I have two opera releases with information in the booklet that I’m unsure whether should be included in the track titles or not. They both have information in a smaller font under the main track info, usually the singers in parentheses and sometimes the type of song.
Style / Classical / Track Title - MusicBrainz says “Do list key, catalog number, movement numbers, etc. if they are included as part of the titles on the release, but not otherwise”, but I’m not sure if the smaller font lines in these booklets are “included as part of the titles” or not. Extra title information might be relevant too.
These are cases where I don’t think there is a wrong answer, honestly. I’ve seen it done both ways and I have never felt the need to change it to the other way. I don’t listen to or edit much opera though. Maybe others have stronger opinions. @chabreyflint?
Makes sense. If it is included, then what should the punctuation be? Without extra punctuation, I think «Some quote» (Coro) looks good, but «Some quote» Coro delle campane (Coro) and «Some quote» (Coro delle campane (Coro)) both look kinda strange. Maybe subtitle style should be used and the parentheses should count as “alternative dividing punctuation”, so that the titles would be «Some quote» (Coro) and «Some quote»: Coro delle campane (Coro)?
And yes, roles (or vocal types) in parentheses are very helpful to see who performs on a given track, particularly if there is no linked Work which already has this info
That example is a work, and I agree that putting the descriptive title first makes sense for a work. For tracks though, shouldn’t everything be in the same order that it appears in the release’s tracklist? (Assuming there is a clear order in the tracklist.)
Yes. I’m using the Work as example as most Recordings will not have all these informations (and shouldn’t be completed by data not found on the Release). But recordings should basically follow the same structure. I change Recording titles that spell < «Some quote» (Carmen) > to < Carmen: «Some quote» > to avoid multiplication of parenthesis (where the first Carmen is the overall title and the second one the role…)
Do you mean tracks or recordings? Recordings are more similar to works because they’re not specific to any one release, so following a release’s printed tracklist doesn’t make as much sense. I’m just asking about tracks where there is a clear printed tracklist for the release.
It depends. If there are already Recordings (and Works) I can link to, I will leave the tracks mostly “as on cover”. If I have to create new Recordings (and Works), I will eventually tweak the Tracks some more, to source what is needed for Recordings and Works (since we can’t batch edit Recordings), and usually will not bother to revert the track titles back to “as written”
Gotcha, that makes sense, and batch editing recordings and works seems like it would be a nice feature to have. Personally, I care way more about track titles than recordings or works. But I’m glad there are other people who care about recordings and works, because I do find them useful sometimes.
Just for track titles, do you think «Some quote»: Coro delle campane (Coro) is the way to go? (There are already recordings for that release, and I’m not planning to change the recording titles at all.)
Personally I would consider “coro delle campane” redundant with “(coro)” and use just one of the two, so here just «Some quote»: Coro delle campane (like I wouldn’t add “Overture (orchestra)”)
