Have you been seeing all the amazing free streaming experiences being shared around your social media feeds? I have! But if you’re like me, you will file them away in your brain for later, and then promptly forget them. So, I decided to compile them all in a handy list so that I would actually take advantage of the amazing opportunities we have at our fingertips during the next few weeks. It’s also a great way to take a break from thinking about Covid-19 and relieve stress and anxiety for a time by indulging in some of the best artistic performances on the planet.
These resources are mostly for free live and on-demand streaming of operas, ballets, symphony orchestra concerts, jazz performances, etc. I hope you find it helpful!
*Disney+ will release Frozen 2 early on Sunday, March 15.
*Seattle’s Symphony will be live-streaming their performances “to provide comfort, strength, comfort and joy” throughout the quarantine. Subscribe to their YouTube channel or visit their Facebook page to watch. The first performance is tonight, March 14, at 10pm CST. They will be performing Mahler’s Symphony No. 1.
*New York’s Metropolitan Opera will be live-streaming select past performances at www.metopera.org. Performances start at 6:30pm CST. Here is the upcoming schedule: *Mar 16 — Bizet’s Carmen *Mar 17 — Puccini’s La Boheme *Mar 18 — Verdi’s Il Trovatore *Mar 19 — Verdi’s La Traviata *Mar 20 — Donizetti’s La Fille du Regiment *Mar 21 — Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor *Mar 22 — Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin
*If you are an opera newbie, www.operavision.eu has some amazing resources to learn about opera and help you get your bearings under the tab “New to Opera?”. For example, they have “5 Reasons to Love Verdi” that would be great to watch before the Met’s Verdi performances listed above. Also check out the “Opera for Beginners” video. OperaVision also has videos of full operas under the “Performances” tab. Examples include: *The Turn of the Screw *Madame Butterfly *Carmen *Don Giovanni
*New York’s Lincoln Center *Jazz: livestreams of weekly jazz concerts at their Livestream channel. The season begins again on April 17, but they also have archived sessions to watch. *Chamber Music: They have tons of on-demand videos of performances at their website. They also have free livestreams on the same website at least weekly. Upcoming performances include: *Mar 15 — Bartok’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion *Apr 1 — Inside Chamber Music: Mozart’s Piano Quartet in G Minor *Apr 6 — Violin Master Class *Apr 15 — Inside Chamber Music: Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue
*Munich’s Bayerische Staatsopera will have free livestreams for operas and ballets due to cancellations of their performances. They will be streamed and shown on-demand for a short time (varying from 24 hrs-30 days) after the original performance at their website. Note that I will be posting the time in Central Standard Time, as they are 6 hours ahead of us. The upcoming performances include: *Mar 16 — Concert: Joana Mallwitz 2pm CST *Mar 21 — Ballet: Swan Lake 1:30pm CST *Apr 11 — Opera: 7 Deaths of Maria Callas 12:30pm CST
*Gotenburg Symphony streams almost all concerts live and on-demand at their website or on their free app, GSOplay. Upcoming performances include: *Mar 23 — Beethoven’s Piano Concert No. 2 *Mar 23 — Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 *Apr 4 — Gotenburg’s Symphony Orchestra and Choir “To the Memory of Our Beloved” *Apr 6 — Strauss’ Don Juan
There are also some wonderful museums that are virtually opening their doors to the public, including the British Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the Musee d’Orsay. Here is a great post to find links to all of the options.
And, lastly, we will stay open here at Schola Living Books! If you need great living books to keep you and your children occupied during long hours at home, stop by or message us. We’d love to help!
Happy Culture-ing, everyone!
Schola Lending Library 