Yet another website seeks its fortune broadcasting classical music online.
www.classicaltv.com is to offer PPV operas from the Bolshoi, Mariinsky, Met, Zurich Opera, Paris Opera and others, according to BBC news. The price is a hefty $9.99, but there'll be some free stuff on the site as well.
The site launches on 2 February with ENO's La Bohème, which is also broadcast live on Sky Arts TV.
It joins a growing number of providers, including www.medici.tv, one of the few who provide a significant amount of free content. Medici's next free concert is tomorrow, 24 January, at 8pm (or 7pm UK), when Vladimir Jurowski conducts the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Hélène Grimaud live from Paris.
But halp! I hear you say, my cheap nasty laptop has dodgy sound and a rubbish picture, what's the point of watching a concert on that? Well, there are ways round that problem. You might try viewing through your TV, by connecting it to your puter. You will need a lead to join the two - an S-VHS (puter) to Scart (TV) with audio Y does the biz for me. There is further fiddling involved - if you don't know a geek, then Google is your friend. If your TV is as lousy as your computer, or the quality of the streaming is low, of course you're stuffed regardless. But it's worth a try.
