Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • Gramophone - Concert and Opera Streaming - The Gramophone Guide

    Uploaded by

    hailbass
    15 views18 pages

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    15 views18 pages

    Gramophone - Concert and Opera Streaming - The Gramophone Guide

    Uploaded by

    hailbass

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 18
    THE WORLD'S BE GRAMOPHONE i. 5 Che J “WS esa \\ aa i Concert and Opera RG THE GRAMOPHONE GUIDE WHERE WE PLAY JUST FOR YOU aa PC Ue Se LT ed unded in 823 by Si Compton Mackenzie and Christopher Stone as ‘an organo candid opinion tor the numerous posseseors of gramophone GRAMOPHONE A revolution in reaching audiences nn recent years we've seen a revolution in how concert halls, opera houses id orchestras have made their music-making available to as wide an audience as possible. Many have invested heavily in bringing their performances live to the living rooms of people around the worl, allowing someone in America to take a virtual ‘sea’ in the Berlin Philharmonie, or someone in Japan to share the unique experience of English country house opera, all at the click of a mouse. It’s changed the way that organisations think THE EVOLUTION OF EVENTS STREAMING 5 An increasing number of organisations now stream thelr performances, many of them for free. There's no better time to log on, says Andrew Farach-Colton of their audiences, and I suspect WHAT TO the reverse is true too: just as WATCH8 collectors once became familiar Awealth of music: with an orchestra's sound and ‘making from around ethos through recordings, they can ‘the world without now build bonds more easily than ever before through watching them online. We've long been championing these developments, but decided it was the perfect time to produce a special supplement Yes, you can watch and listen to streaming services on focusing on this fascinating and your computer - or even your phone - but connecting the exciting area. Over the following sound to your hifi opens up the whole experience, writes pages, we really hope you'll discover ‘Andrew Everard ‘more about what to watch, how to watch, and what equipment will having to leave your home preview AUDIO KNOW-HOW 12 enhance your experience of doing CONCERT AND | so. It’s an area that I fully expect to. OPERA REVIEWS continue to develop in the months 4 and years ahead, so make sure you Asampleof the best read Gramophone every month performances and and visit our website where we'll programmes available keep you updated on the latest towatch online eee \ a ———— Editor and Publisher, Gramophone me onsite Gramophone, which hasbeen serving the classical muse Betton wold sine 192, fst and foremost amonthiy review seomecto ia ‘magazine, delivered today in both print and ctl formats. Shean snc ‘boasts an eminent and knowledgeable pana of experts, which ‘reviews thefllrange of classical msc recordings. Ns reviews are ‘completly independent.n addition to reviews, tsinterviews and teatures help readers to explore in greater depth therecordings ‘that the magazine covers. 35 wells oe insight nto the work of ‘composers and performers isthe magazine forthe fae asscal record collector as wells forthe enthusiast stecarerne starting a voyage of escovery. mcm n xs sramephonecouk (GRAMOPHONE NOVEMBER 2016 3 fondra Radvanovsky'ssingle-seasan triumph in Donizett's “Tudor Queen” tilogy now availabe: Anna Bolen, a ee ee ene Se ee Te eee ee ek | wyfeg EXPERIENCE THRILLING MET PERFORMANCES WITH MET OPERA ON DEMAND Met Opera on Demand features more than 600 Met performances available to stream on your TV, tablet, smartphone, or computer. SUBSCRIBERS ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCESS TO: Sa au Ned cd ele eee Ee) cere eee eect Be ee eee ee} eee cad Dern ead Start your free 7-day trial today! metoperaondemand.org ee Fe eT TT TY iffy years ago, in a cheerful polemic for High Fidelity ‘magazine, Glenn Gould prophesied that: ‘The habit of concert sgoing and concert-giving, Doth asa social institution and as chief symbol of ‘musical mereantilism, will be as dormant in the twenty-first century as, with luck, will Tristan dda Cunha's Voleano,” ‘The reclusive Canadian pianist was gleefully certain that advances in recording technology all but ensured the ‘concerts obsolescence ‘To question this inevitability indicated that you were suffering from ‘an endearing, if sometimes frustrating, human characteristic reluctance to accept the consequences of a new technology’ ould’s wishful thinking clearly got the better of him here. Ie’s one thing to accept the consequences of anew technology but quite another to predict swhat the consequences walle, Tere are simply play. Technologies don’t develop in a vacuum; one breakthrough will engender others with unexpected interactions. And, ultimately, it doesn't much mater if you're reluctant to “accept the consequences of a new technology"; the consequences themselves are inescapable, as we've witnessed with the stupendous societal changes wrought by the desktop ‘computer, broadband internet and the smartphone. Thegan exploring the classical repertoire as a teenager in the 1970s, in the heyday of the stereo LP. I saw my first CD player in 1983 in a wealthy college classmace’s living quarters, and few years later joined the ‘digital revolution’ myself, ignoring poplecti editorials railing against the soullessness of this new technology. In the mid~90s, I served as editorial director for the classial division of an early-to-market online CD retailer and music community website, where we experimented with audio streaming of complete live concerts, including the Philadelphia Orchestra's first, in 1997. Tlike to think that Tve greeted each technological advance with an open, eager mind, if not always with high hopes. Given the narrow bandwidth generally available in 1997, for ‘example, I doubted that even music streaming had serious potential (particularly for clas audiences who cared about sound quality), let alone that people would pay for the service, The Bern Pinsent controls the HD cameras and houses record engineers An increasing number of organisations now stream their performances, many of them for free. There’s no better time to log on, says Andrew Farach-Colton Yet here we are today and all che paradigms, as they say, have shifted. Tndeed, technology's relentless march appears to be accelerating, The 10 years following that Philadelphia Orchestra ‘webcast’ saw the rise ofthe iPod and legal music downloads. in 2008, the Berlin Philharmonic launched its Digital Concert Hall "To stream audio-visual content ~ classical musie content — was quite an exotic idea at the tim says the orchestra's communications director Tobias Moller. ‘Te was leven stranger to get paid for it, Tthink, and we are still prety much alone in this. Other orchestras do live streaming, of course, Dbut I don't know if there is anyone else who has a successful business ‘model for it” As it happens, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra also established an online presence in 2008, creating a channel on YouTube to share rehearsal clips and artist interviews. From there came GSOPlay, the orchestra's extensive streaming platform, which — unlike Berlin's — is entirely fee. These two orchestras are trendsetters in the arena of online services, hough their individual approaches reflect their distinct missions and methods, aswell as their positions in classical music's uneven and quickly shifting economy. ‘The Berlin Philharmonic is, of course, one of the world’s most powerful and well-known musical institutions, and the effects of Herbert von Karajan’s enthusiasm for technological innovation during his long tenure as music director (1954-89) can stil be felt. As Maller puts it: ‘Karajan made sure that music lovers knew the Berlin Philharmonic, no matter where they lived ‘Media activities ae in the DNA of this orchestra.’ Gothenburg established its international reputation much more recent, largely through an extensive series of recordings made for Deutsche Grammophon under Neeme Jarvis directorship. Berlin's Digital Concert Hall required corporate sponsorship to launch. ‘We don’t receive any public money,’ Moller says. ‘We financed the Digital Concert Hall solely through sponsorships and ticket sales. Deutsche Bank gave us the seed ‘money to install the studio here in the Philharmonie, 45 well 3s to allow us the time needed to aggregate a sufficiently a paid used to that, large paying audience, as it was unusual to off subscription at that time. People needed to (GRAMOPHONE NOVEMBER 2015 5 Now we have more than 25,000 paying subscribes, which funds our Envesttent very nicely. They dbserved how many online nowopapers and magazines offered free acs at ire, he say, before switching wo pid sere, aod decided it would be smarter to require a subsripton from he start, ‘They were right Goshenbur’sservceis fre, explains GSOPIays producer Mins Par Fogelberg, because the suppor “al ofthe cos of running the orchestra is Funded by the tat. Since 1997 we have been the National Orchestra of Sweden, s0 we want tobe arable forall of Sweden, incloding the fll that can't manage to get to our concer Tats ou peimary goal You might say that the people of Sweden own the orchestrn snes ther tx paying fori? suggest theyre spendng wisely ‘They say ther am isto make the online version ashow intel not merely a document ofthe performance. ‘Our clleage fs be visually daring ~ ne to py SSiebecrse isa ive concere We don't work wth scripts. Our real time like an improvisation. The more fan we have in the Control room, the ber the result ‘What’ most exciting about this explosion of audio-visual seaming (whether ve or on demand) transcend cy of the necessary technological legerdonsin ale, richnes of what's already mrailale and how italready pervades nearly every sats of tstonihes, Trecenty discovered the Opera Platform, fr instance, collaboration of 15 top-notch European companies ~ including the Vienna State Oper andthe Royal Opera Hovse, Covent Garden which offers rotating selection of new and recent productions at no charge (hough few ofthe productions eannot be viewed outsile Europe, fon the other hand, Fin onthe lookout for fing taleny schools suchas Oberlin Conservatory of Misc ted Jacols School of Masic (diana University) ow eream thanyof ther recitals and theatrical producdons; and heartening ofl, to my mind, are te smaller outfits reaching larger audiences with new and oot-of the-way ona Peppis ffom Manchester, or the US-based Intemational Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), There's ben such api proliferation of content, infact, that wading dough pages of Google or YouTube seach reals can be overnbelnng, parcel if be ventres beyond the offerings of essed = and wel fanded ensembles and organisations: And that’ assuming one Knows actually what one is ooking for nthe ist place ‘One can argue endlessly about the relative merits of different (6 GRAMOPHONE NOVEMBER 2016 Fiming te GotneneurgS0 for ree seaming service GSOMay head The richness of what's available and how it pervades nearly every strata of our musical culture astonishes of convenience and accessibility My teenaged children have ready access to a vast wealth of recorded ‘music that reaches back over a century to the very beginnings of the medium, and they can carry hours and hours of it around with them anywhere they go via their ‘mobile phones. They don’t have to trek to the library of search through dusty second-hand shops, as did; they simply need to type in a search box. This i a pity in a way, not because the hunt itselis valuable or instructive, but because i was in chose places that I found guides to help me along ~ store clerks and librarians eager to share their knowledge and enthusiasms. Tm not sure that blogs (or whatever comes next) quite do the trick. Yet the content continues to swell, and the more that's made available, the ‘more imperative it becomes to find new means of curation, Tadmit, [harbour a niggling worry that al chis convenience and accessibility somehow makes ‘the music less special or valuable. People are aways telling me how much they enjoy listening to classical music in the background while they're doing the washing up, orto relax them at bedtime. And today all you need to do for that is lick ‘on a playlist of 100 Most Beautiful Adagios’ and you're set for an entire evening. But now, having the ability to watch the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra perform instead of just listening to it—or, more likely, hearing it — has the potential to bring about a closer connection with the music. Fogelberg says that GSOPlay does offer an audio-only ‘option: ‘Some in our audience feel strongly that they just want to listen; others feel they can focus more easily if they're watching.’ Perhaps it was inevitable that the visual element would be reattached to music for the simple reason that younger musicians and music lovers ‘grew up on music videos, and while MTV viewership is declining, that’s only because YouTube has taken its place. Gould wanted concerts to be supplanted by recordings because he desired maximal control over his musical interpretations and live performances are inherently unpredictable. Moller says that in the early days ofthe Digital Concert Hall, some :musicians in the Berlin Philharmonic felt nervous. ‘If you're «principal brass player, especially, you are often in the spotlight and it can bea scary thought that any mistake you make — and mistakes do happen - will be watched worldwide. They've become used to this, of course, and they also see the advantage ‘of giving the viewers the experience of something that is happening live right now ~ that extra tension.” ‘This palpable sense of occasion will likely be heightened as the format matures. Méller says that Berlin is exploring Super HD and 4K2K video, while in Gothenburg they're discussing ‘employing virtual reality technology that could give the viewer the feeling of sitting directly in middle of the orchestra. Which (of these will be the next big thing? I'm making no predictions. @ SD FREE OF CHARGE ON WWW.STAATSOPER.DE/TV Die Meiste Sun, 6. November 2016 0 Donizetti La Favorite Sun, 4. December 2016 DO iou mS c he ele ty Lady Macbeth von Mzensk aoa We please check www.s 2016 DON'T BRING YOUR PHONE TO THE CONCERT BRING THE CONCERT TO YOUR PHONE. Ie 9 watch ‘Awealth of music-making from around the world without having to leave your home What t Arte Concert Web and TV app bii6d Arte BOSGCRS a programmes in HD qualtyn French and German and in Spanish aid English for 600, hhoutsa year. As well as documentaries and programmes on a wide range of cultural activites Arte offers afar amount of cassical ‘music. Youcan for example watch Riccardo Chay fst performance as Music Deector of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in Mahler rmighty Eighth Symphony, the Symphony of 2 Thousand (valabe unt November 12) or the Peter Stein La Scala production wath young singers, of Mozart Die Zauberfte (unveled on September 22 and avaliable to ‘ew for soc rmonth. artety Bergen Philharmonic award Garcner ine Norwegian ownesta has been operating a Data Concert Hal since 2015 - andi offerings ae free. Concerts are feted and generally stay nthe archive for 30 days. though some for alot longer (@ wendertuty jovial Dvorak Seventh under David Ziman from March s sti exe Forthcoming Ive streams incuce a Russian programme of Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev Under Andrew Liton (November 20, Haydn The Creation under Gardner (December 15) ane. you want to preview the programme of the Borgen POs 2017 tour which comes to the UK in January, you can watch Gardner conduct Grieg Sibelius (Vion Concerto with Baba Strce) and Walton Fst ive on January 12. digitaltkonserthus.no Berlin Phitharmonle ‘The 8PO5 Digtal Concert Halls the most sophisticated and consistent webs and ‘Apprbased way to consume mst) ‘orchestral fare (many moder TVs have the DCH preinstalled a a free App) With high-definition cameras andi wealth of teperience of automate fing - and an orchestra that now completely comfortable vt playing ‘on camera = this sa deluxe setup Given te calle ofthe BPOS quests expect arolicll of te inst conductors of ‘ur age from the Grand Old Men (Menta, Blomsteat and Hatink) to the younger (generation (Neézet Séguin, Nelsons eta ach of te more than 40 concerts broadcast lech year has an associated interview or Introduction feetoview There are aso '8 GRAMOPHONE NovEMBER 2016 documentaries and alot of archive fms featuring Karajan and his successors. Look ‘ut forthe Riccardo Chal conducted Vera Requiem on January 1 ive and then in the achwe) ‘2months €149.00, 30 days €19.90, one per ‘month €14.90, seven days€3.90 digtalconcerthallcom Bayerische Staatsoper Now in ts fifth season of presenting ree streams of opera and ballet performances ‘rom the great Munich opera house the Bavarian State Opera offers a strong season {uided by Music Director Kyl Petrenko (Chiet Conductorlect ofthe Bern Pihermons). Pexfoemances are nat archived so must be ‘Watched as they happen - but as this is one of Germanys leading houses its well worth keeping an eve on the website o see whats Coming up dhe recent Messtersinger, ‘conducted by Petrenko, with Kaufmann as ‘Walther, Wolfgang Koch as Sachs, Matin GGanter as Beckmesser and Emma Bell as Eva went out Ive), staatsoperde Detroit symphony [ive webstreams are ree and thereat for ‘anyone contributing $50 or more tothe ‘Orchestra Fue, acess is open AL east 25 concerts are broadcast each year and temain (on the ste for upto tree years, October 30 finds Hannu Linty on the podium for Sibelius’ ‘Second Symphony andthe Detrft SO premiere of Jaakko Kuusistos Votn Concerto (uth na Vahale) Music Drector Leonard ‘Slatkin concerts feature regularly on DSOLive sora Digital Theatre ‘Though the ste asi Been Updated Tor Gute ‘a whe, theres some interesting musicrnaking tobe found here. Wnile Gergiev LO Brahms doesnt exactly set the pulse racing, the opera ‘roductions from Glyndebourne Gncluding (GamilStemmelBélohlavek Testan ung oloe ‘and the vin Fischer Conducted Cosi fan tute) ‘and Covent Garden ( FlemingiCallea Traviata ‘and the Damraulkrehschiager Hensel und {Gretel among ther make t worth the ccecasional detour, Rent £3.99, by £8.99, buy HD £10.99 igtaltheatrecom ‘Siyndebourne The summer festval- opera done ask sou vith generous reneasaltme and singers reaty learning ther rolesin a perect environment - hha regia ve and delayed screenings but during the dowr tee. there are one ott screenings This year Hande!s Sou - rected by Batre Kosky and concted by Wor Bon, and wth stunning cast comprising Christopher Purves. lestyn Davies Sophie Bevan Lucy Crowe and Paul Appleby -can be seenin cinemas up and dow te country ‘between Octobe 10 and December 10. ‘lyndebourne.comtickets-and-whats-on Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra {GSOpiay is avaiable online and via 3 ‘bespoke app. and features concerts conducted by the orchestras many quest conductors and soloists. Three or four videos are added tothe site each month {and generally remain ther. fee to view. for 30 days. Automated cameras offer aiscreet ‘Close-up shots ofthe players and the sound, captured using the ‘Decca tree 's impressive. Catch the orchestras Chief Conductor-elect Santtuwatias Rowvail ina programme of Leyman, Brahms and Bartok (an archived concert fom September 2) ‘soselenigsoplay Guirzenich Orchestra Cologne ‘Winners nthe Choral category ofthe year’s Gramophone Classical Music Awards, this venerable Cologne orchestra stays ‘uptodate with ts GO Pus, an archive of Concerts. given inthe striking Paharmeonie, In HO quality The orchestras commitment tonew music is wel lustrated - atypical ‘programme sandwiches Peter atvoss vilin concerto Seven (Akio Suwanad ‘amophanecousk betwen Beethavers Leonore Overture No 3 andthe Pastoral Symphony, FrangolsXavier| nds. ‘en.uerzenictrorchesterdel International Contemporary Ensemble One of the powerhouses of ew music America, with over 500 commissions to ts name, ICE has a vast library of music ICE) flmed atts concerts. Compe include the established names (Lachenmann, tino and Gubaldulina amend ther) as well as upand coming new voices, ICES website azo has a weath f fascinating onversations, mini documentaries an background material Andis all done witha freshness and lack of ory toner stutiness that can too often prove such a deterrent to the world f new musi Keeorgorg Jacobs School of Music iFyoutancy bang the ist talented young musician then conservatory websites are a good place to start This Bloomington xfana music school streams Ninth Symphony, wth the 201637 season promising Daniel Catanis Florenziaen ef rhe Europear “Amazons, Ma Daughter ofthe Regiment ‘musicindlanaeds Medici TV Acombnation oT ‘many othe wor great festivals, concert hals and opera houses, and archive material uch i freeto view, Medics coverage of the 2015 Tchalkewsky Comp ‘astounding viewing figures and elevate this hyperactive broadcaster nto a new league ‘The ste contains avast catalogue not ust of concerts and operas but ao documentaries and tims Wigmaxe Hal has recently jointed the roster of partner hal, and Medic also features ’a host of competion from around the works (most recently the Banff intxnationa ting ‘Competition and The George Enescu International Competition) And doa foxget yuan watch the 2016 Gramophone Classical Music Awards for 90 days Grom September forte ‘One year £89-129,one month €8.90-12.90 (depending on subscription package) smedicity ‘Metropolitan Ope ‘The pioneer of bringing the opararhouse ‘experience into cinemas and stilin many ways the leader. Experience some of te FREE, LIVE AND ON DEMAND = ‘reatest singers and conductors ofthe day in HO qual in some 2000 cinemas in 70 countries. 201617 highghts include Anna Netrebko as Tatyana (Eugene Onegin Sir Simon Rattle conducting Trista Iso, Simon Keenlysce as Don Gio Kala Saariano’ Lamour de fon and Plcido smingo as Nabucco (with Jamies Levine conducting). As well a the cinema relays, the Met aso offers a substantial Video ‘and Audio on demand archive. viewable ‘on your computer, tablet, mobile oh ‘Tranging over mary years of Met ‘pera history, ‘One year $149.99, one month $14.99 (with unlimited subscription pland metopera.org ‘Mapa, Budapest Since opening its doorsin 2005 Budapests arts complex by the Danube contains, 35 Well asatheate and a museum a (the Béla Bartok National Co plays hast to music fram every gente an which occasionally streams concerts. Both ivan Fischer's Budapest Festival Orchestra (no also ofer occasional streams of bath ther rehearsals and concerts rom bfzsnw) and Zoitan Kocsis Hungarian National Orchestra perform nee ‘rupahu Opera Season Eugene Onegin by Tehaikovsky + Garsinton Opera In Parenthesis by Bell » Welsh National Opera La bokéme by Puccini + Teatro Regio Torino Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart « Dutch National Opera Macbeth by Verdi» Latvian National Opera WATCH NOW Otello by Verdi « Teatro Real Madrid Pelléas ct Mélisande by Debussy « Festival Aix en Provence Queen of Spades by Tehaikovsky * Dutch National Opera, Sancta Susanna by Hindemith « Opéra de Lyon ‘The Stigmatised by Schreker + Opéra de Lyon ‘Von Heute auf Morgen by Schoenberg « Opéra de Lyon Cone 03/11 Goplana by Zeledski + Polish National Opera 09/11 Nose by Shostakovich + Royal Opera House London 23/12. Golden Gockerel by Rimsky-Korsakov + La Monnaie Brussels sramentonecouk [GRAMOPHONE NOVEMBER 2016 9 Obertin college | ‘Oberin Conservatory of Musi based 35 miles southwest of Cleveland, Ohio, has 600 musi students thas embraced musicstreaming {and maintains an impressive annual schedule fof about 400 streams from the six campus sites The concerts are avaliable for WWE streaming (and are nat archived) and feature ‘some ofthe USS most promising young musicians as well as faculty stat The various college ensembles feature regualy and the repertvei broad and enticing. newobertinedulconservatory/webbcast ‘The Opera Patform Aust fr operaiovers GSDECIV a5 1ST Each production from an impressive ineup of rouses, many of which favour innovative and maginative stagings (inducing Wiener Staatsoper, Finnish National Opera Festival A. fen Provence, Opéra de Lyon, Komische Oper (Oper Stuttgart Teatro Regio Torna. Latvian National Opera, Dutch National Opera Norwegian Opera Polsh National Opera, La Monnaie, Teatro Real Madi Welsh National (Opera) stayson the site for si months. Some real gems here - try Garsington (Operas summer production of Eugene Onegin (Geviewed on page TO and avaliable to view anti the end ofthe year) ‘theoperaplatformeu 10 GRAMOPHONE NoveNBER 2016 Psappha The Manchest based contemporary Musi ensemble, founded in 199 streams mary ofits cancers ver the web (as well archives them nits own YouTube channe tsa perfect way to keep in touch with some ofthe iets ‘musical voces of today’s generation of young composers alongside sore ofthe major gues In new music—recent videos includes works by Maxwel Davies, Claude Vivier and Steve Reich as wel as Xaver Veastn Tunde Jegede. Jack Sheen, Aaron Parker an psapphacom Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra “The areat Dutch orchestra has an extend archive of ive performances under many at the ensemble’ conductors - Daniele Gattis MahierFith for example. ort forget thatthe RCO aso produces a regular magazine complete wit ve stearned concerts via ts RCO Ecitions App A recent edition contains complete video performances of Beethoven's Fourth and Fith Symphonss (wan Fischer, Bratrnss Double Concerto nis Neon) and Mahlers Sith (Lorn Maze concertgebouworkest.n Royal Opera House, Covent Garden ike New Yorks Met the Royal Opera House, ‘Covent Garcen has thrown open its ckgtal Portals to welcome auxtences from around the world Cinema relays are intligentyintwoduced ar the interva alow a lmpee into the production ands interpreters. The 2078 ‘season features the new Semon Bychikov cnducted Cosi fan tute (October TP, sama a production that trovatore Uaruary 30M tery (March 30) a inevtably be the notes ticket ntown, Jonas Kaufmanris debut in the role of Otelo opposite Maria gests Descemona and Ludovic Téa’ aga, PPappano conducts June 28). rohorguk Royal Stockholm Phitharmonic Orchestra FRSPOpiay allows you to watch concerts by Bre crchestra and ts conductor Sakari Oramo and ‘quests, anal by visting artists, n Stocknolm’s Concert Hal fr te. The offering is modest in comparson with other orchestra sites but the RSPO have plans to increase the output ‘The Oramo/RSPO chemistry Is palpable as can be witnessed by some ofthe arrive performances - there’ superb Tchakowsky Pathetique, for example rspoplayse Teatro Real Madrid 1s well as streaming Operas Ive or ES). TRE theate's website contains aichly stocked ‘videoteca’ containing archived performances that includes cove repertore as wel as some rates, How often do you getto watch ‘beni’ Meri? And dont forget that Charles juoriners much-admired Brokeback ‘Mountain remains avalabe to vw. palcodigtalcom Wiener Staatsoper ZX combination of ve sear ana archive ‘material hough not al productions are automaticaly archived) Viewable on your computer o laptop (ora TV connected to, or via the ener Staatsoper Smart TV app on your Samsung SmartTV or AI TY, broadcasts from Austria eacing opera house also offer a paralel second screen which cars subates (ane for some productions the score too) Performances are also tie delayed by upto 72 hours for convenience i watching ina aiferentumezone. Coming up are the Gramophone Anarcvinning Ani Harteros inthe tte role (October 13, Gucks Avice Under the baton of the stylish Mare Minkows (October 25) and Vers Falta with AmbrogIO Mast asthe Fat Knight ith conducting (December 12). Zubin Menta staatsoperivecom WIENER STAATSOPER »Welches Sehnen!“ | “What longing!” 2016 | 2017 SEASON Sy mer toed TOR race teetre tutte Poe Tee een TSce NEETU Se ence Tee roc Ocoee RS world: A whole year of Vienna State Opera, live Ce enn ee ated home! 45 evenings of opera and ballet with all ee cea ee cee ROTO Re Tee Scere CREO ECT ON ee ere ne gene eco See ae Coe ha www.wiener-staatsoper.at Se ey Making the link from streaming to system Yes, you can watch and listen to strearning services on your computer - or even your phone - but connecting the sound to your hi-fi opens up the whole experience, writes Andrew Everard ee | 1 e've come a long way since I wrote the ‘Listening Wirelessly" section on the Gramophone website, which covered developments in streaming and downloading. When it began, the idea of live ‘concert streams was very much in its infaney, Spotify was new and what's now called Tidal was still called WiMP, and was only available in a few Scandinavian markets. The idea of wireless music was alla bit new, too: about as far as anyone got was connecting their mobile phone to a Bluetooth speaker, although a few brave souls sought out devices to let their computer send music to their hi-fi systems by methods ‘other than trailing a cable across theit living room, ‘The cable method stil gave the best sound, as those early wireless connections were a bt thin, scratchy and prone t0 interference, but the third or fourth time you tripped over the cable you probably concluded either that you'd put up with the slightly nasty sound, or that computers and hifi really weren't meant to talk to each other. Fortunately we've moved on a bit since then: just as streaming services, from music to movies to dedicated subscription streams from concert halls and so on, have grown more prevalent, so solutions to form the link between computer devices and audio/home cinema systems have become more sophisticated. And more widely available, too: once you had to hune through the leser-travelled reaches ofthe likes of Amazon, whereas these days it seems that just about every new piece of audio equipment either has Bluetooth built-in, or ‘can be used with an add-on adapter to achieve the same thing, 12 GRAMOPHONE NovENER 2016 mimi. ° cS And Bluetooth should be more than adequate for streaming any live audio stream offering sound at up to CD quality from your computer ~or indeed a smartphone of tablet ~ to a suitable amplifier or receiver. Most AV receivers now have Bluetooth onboard, but add-on devices such as the Arcam miniBlink @, at just £100, can connect to any amplifier with 4 spare ne (or auxiliary inp to allow wireles streaming ‘Once your computer or whatever is connected to (or paired with che Bluetooth receiver, anything audio cam be sent to the receiver rather than your computer's speakers and you can even set things up so only the sound you want goes to the hist while any’aler sounds from other programs you may have running ae still played through your computer speakers, or simply muted An alternative, mainly for those with Apple computers or devices, isto use the company’s AirPlay system, and connect an Airport Express @, at around £80, to your hi-fi tsing either a conventional stereo analogue link or an optical tal one (especialy suitable for AV receivers and the growing numbers of stereo amplifiers with digital inputs) In fac, you will find that many AV receivers, and some apliticrs, now have AiePlay capability builtin, ether using a direct wireless connection of via the home Wi-Fi network, taking it possible to send sound directly to them without the need for any extra hardware ‘Naim's Musso and Mu-so Qb ©, for example, have both Bluetooth and AirPlay onboard, making it posible for them to acta the speaker system for your computer/andheld device. They start from around £600, and can also access online audio streaming from providers sich as Spotiy and Tidal. Meanwhile speaker systems suchas the Denon EOS range @ have Similar cpabiity, with the added advantage of being abe to re-tranomit the sound to farther speakers around the house if you wish, The HEOS range tare from around £200, and as you can readin this month's review, this HEOS capability i tbo set tobe buile into more Denon and Marantz products, starting with models such a the Denon AVR-X630011 © but working down the range in time Speaking of AV receivers, these are the best way to get high-quality sound and vision from those streaming services offering both audio and video, for example for concerts or operas, Some of these streaming services are available via apps built into modern TV sets: for example, the Berlin Philharmoni’s Digital Concert Hall comes pre-installed on TV from companies such as LG, Eee, Panasonic, Philips, Sony and Samsung. "You can add the service to older TVs with plug-in devices such 5 Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and the Google Nems player, any of which can be Bought fr les than £100 and Simply plugged into the TV, or you ean run a cable frm your computer tothe TV and access it hat way. A further Uption on some moder TVs would he to acces this kind of service ona tablet or smarsphone, and then send ic wirelessly to the TV using services such as Apple TV or Googlecast: the Google Chromecist 2 plug-in device sells for around £30, plugs into an HDMI socket on a TV, and canbe steamed to from Android smartphones and tablets. ‘With so many services available, and seemingly more popping up as we peak, it might, however, be worth thinking ofa more format-agnostc approach to this whole streaming thing ifthe hi-fi or home cinema system can’t come to the computer, why can’t che computer go to the audio set-up? Computers, especially used ones, ae relatively inexpensive these days, so why not have a computer dedicated to audio and video streaming services, to which you can simply add relevant software when required? I've bought several MacMini computers recently, for no more than £150 each, and I have ‘one permanently connected to my TV and audio/home cinet system, using a USB connection through a digital-to-analogue converter directly to my main amplifier (many modern amplifiers now come with a USB digital input) for audio, and an HDMI connection through my surround processor to my ‘TV for video content. That way, Ihave high-quality sound for audio streaming — and if new services such asthe Japanese experimental double-DSD live streams I have reported on in the past come along, all I have to do is make sure the equipment downstream of the computer can handle them. And for video streams, the computer merely uses my TV as its display, while feeding sound via HDMI through my surround system. Controlled remotely from my seat using either my laptop ‘ora tablet device (I could even use my phone if I wanted), the dedicated computer is proving both a flexible way of ensuring. Tan keep up with streaming service developments, and a cost- effective way of accessing allthis new and exciting content. @ RSPOplay.se ear with the All ete yal Stockho POS eae Cee part eee ad Ceca or uM’ er eae eee Conductor Sakari Oramo withthe RSPO ee ae eet rr es cece te GRAMOPHONE NOVEMBER 201613 Asample of the best performances and programmes available to watch online Barbara Hannigan is mesmerising in Debussy's masterpiece from Aix Debussy eee teri Michell Set designs fr he highly anticipated Pelee Méliende Sethe hiscer Provence Festal soy aalable ferret Le Ovecteetcian Weslo eca yl er ear here, a fully working bathroom plus a derelict swimming pool forthe ‘well’ in which Melisande splashes. “This is Barbara Hannigan’ show, her Mélisande ever present. Sprawled across bed in her bridal gown, she returns from the bathroom to ind the bedroom ‘transformed into a forest, Golaud prowling witha rifle, Melisande, sometimes invisible 1 other characters (including her double), weaves through « crumbling mansion, Split-screen sets another Mitchel tic — take us to adining room, a spiral 14 GRAMOPHONE NOVEMBER 2016 fire escape, a dank underground corridor, 2 pool...ransformations made with Hannigan'ssilvery-voiced, fragile Mélisande entrances all; Franz-Josef Selig’ refined Arkel and Laurent Naouti's ‘menacing Golaud both sniff her hair, hile Stéphane Degour's vulnerable Pallas is strangely childlike in her presence. There are hypnotic moments Hannigan has the most expressive eyes and poetic arms ~ and even the “t-as-all s-ream’ device doesn’t feel like the eop- ‘out our teachers would berate us for employing. Esa-Pekka Salonen spins ‘magical playing from the Philharmonia, Highly recommended. MaekPulinger The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra App presents classical music ina truly multimedia environment “The Fate of a Symphony’ When the new cent recor industry found sel avery den landscape tothe one ithad occupied fora least the second haf of the 20th century the erence between ‘majors and ines had arrowed and the driving ethos for mary of the major orchestras was do it yours: The 50, LPO. San Francisco $0, St Lous Symphony, Seatle SO and many other abet route. The Brin Phiharmeni, drawing on ts heritage of performing in front ofthe cameras the Karajan legac). aunched is Digtal Concert Hall Amstercams Royal Concertge ofthe most distinguished of| ensembles, perhaps loked tothe lng Dutch traction of publishing and fascinating hyoric-a kind of igtal magazine that contains video performances, interviews, documentaries and educational features Now up to Eaton I the ROA Apps latest offering, "The Fate of performance of Beet recorded in 2013 under the ens Fith Symphony an esa commentary in otk. There is aso 3 barby-bar analysis by Aad van der Ven and the oppextunty to follow the s complete video performances of Beet Fourth Symphony Fischer again tren the Brahms Double Concert (Lv Prunaru; Gregor Horsch: Andris Nelons from 2014) Fischer who also prov what’ styled an enriched Rattle conducts Boulez and Mahler with the Berlin Phil, a programme he brought to the BBC Proms Mahler (Over at the Digital Concert Tia, Sir Simon Rates final season in Berlin dives with a plunging piano solo from Majella Stockhausen into rippling pool of percussive sonorty. Ela (196: now feels like a turning point in Boulea's ‘work, informed by the rigour of total serialam that begat Le marteau, yet twinkling withthe sensuous glicer of i sco pi ‘The dominance of keyed and strung percussion is challenged late in the piece by a small ensemble of more ‘conventionally orchestral instruments including a trumpet, rather less conventionally mated here by a baseball cap, Aleatori episodes demand much preparation from the ‘conductor yet reduce him to a traffic cop of cues in concert, and Rattle remains on unusually restrained form in what follows, a consistently illuminating, superbly controlled account (of Mahler's Seventh Symphony. Rattle conducted the Seventh more than any other Mahler during his 380 tenure, including one oftheir last rours together; along with the ‘Resurrection, its atalismanie symphony for him, Fe used to be more content to mark its obvious discontinuities; now with marginally more measured tempos in the middle movements, he seeks (and ‘and Mahler’ Sith Symphony (Lorin Maazel from 2 Fischer's Beethoven - revealed on asc inthe company of Budapest Festval Orchestra ~s very much the cor ofthe man intense seious yet capable of sudden moments of humour, collegial anc ncusive vet always totaly in contol Hi ymentary forthe Beethoven Fifth (he watches a video and talks spare yet aways relevant and reveaing, The ‘explores the themes counterthemes and moni. I interesting to compare the podium styles fof the three conductors here - Maazel ‘economical an clearly a master ofthe vondertuly focused rehearsal Nelsons 3 ‘lorious musicmaking from the orchestra and the orchestral neerta. The RCOA App Pat the picture quay s excellent asthe sound, and each extion in nis series Ist only thought provoking but ondertlly saying Ofcourse ary to Sols crawn the Brahms Doub Pgs ke ee ental) Pe eGR SIR SIMON RATTLE mostly finds) a one-off Expressionist symphony, looking backwards to Bruckner and forwards to Webern, Lean't imagine the first Nachtmusik better done: viruoso conducting and playing, shaded with the subtery of Rembrandts brush in The Night Watch which inspired the movement, Breaking the spll ofits strikingly elegiac counterpart, the finale is ‘opportunity tO cor the magnificent erigebouw - cyber of inthe fest 1 t0

    You might also like