Scottish Opera : 26/02/2017

Debussy : Pelléas et Mélisande

Orchestra of Scottish Opera
Stuart Stratford

Scottish Opera, 24/01/2017

Glass : The Trial

Soloists from the Orchestra of Scottish Opera
Derek Clark

Metropolitan Opera (HD broadcast), 07/01/2017

Verdi : Nabucco

Metropolitan Opera Chorus
Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York
James Levine

Royal Opera (HD broadcast), 15/11/2016

Offenbach : Les Contes d'Hoffmann

Royal Opera Chorus
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Evelino Pidò

Scottish Opera, 23/10/2016

Mascagni : L'amico Fritz

Chorus of L'amico Fritz
Orchestra of Scottish Opera
Stuart Stratford

Scottish Opera, 18/10/2016

Mozart : Le Nozze di Figaro

Chorus of The Marriage of Figaro
Orchestra of Scottish Opera
Tobias Ringborg

La Monnaie, 27/09/2016

Verdi : Macbeth

Chorus of La Monnaie
Orchestre symphonique de La Monnaie
Paolo Carignani

Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, 16/07/2016

Debussy : Pelléas et Mélisande

Philharmonia Orchestra
Esa-Pekka Salonen

Scottish Opera, 05/05/2016

Gilbert & Sullivan : The Mikado

Chorus of The Mikado
Orchestra of Scottish Opera
Derek Clark

First things first.  If you live in the UK, and were perhaps thinking of catching this show somewhere on its extensive UK tour over the next two months, go without fear.  It's a very enjoyable evening.  And now you may stop reading, because there be spoilers ahead, and some of the jokes are worth experiencing without having been previously warned.

Onwards...

Scottish Opera, 07/04/2016

Dvorak : Rusalka

The Chorus of Rusalka
The Orchestra of Scottish Opera
Stuart Stratford

Royal Opera (HD broadcast), 21/03/2016

Mussorgsky : Boris Godunov

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Sir Antonio Pappano

Scottish Opera, 18/02/2016

Handel : Ariodante

The Chorus of Ariodante
The Orchestra of Scottish Opera
Nicholas Kraemer

Metropolitan Opera (HD broadcast), 16/01/2016

Bizet : Les pêcheurs de perles

Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York
Gianandrea Noseda

Metropolitan Opera (HD broadcast), 17/10/15

Verdi : Otello

Metropolitan Opera Chorus
Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York
Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Scottish Opera, 13/10/2015

Bizet : Carmen

The Chorus of Carmen
Orchestra of Scottish Opera
David Parry

Chorégies d'Orange, 11/07/2015

Bizet : Carmen

Choeurs d'Anger-Nantes Opéra
Choeur de l'Opéra Grand-Avignon
Choeur de l'Opéra de Nice
Maîtrise des Bouches-du-Rhône
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
Mikko Franck

Royal Opera (HD broadcast), 10/06/2015

Puccini : La bohème

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Dan Ettinger

King Roger streamcast

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]

Scottish Opera, 12/05/2015

Verdi : Il Trovatore

Chorus of Il Trovatore
The Orchestra of Scottish Opera
Tobias Ringborg

RCS, 11/05/2015

Vaughan Williams : Sir John in Love

Chorus and Orchestra
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Timothy Dean