A bit short notice, but there is still time to watch today’s performance of La Traviata, the first of many to come to opera enthusiasts everywhere for free, courtesy of The Opera Platform.
Whether you love opera already or are curious about why millions around the world flock to venues from The Met in New York to La Scala in Milan, The Opera Platform is now offering a way for you to watch opera performances gratis (!) from opera houses across Europe.
The first opera that The Opera Platform delivers direct to you via streaming is Verdi’s most popular, La Traviata, performed at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain.
The curtain goes up on La Traviata today at 8 PM local time in Madrid, 2 PM ET/5PM PT.
(Use the subtitles/CC option on YouTube to see the English translation of the Spanish subtitles.)
An initiative of Opera Europa and the cultural broadcast channel ARTE that is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, The Opera Platform brings an average of one opera per month, from the most popular to the most innovative titles, to opera enthusiasts and newbies around the world.
Each opera is a live or recent production of one of the 15 partner theatres, shown with subtitles in six languages (English, French, German, Italian, Polish, and Spanish). Videos of productions are available for six months via video-on-demand. The partner theatres include:
- Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera)
- La Monnaie/De Munt, Brussels
- Finnish National Opera, Helsinki
- Festival d’Aix-en-Provence
- Opéra National de Lyon
- Komische Oper Berlin
- Staatstheater Stuttgart
- Teatro Regio di Torino
- Latvian National Opera Riga
- Dutch National Opera and Ballet Amsterdam
- Den Norske Opera og Ballett Oslo
- Teatr Wielki/Opera Naradowa Warsaw
- Teatro Real Madrid
- Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London
- Welsh National Opera, Cardiff
Upcoming performances include: Król Roger by Szymanowski (16 May), Kullervo by Sibelius (23 May), Valentina by Maskats (30 May), and Götterdämmerung by Wagner (7 June).
The Opera Platform website also features highlights from productions throughout Europe, curated documentary material that sets operas and opera houses within a wider cultural context, and an archive that brings opera history to life for today’s audiences.
So get your opera on — La Traviata live in two hours! — with The Opera Platform.
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