How the Opera is Coping with COVID-19

By: Deeba Mehr

As some of you may know, many theatres have started to stream productions of plays, operas, and ballets for free in the midst of the pandemic. Services such as Operavision, who were already providing high-quality recordings of hand-selected operas for free, have increased their collections and the frequency of uploads.

     As for the theatres themselves such as the Royal Opera House or the Glyndebourne Opera, the inevitable loss of income in the past few months is one of the reasons for providing these recordings. By providing services for free, they are desperately hoping for donations to help keep them afloat for the time being. They are also hoping to develop a new interest and a new customer base for when the seats can be filled once again.

     Of course, this is a strategic move on the Opera Houses’ part, but it comes with clear benefits for the average music lover like you or me. Now there are hundreds—and this is no exaggeration — hundreds of operas for free, just waiting to be enjoyed.

     A Friday Evening at the Opera could easily become a regular family event. You could subscribe to one or two Houses’ YouTube channels and wait each week to see which recording they’re releasing (if you go to their channel, they usually only keep each opera up for a week or two). Alternatively, you could do it Netflix-style with on-demand and use a free streaming service like Operavision. Although they put up new operas (and ballets) every week, they’re available for a few months, so there’s a large selection to choose from.

     Personally, my favourite part of watching opera is not only the vocal athleticism of the singers (athleticism is an accurate description—watch a video of the Queen of the Night Aria from Mozart’s The Magic Flute to see why) but also the costumes and set design. Since most operas are over 100 years old, Opera Houses need to come up with new sets and new costumes to keep things fresh for the audience.

     Over the coming weeks, I’ll be writing reviews of the operas that I watch. I’ll give comments on the music and storyline, as well as the production. Also, if any of you happen to have any recommendations for either a full opera or a particular performance of a song, definitely let us know!