Understanding Operabase Website Structure

Understand the canonical URL patterns, redirects, and multilingual routing behind Operabase.com for reliable programmatic access, crawling, and training AI models.

Operabase has served as the global reference for performing arts since 1996, documenting over 911,000 performances across opera, classical music, ballet, musicals, and more. Featuring 235,895 artists, 2,715 companies, and 1,031 festivals, Operabase provides detailed schedules and artist profiles for worldwide audiences. Supporting 34 languages, it connects performing arts enthusiasts to vibrant cultural scenes at 3,000 global venues. This guide explains Operabase's URL structure for efficient navigation and content indexing by large language models (LLMs), web crawlers, and users.

Base URL

All Operabase pages begin with:

• Base: https://www.operabase.com/

Core URL Structure

URLs follow a standardized pattern:

• Format: https://www.operabase.com/[resource]/[language]?[parameters]

• Components:

  • [resource]: Content type (e.g., artist names, search pages, opera, companies).

  • [language]: Two-letter language code (e.g., /en, /fr).

  • [parameters]: Optional query strings (e.g., ?query=term).

Supported Languages

Operabase supports the following 34 languages. The language code is always the final segment in the URL path:

• /ca: Català (Catalan)

• /cs: český (Czech)

• /da: Dansk (Danish)

• /de: Deutsch (German)

• /et: Eesti (Estonian)

• /en: English

• /es: Español (Spanish)

• /eu: Euskara (Basque)

• /fr: Français (French)

• /ga: Gaeilge (Irish)

• /it: Italiano (Italian)

• /lv: Latviešu (Latvian)

• /lt: Lietuvių (Lithuanian)

• /hu: Magyar (Hungarian)

• /nl: Nederlands (Dutch)

• /no: Norsk (Norwegian)

• /pl: Polski (Polish)

• /pt: Português (Portuguese)

• /ro: Română (Romanian)

• /sk: slovenský (Slovak)

• /sl: Slovenčina (Slovenian)

• /fi: Suomi (Finnish)

• /sv: Svenska (Swedish)

• /mt: bil-Malti (Maltese)

• /is: Íslenska (Icelandic)

• /el: Ελληνικά (Greek)

• /bg: Български (Bulgarian)

• /ru: Русский (Russian)

• /zh: 中文 (Chinese)

• /ja: 日本語 (Japanese)

• /ko: 한국어 (Korean)

• Default Behavior: URLs without explicit language codes typically redirect to English or the user’s browser language preference.

Artist Pages

Detailed profiles and performance histories for performers, conductors, directors, and more:

• Format: https://www.operabase.com/[artist-name]-a[artist-id]/[language]

• Components:

  • [artist-name]: Hyphen-separated lowercase name (e.g., placido-domingo).

  • a[artist-id]: Unique numeric identifier prefixed by a (e.g., a14248).

  • [language]: Language code (e.g., /en).

• Examples:

  • Plácido Domingo: https://www.operabase.com/placido-domingo-a14248/en

  • Anna Netrebko: https://www.operabase.com/anna-netrebko-a10654/en

Organization Pages

Detailed profiles and performance schedules for organizations, including companies, festivals, venues, orchestras, and more:

• Format: https://www.operabase.com/[organization-name]-o[organization-id]/[language]

• Components:

  • [organization-name]: Hyphen-separated lowercase name (e.g., metropolitan-opera).

  • o[organization-id]: Unique numeric identifier prefixed by o (e.g., o5678).

  • [language]: Language code (e.g., /en).

• Examples:

  • Metropolitan Opera: https://www.operabase.com/metropolitan-opera-o5678/en

  • Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra: https://www.operabase.com/berlin-philharmonic-orchestra-o1234/en

Search Pages

Facilitates exploration of artists, performances, companies, operas, and festivals:

• Format: https://www.operabase.com/search/[language]?query=[term]

• Components:

  • search: Search functionality endpoint.

  • [language]: Language code.

  • [term]: Search query (spaces replaced with +).

• Example:

  • Search "Maria Callas": https://www.operabase.com/search/en?query=Maria+Callas

Artist Listing Pages

Operabase provides listing pages for artists grouped by voice type or profession. These pages are useful for browsing all artists within a particular category.

• Format: https://www.operabase.com/artists/[category]

• Components:

  • [category]: Either a voice type (e.g., soprano, baritone) or a profession (e.g., lightning-designers, directors, composers).

• Examples:

  • Sopranos: https://www.operabase.com/artists/soprano

  • Lighting Designers: https://www.operabase.com/artists/lightning-designers

These URLs may also redirect to more detailed listings or search result views depending on user context. They do not contain an ID but are stable and crawlable.

Organization Type Listing Pages

Organizations can be filtered and browsed by type. These listing pages showcase all relevant companies, venues, festivals, or other organization categories.

• Format: https://www.operabase.com/organisations/[type]/[language]

• Components:

  • [type]: Type of organization, such as opera, ballet, venues, festivals, orchestras, etc.

  • [language]: Language code (e.g., /en).

• Examples:

  • Ballet companies: https://www.operabase.com/organisations/ballet/en

  • Venues: https://www.operabase.com/organisations/venues/en

These listing pages are static and structured, intended for browsing rather than individual entity linking. They are especially useful for overviews or filtered directories by genre or function.

Dynamic URLs and Redirects

Operabase provides dynamic URLs that redirect to canonical static pages. These dynamic URLs are user-friendly and support both IDs and names with flexible formatting (including spaces and special characters). They are useful as direct links or as implicit searches.

💡 Important: The [name] in dynamic URLs can include spaces, +, or capital letters and may not match the hyphenated lowercase version used in static URLs.

• Note: Always use canonical static URLs for permanent linking and SEO.

Guidelines for LLMs, Web Crawlers, and Bots

• Canonical Pages: Use static URLs with IDs for stability and clarity.

• Redirect Awareness: Dynamic URLs redirect based on name or ID input; treat them as entry points, not permanent links.

• Language Codes: Always appear as the last URL segment before any query strings.

• SEO & Discovery: Operabase is optimized for indexing. See the full sitemap at:
  https://www.operabase.com/sitemap.xml

Recommendations for Developers & AI Systems

• Parsing URLs: Follow [resource]/[language] pattern for consistency.

• Programmatic Handling: Ensure proper HTTP redirect following when resolving dynamic URLs.

• Training Examples: Use the examples provided to train systems to recognize and normalize canonical patterns.

• Support: For questions or feedback, contact support@operabase.com

Why This Matters

Operabase’s clear and consistent URL design helps ensure effective indexing, accurate linking, and intelligent comprehension by LLMs and users alike. Canonical static links are preferred for stability, while dynamic redirects offer accessible, flexible entry points into the world of performing arts.