Ask a Librarian

19 years ago

I've just discovered the reference service of the New York Public Library. I sent them a question, and I got my answer in three days:
What is the date of the first modern performance of the opera "L'incoronazione di Poppea" by Claudio Monteverdi?

According to The New Kobbe's Opera Book, the opera premiered "at Teatro di Givioanni e Paolo in Venice, 1642. Performed in Naples, 1651. Revived in concert from in Vincent d'Indy's arrangement by the Schola Cantorum in Paris in 1905; in 1913 given a stage production there at the Theatre des Arts with Claire Croiza, conductor d'Indy. Produced in 1926 at Smith College, Northampton, Mass., and the following year at Oxford by the University Opera Club in an English translation by R. L. Stuart. Performed at the Florence Festival of 1937 in the Boboli Gardens in a version by G. Benvenuti, with Gina Cigna, Giuseppina Cobelli, Giovannni Voyer and Tancredi Pasero, conductor Gino Marinuzzi; and in the same year at both the Vienna Volksoper in a German version by Krenek, and at the Opera-Comique, Paris, in Malipiero's version. Malipiero's realisation was revived at the Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza, and in Venice in 1949, with Hilde Gueden, Elsa Cavelti, Giovanni Voyer and Boris Christoff, conductor Erede. Raymond Leppard's realisation was first performed at Glyndebourne in 1962, and at the Coliseum, London, in 1971, with Janet Baker. Roger Norrington in 1974 prepared and conducted for Kent Opera a version generally believed nearer to the original than perhaps any other since Monteverdi's time, with Sandra Browne as Poppaea and Anne Pashley (soprano) as Nero."

For further research, be sure to contact staff at our New York Public Library for the Performing Arts' Music Division (http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/mus/mus.html)

I'll be sure to keep Ask a Librarian in mind.

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Comments (14)

ccrdmrbks
19 years ago
Oh yes, they are wonderful. A few years ago, before the internet made this sort of search easy, I needed names and addresses of corporate officers (office, not home-I don't stalk....) because I was tired of dealing with underlings hiding behind the mantra of "corporate policy" over a "repair while under warranty" issue. (They wanted me to pay $50 S&H to have a 3 month old electric typewriter replaced...one with a year's warranty.) Contacted the reference service...by phone... and had the answers in minutes.
Chris_in_the_Valley
19 years ago
Wasn't Kate Hepburn a reference librarian in Desk Set? And wasn't Spencer Tracy setting up a room sized computer to do her job?
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Every now and then if I make a score on something like selling many trees in the nursery on a good day.The magazine AMERICAN NURSERYMAN seedsa catalog full of books on all related subjects so I pick a couple out that Ilike. Itry not to get too technical on the books I buy for my town libray but I do want something witha serious subject ,like the book LANDSCAPE DESIGN,OR Dirr,s hardy trees and shrubs or THE PRUNIG OF TREES ,SHRUBS and CONIFERS They appreciate it and even put a donated by someones name you may want in the book. That is not the reason I donate them for because it is let dowm when yougo to a library and locate the hort.section all you may findis a Martha Stewart book on plantig pansies and drinking tea.Ihave nothing against her but you want a book with meat in it meaning good laymen information about horticulture or the gardening book for your grandmother SO what I am getting at is maybe the librarian will start a trend on purchasing more knowledgable books on the above subject so off to the next town to plant the trend seed in their book world N.N.
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I'm lucky -- an abundance of libraries within easy driving distance. The smallest branch library is in a nice "town square"-type community (stores, restaurants, movie theater, small grocery store, arts theater, and a dog park/strolling park across the street). But when you walk in, the first thing you see is desk after desk of computers. People can sign up for computer time, and those seats are always filled. There's also WiFi, so others come to the library for "office" work. That's great -- not everybody can afford his or her own computer. But the layout just seems to push books to the periphery, and that kind of saddens me. This is the library I usually stop at on my way to work to pick up my "holds." And the libraries in that county (which is just 15 minutes or so away) have deep CD and DVD collections. A library a bit closer to home is a slightly more "warm" place -- there are plenty of computer desks, but when you walk in, there are many book displays (how many times have I picked up interesting books there before I remembered the titles I MEANT to look for? Too many!). The librarians do a great job on their book displays. And because there are two really big used-book sales a year, there is enough revenue from those, and from the county, to also have many shelves of "just released" books. CD/DVD collections, not so much. And then there's the library in the next community over, where I used to live. It was designed by the architect Michael Graves, and I was really interested in seeing it. I walked in, and I actually felt cold. A lot of glass, soaring roof line. But there were so many shelves that looked half-filled. I couldn't decide whether they were just still pulling things out of storage, or whether they'd spent so much money on the redesign that they were short of book funds! Haven't been there recently, but I trust that everything's out of storage by now. But I have to admit that even tho I realize I have a wealth of library options, none of them stacks up against my memories of my favorite library -- the one I grew up with, in Connecticut. Picture your quaint New England buildings -- that was it. Small, but it always had what I needed for school projects; the card catalogs; beautiful heavy Windsor-type chairs -- just a wonderful atmosphere for researching and finding something new every time. My dad and I went there together frequently. So for me, it's not just the building and the materials -- the best library has to "envelop" me somehow, with friendliness and warmth.
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Oh I know, just being pedantic :) And its thundering as we speak, so it will probably rain. Of course, I did just get my car washed so it figures. Just hope it does so before I have to get my kids off the bus. We have a bit of a walk from that curb to the classroom.... Our regular school librarian has been in and out of the hospital for cancer the last few years. She hasn't started back at school yet, but there's a sub. I was chatting with her and my god what is she doing in the library? She retired 10 years ago, says she wasn't planning to do this more than a week, and that there is more to life then work (true, but then why did she do this?) Heard from one of the kindergarten teachers that she's a drill sargent. Great - we want to teach children the joys of libraries, and this witch is gonna spoil it all.
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It sounds interesting. You have to have an imagination and that's a good thing for kids to have!
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minnie_tx
19 years ago
Desk Set? Yes, and it is one of my favorite movies and I'm so glad I taped it. She knew all the answers. I think it was the reference department of a major network.
georgia_peach
19 years ago
There is an author commentary at the back of Arthur Phillip's novel,The Egyptologist, where he writes about his experiences with a very kind and helpful reference librarian who went the extra mile to help him with his research for his book. I enjoyed reading that commentary. Writing what you know (as Hemingway would suggest) can only take a person so far.
suzanne_il
19 years ago
The reference librarians at the Chicago Public Library are also very knowledgable and helpful. It seems like it would be an interesting job - the Sherlock Holmes of information. Sometimes a web search can only take you so far also.
carolyn_ky
19 years ago
Back in the old days (before personal computers), I used to call the library reference desk fairly often. I was an executive secretary, and some of my bosses thought I was quite knowledgeable.

Thank goodness for Google nowadays, though.
cindydavid4
19 years ago
I dunno - while I use google, I miss the reference desk. I also called them frequently. Not only did I get answers, but I often found resources and books that I'd never have picked up before. Plus I got talk to another reader about books - and for me such a chance was as rare as hen's teeth.
leel
19 years ago
The reference librarian still exists--and at your local library, too. CALL--you'll be amazed. Moreover, if its a medical question, you may be fortunate to have access to your local hospital's medical library and librarian. As a medical librarian, I urge you to use that source. Yes, the internet is wonderful, but a librarian who can guide you to information that is vetted is even more wonderful!
cindydavid4
19 years ago
Actually, if they do exist, you can't get there when you want to because they have cut the hours drastically. Fortunately the town next to me has a decent City Council as well as a decent library, so yeah, I know they have a ref desk - and you are probably right, they more likely have technological access that I'd never get to. Thanks for the idea.
leel
19 years ago
You don't have to go there physically. Most librarians will call you back with the information, or answer it while you wait if its a quickie.
annpan
19 years ago
I loved doing reference work, ah, the thrill of the chase! Even after computers made things easier, the right questions have to be asked to get a result, don't you find? The nasty part of me got a kick out of supplying an answer from memory while the students were starting to type in the question. Hehehe!
leel
19 years ago
Yeah--that Aha! moment--really gets the endorphins going! Who but librarians could get off on that stuff?? Especially when you get "How did you find that??" :=O
barly
19 years ago
What a great job it would be just to do research on different subjects all of the time. That is definately one of my dream jobs.

Barly
tessa_rue
19 years ago
I'm not a reference librarian, but I do work in the Reference Department of my local library - nothing so fancy as the big libraries, I'm sure.

It is nice though when you know you've really helped someone out - I had a patron who was interviewing with a Japanese company and wanted to know about customs/how to behave, etc. He was eventually hired by them and he gave us the credit! Even after he moved away (from my little midwest town to the DC area) he would call us for assistance.

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ccrdmrbks

Chris_in_the_Valley

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