All Major U.S. Orchestras Now Stream Regularly

[Karl-G]

Last week I was watching the Cleveland International Piano Competition streaming, and I was reminded  of how good the Cleveland Symphony is.  I do not live anywhere near Cleveland.  So I checked, and sure enough, the Cleveland Symphony streams its concerts; you pay for a ticket.  So I signed up, and I have been enjoying the Cleveland Orchestra, which the N.Y. Times calls the best in the world, in its concerts of the past year.  The new season's concerts start this fall.  Then I checked further, and every major American orchestra now offers its season of concerts streaming: the CSO in Chicago, the BSO in Boston, the Los Angeles Symphony, Philadelphia, etc.  So this coming season, I intend to enjoy watching all the best orchestras in the U.S. from the comfort of my living room. 

If you are not aware, you can watch anything on your computer or cellphone or laptop on your tv, if you prefer.  There are a number of different simple ways of connecting; check with your tech person or local electronics store.  You will want to have very good speakers, however.  The pandemic "caused" this.  I also learned that Igor Levit, one of the best Beethoven piano players in the world, gave 52 free concerts from his living room in Berlin during the past year via streaming.  It was enormously popular in Germany.  The streaming by American orchestras includes programs from Tanglewood, Ravinia, and other summer venues.

[jeezifonly]

How fantastic is this? Get young people into the music, then hook them as subscribers the first time they hear it unplugged.

It really is another animal live, in a great hall. Audience doesn’t have to be full. But we need to find ways to preserve accoustic classical music and opera. The human ear is already a perfect mixing console.