I've known Szymanowski's King Roger in audio form for many years, and I'd have given my eye-teeth to be in London for the Royal Opera's first-ever staging of this marvellous work. Not possible, alas, and for some reason, the company saw fit not to add this to its cinema broadcast roster, but they did stream it live over the internet. It was available from a couple of sources, but I watched via the newly launched Opera Platform (www.theoperaplatform.eu), which also promises more and similar goodies to come, from opera houses all over Europe.
However, the problem is that it is a streamed broadcast. Unless you have a state-of-the-art home theatre, with smart TV, integrated sound system, etc., etc., then you're faced with a small screen, and tinny sound. The thing that really gets my goat is that it's apparently not possible to synchronise analogue and digital broadcasts. I have a perfectly good stereo system, and the ideal would have been to turn the sound off on my computer, and listen to the broadcast live via BBC Radio 3. Yet there's a ten second delay between the sound you get via FM, and the sound you get over the internet, which is just plain frustrating.
I'm not going to deprive myself of the pleasure of watching this sort of thing, I'm too much of an opera nut for that. But no matter how interesting King Roger was, it's going to remain a private indulgence, as the kind of reproduction quality you get in the cinema simply isn't available to me.
[Next : 23rd May]
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