Summer opera on the internets

If you’re stuck at home and don’t want to go see caped crusaders blow stuff up, here’s a roundup of some opera things available free on the internet.

• Glyndebourne does steaming every summer. Their most unusual offering will be coming on August 9 and available for seven days after that: a production of Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict, directed by Laurent Pelly with Stéphanie d’Oustrac and Paul Appleby.
• Are you ready for a drama of ritual purification that doesn’t involve an American political party? Something Parsifal-related might be happening in a little town outside Nürnberg today but they’re pretty shady on the details Update: the video is now available here but only streamable in Germany.
• On July 31 the Bayerische Staatsoper streams Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg live, watch it then or miss it. It will feature David Bösch’s dark sets, Jonas Kaufmann, and a high probability of broadcast difficulties. UPDATE: This broadcast and its open-air part has been postponed to the fall, date TBA, because the memorial for the Munich shooting victims will also take place on Sunday. The performance is still happening but the stream will take place later.
• I watched the Operalia finals live yesterday, which you can now stream via Medici. While the overall quality was high I didn’t find it too exciting. But it’s a decent variety of repertoire and no one sang “Ah, mes amis,” so it could be worse.
• In the coming days the Salzburg beast will awaken and demand a case of Champagne, so prepare for that. ORF is broadcasting Die Liebe der Danae and The Exterminating Angel, but it’s not clear if they’ll be on the internet as well as TV. Looks like Faust is going to be on Medici. That’s the Gounod one, because at Salzburg you do need to ask.
• I haven’t been to the Salzburg Festival in years. Is it possible that I’m actually missing this place which is in many respects objectively awful? I might try to go next summer.
• Aix-en-Provence sounds like it’s been great this year. Zachary Woolfe wrote about their Così, which you may be able to watch on Arte depending on your location or your VPN skills (it’s not available in the US).
• You can also watch Aix’s Pélleas on The Opera Platform, again only if you or your internets are located in Europe. If you aren’t in Europe, this might be of assistance.
• Everyone can easily watch one production from Aix: Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex as staged by Peter Sellars and conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen on CultureBox
• Several of the productions I’ve written about recently are also available to anyone without geographic restriction!
  • I wrote about Trovatore in London, which you can watch on YouTube until mid-August.
  • I wrote about The Queen of Spades in Amsterdam,  which you can watch on The Opera Platform
  • I wrote about Eugene Onegin in Berlin, which you can watch on The Opera Platform

As for not on the internet stuff, I will be going to Bard later this week to see Mascagni’s Iris, the opera that makes Butterfly look culturally sensitive.