Classical music and opera in your home concert hall

Classical music concerts and opera performances have been the mainstay of entertainment for audiences with a fine taste. The experience of watching an opera concert live is indeed a mesmerising one, but it doesn’t come cheap, and besides expensive tickets, you also need to travel and, in all probability, stay at a hotel, to be able to watch a live opera. In the present times, technology has made it possible to enjoy the magnificence of opera from the comfort of your home. 

 

If you feel your spirits dampened by the fact that you cannot watch your favourite awaited opera concerts live since most opera houses and concert halls are closed in the current pandemic situation, or are generally love opera but the expensive tickets and the prospect of travelling to watch your favourite performances is holding you back, you can now kick your heels and plonk yourself on your couch and enjoy the best classical music and opera performances right from your living room. 

 

Performers are also coming together for solo, duet or small gatherings, since they need to perform while observing the six-foot threshold. For ardent opera-goers, these virtual events are a great way to watch their favourite performers. For opera singers and other people associated with the art, the virtualisation of opera has been a blessing as they are able to entertain people, stay connected with their audiences and also keep earning their livelihood. 

 

German musician Igor Levit and his daily piano recitals on Twitter became a ritual not just for his fans, but for many others who took a liking to his music and he soon became a global internet star. While the sound quality of the live recitals is reasonably good, to say the least, he has given people a taste of some of the leading musical pieces by Schubert, Beethoven and Brahms. 

 

Turin’s Teatro Regio brought #operaonthesofa, a series on YouTube, which shows unedited dress rehearsal footage of their productions, giving audiences a feel of how a live opera is crafted- the rehearsals, the hard work, the camaraderie between the performers and the suffusing music that is the essence of opera. 

 

The 150 year old Royal Albert Hall has its own website where free streams of performances are being offered. A YouTube channel called ‘The Show Must Go On’ has been offering most successful full-length broadway shows completely free. Grath Brooks, an american singer and songwriter, has been doing free concerts on his Facebook page. The London Symphony, The Berlin Philharmonic, The Detroit Symphony, Wigmore Hall etc have all opened up their digital recordings and have been offering them online to the public for free or for a nominal price. 

 

These virtual shows and live streams are here to stay, and will let audiences enjoy the beauty and charm of opera and classical music from their homes until it becomes safe to watch an opera in a concert hall, with people around.