Classical TV To Bring Free Opera to the Masses

New Classical Music Website Set to Launch in February

Jan 26, 2009

The new website Classical TV, set to launch in early February, promises to deliver opera, classical music, theatre, musicals and jazz across the internet for free.

For a growing number of individuals across the world, lot of their television is now watched online.

Why rush home from a fun party to watch The Office when it can be watched the next morning online? The internet makes television fit our busy schedules, and for most of us, the opportunity to choose our viewing time means we can actually watch more of it.

Will this same revolution come to opera? Will widespread availability make classical music a daily part of people's lives? These questions remain yet to be answered by a new experiment in classical music distribution: a brand-new website for streaming opera and classical music. Classical TV, set to launch in February, promises to make a very expensive and limited pastime available for free across the world.

Big Name Opera and Ballet Companies Available at Home: The New York Metropolitan, English National Opera and Bolshoi Ballet

According to the website's chief executive Christ Hunt, the website will be bigger than any of its peers to date. The New York Metropolitan Opera, English National Opera, Bolshoi, Marinsky, Zurich Opera and Paris Opera Ballet will all contribute video footage of their performances for viewers to enjoy in the comfort of their own homes.

This is not the first experiment in streaming opera online. The New York Metropolitan Opera already offers archived footage of its productions via its website, available "on demand" through a monthly subscription fee or a one-time rental fee. Offering free online opera on such a wide scale, however, is a novelty.

Live High Quality Streaming of Select Performances

Not all of the offerings on Classical TV will be free. Live high quality streaming of performances will appear on the website every two weeks, available for $9.99 each. Though the experience of big screen viewing is lost, the price of the live streaming is similar to a single movie ticket and patrons can spend the money saved on an extra bottle of champagne to share with fellow viewers.

If pictures are anything to go by, the new website promises to have a broad scope. Visitors will find their favorite musicals as well as operas. And theatre companies will also contribute videos such as Sir Ian McKellen's performance in King Lear (Royal Shakespeare Company). Over 1,100 hours of free video will be available on the website to start.

February 2 will mark the first step in this grand experiment: on that date, the site will open its doors to the general public with the English National Opera's production of La Boheme, directed by Jonathan Miller. (In the UK, the opera will appear a week later, on February 9). This popular and familiar opera by Puccini (and the inspiration for the musical Rent) should help attract the critical mass necessary for getting the fledgling website off the ground.

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