masnadieri:

:==Synopsis==

:Setting: Germany, between 1755 and 1757.

:===Act 1===

:Scene 1: A tavern on the borders of Saxony

:During a break from his studies at Dresden University, Carlo, [etc]

or from La fanciulla del West:

:==Synopsis==

::Time: 1849 to 1850

::Place: A mining camp in the high Sierra Madre Mountains in California

:=== Act 1 ===

:Inside the Polka Saloon.

:At the saloon, Sheriff Rance is playing solitaire, while [etc]

Line 1: In each case, the word "Act" is in bold face and forms a sub-heading of the section's title for editing purposes.

Line 2: If an act has several scenes, the scene number, then colon (:), then description of the setting follows on a separate line in italics.

If there are no scenes, a description of the setting for the act follows in italics.

Lines 3+: Text of synopsis follows.

Krenek: Jonny spielt auf, Vienna State Opera Orchestra

• Conductor: Heinrich Hollreiser
• Principal singers: Lucia Popp, Gerd Feldhoff, Thomas Stewart, Leo Heppe, Evelyn Lear
• Recording date: 4 January 1994
• Label: Vanguard Classics, B0000023F7 (CD)

• In line with the 2020 RfC on table captions to aid accessibility for those using screen readers, tables going forward should have an incorporated caption as illustrated below.
• The layout reflects one singer per line with
  (line breaks) after each name. To ensure that there will be no line breaks per name, enclose the longest name with the template {{tl|Nowrap}}: {{Nowrap|suitably long name}}.
• "Conductor
  Opera house and orchestra": Name(s) of house, orchestra and chorus/choral group(s) follow without line breaks
• "Label": Type of recording (e.g. "CD", "DVD") is followed by ":" (colon), then name of releasing company, followed by
  (line break)
• Catalogue number (using abbreviation "Cat:"); if available, should follow the name of the recording company

;Wiki code for the table above

Note also that the screen reader only template {{tl|sronly}} may be used to hide the table caption from sighted readers if it substantially duplicates adjacent text that is visible.

::::::::{{box|1=If visible output is not desired, the caption can be hidden with {{tl|sronly}}:
|+{{sronly|Roles, voice types, and premiere cast}}}}

In special cases, where the cast list is longer than about five or six major characters or where one singer takes on several roles in one recording and several singers divide those roles in other recordings, the following example from The Tales of Hoffmann discography may be used:

;Wiki code for the table above

In line with the 2020 RfC on table captions to aid accessibility for those using screen readers, tables going forward should have an incorporated caption as illustrated below.

The recommended table format is based on the List of operas by Gioachino Rossini:

;Wiki code for the table above

Note also that the screen reader only template {{tl|sronly}} may be used to hide the table caption from sighted readers if it substantially duplicates adjacent text that is visible.

::::::::{{box|1=If visible output is not desired, the caption can be hidden with {{tl|sronly}}:
|+{{sronly|Roles, voice types, and premiere cast}}}}

This is an empty template for such tables:

;Wiki code for the table above

A specialised version of a list of operas can be seen at List of operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and at List of operas by George Frideric Handel:

;Mozart operas

;Wiki code for the table above

;Handel operas

;Wiki code for the table above

Articles may differ in their requirements and the suggested layout should be applied with common sense, particularly in the case of altering the existing layout in featured articles. For more on this subject see Wikipedia:Citing sources, MOS:LAYOUT, and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility See also {{oldid|Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Opera#Format samples and further discussion|642289432|this discussion}} for examples of various other referencing formats used in opera-related featured articles which may be more suitable depending on the circumstances. For detailed advice, see MOS:REFERENCES.

Layout

The overall heading "References" (==References==) includes a variety sub-heading titles.

• Notes (===Notes=== or Notes) for explanatory footnotes, usually with the templates {{tl|efn}} and {{tl|Notelist}}.
• Footnotes or Citations (===Footnotes=== or ===Citations=== or Footnotes or 'Citations) for citation footnotes, either as full inline citations, list-defined references, or short citations.
• Sources (===Sources=== or Sources) for online sources (with access date), journal articles, or books which appear in the footnotes/citations (ideally with ISBN in the case of books). They should be listed in alphabetical order of author, last name first.

Note: A leading semicolon to achive bolding is no longer recommended because of compatibility issues with screen readers.

See the example of a typical format below using these citations.{{efn|1=Sometimes explanatory footnotes are needed.}}Budden 1984, p. 55.Ashbrook 1982, pp. 255–256.Casaglia 2005. These example footnotes are formatted according to WP:CITESHORT.

{{fake heading|sub=2|References}}

Notes

{{Notelist}}

Footnotes

{{Reflist}}

Sources

• Ashbrook, William (1982). Donizetti and His Operas. Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|052123526X}}.
• Budden, Julian (1984). The Operas of Verdi. Volume 1: From Oberto to Rigoletto. London: Cassell. {{ISBN|0-304-310581}}.
• {{Almanacco|dmy=02-02-1762|match=Artaxerxes}}
• Warrack, John; West, Ewan (1992). The Oxford Dictionary of Opera. New York: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-869164-5}}.

Further reading{{pb}}See MOS:FURTHER.

Opera, Article styles and formats

Article styles and formats