Opera Scotland

Opera Platform gives way to Vision and ARTE

Posted 5 Oct 2017

The EU collaboration that produced the ground breaking Opera Platform is now giving way to two new programmes for free opera streaming across Europe. With many members of opera audiences aged 70 and over, new technology offers the opportunity to share opera with a younger wider public.

Before its closure, Opera Platform gathered evidence of considerable impact. In almost two and a half years, over 1.5 million unique visitors enjoyed this novel European offer. Thanks to this initiative, over 3 million operatic videos were viewed throughout the world. Content was drawn from 58 companies, from Madrid to Helsinki and from Reykjavík to Melbourne. The Creative Europe programme allowed Opera Europa, ARTE and 15 opera companies to bring a challenging project to life. As the planned run of Opera Platform is now completed, Opera Europa and ARTE have decided to follow their own respective projects in the field of opera. These can be summarised as follows.

Opera Vision
Creative Europe has shown its renewed trust in Opera Europa by supporting its follow-up project Opera Vision, which brings together 30 partners from 18 countries for the promotion and enjoyment of opera for all. This offer, free at the point of streaming, will again aim at making the multiple facets of opera accessible to a diverse audience.
 
A rich programme of performances will be brought to audiences worldwide, complemented by bonus material and opera insights. The new platform will go public on 12 October when the full launch programme will be announced. Between now and the end of the year, Opera Vision will present 20 full-scale opera productions alongside a wealth of new contextual and educational material.

ARTE
ARTE will launch a new dedicated opera project in spring 2018: The European Opera Season on ARTE Concert. The French-German broadcaster joins forces with 24 leading European opera companies in order to create a network for the promotion of the art form of opera. At least one opera per month will be available for digital streaming on ARTE Concert - worldwide and free of charge.
 
In the meantime, ARTE celebrates in autumn 2017 the variety of opera. This will showcase numerous highlights from stages across Europe. The programme will start with the grand opening of the Berlin State Opera featuring Robert Schumann’s Scenes from Goethe’s Faust, conducted by Daniel Barenboim and directed by Jürgen Flimm on 3 October 2017.
 
OperaScotland will be posting more details as soon as we become aware of them.