Opera (Without an Opera House)
Watching and listening to opera, even if there's no opera house near you, is more accessible than you might expect. I post a fortnightly list of upcoming opera video streams, but that focuses on newly-available content. There's much more to see beyond that.
Below the cut is an extensive but non-comprehensive list of resources for watching and listening to opera all over the world. Many of these streams are free, others are available on a rental or subscription basis. English captions are available unless otherwise specified.
Opera on Video for Free
Operavision: Weekly free streams of new or recent opera productions, which then remain available for 6 months. They broadcast a mix of the classic and the new, the traditional and the regie. Occasionally, the weekly production will be an operetta, ballet, or a singing competition.
Arte: An arts channel with wide-ranging and thoughtful taste. What's available depends heavily on where you are. There are always a few operas available worldwide, but those with European IP addresses will have a wider selection.
Wiener Staatsoper Streaming: Free streams, available globally, from one of the world's best-regarded opera houses. Not every production is streamed, but a lot of the hot tickets are. After each stream, the VOD is available for 3 days. Multiple caption languages available.
Operastreaming.com: A project of the theatres of the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy, focusing on Italian rep. Expect lots of Verdi. Streams remain available for 6 months.
Müpa Home: Free opera broadcasts, usually in concert format, several times a year, in the mix with classical, folk, and pop programming. Captions are usually Hungarian-only.
Bayerische Staatsoper TV: A rotating archive of performances from this top-tier house, with about one new live opera stream each season.
Atlanta Opera Film Studio: A small archive, free with registration for live events, from the award-winning regional company. For archive access, you can subscribe.
Operaonvideo.com used to be a priceless resource, but now video links are available to donors only. However, the site can still be used to find out which productions may have clips or full recordings available.
And never discount the devoted curatorial efforts of opera queens.
Opera at the Cinema
The Met's Live in HD broadcasts reach cinemas globally, usually with encore performances after the live event. During intermissions, you can see interviews with the performers and behind-the-scenes features. In the US, tickets are around $25. To locate a participating movie theater, use the Met's Theater Finder tool.
The Royal Ballet & Opera also broadcasts to cinemas around the world (though, notably, not in the US and Canada). Their program includes ballet broadcasts. Tickets in the UK are around £22 but vary by theatre.
The Opéra de Paris's cinema showings are available in a much more limited area - only France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. Like the RBO, they also offer ballet. Tickets at Pathé cinemas are around €19, but will vary elsewhere.
All the above houses also offer a streaming service - speaking of:
Rentals & Subscription Services
Medici: A streamer with extensive opera, classical, ballet, and jazz performances. A solid bet if you're looking for the great 20th century divas like Callas, but there's a wide range of dates and styles. It's subscription-based, but many local, academic, and national libraries across the world subscribe, so it's worth checking to see if you already have free access. Some summer festival streams are free to all.
The Met Opera On Demand: A remarkably comprehensive archive of the Met's work, including all Live in HD broadcasts (posted after a delay). Some audio recordings go back to the 1950s. You can subscribe monthly, or rent operas individually at around $5 USD.
Stage+: The streaming service of classical music label Deutsche Grammophon, so it's not exclusively opera. Great for Wagner fans as there are multiple Ring Cycles available, including the Chéreau. Some Met broadcasts, too. Expect a focus on singers signed to DG.
Paris Opéra Play: Several operas stream live each season, plus there's a growing archive of past recordings. Ballet, too. Captions are in French and English. Subscriptions are around €10/month (half-off if you're 28 or younger) and rentals are €15.
Glyndebourne Encore: A very fine collection of recordings from the English summer festival. Unmatched for English-language rep. Slow to update, but the good stuff is very good indeed. Subscriptions and rentals available.
MyOpera by Teatro Real: streams and archives from Madrid's Teatro Real, plus other performances licensed from other houses. For new recordings, it can take a while for the date of the performance to be confirmed or the video to be posted.
Mezzo: A broadcast TV channel, but there is a streaming component for subscribers. Available mostly in Europe, East Asia, and a good number of African countries. Content often overlaps with Medici and focuses on European houses.
Marquee: Arts streamer that also carries theatre, ballet and jazz programming. Not a massive selection - mostly very popular titles, but a couple of deep cuts for good measure. (Great destination for Shakespeare fans, though)
A number of opera houses also have their own streaming services; some with archives, some without. They include La Scala in Milan, Gran Teatre Liceu in Barcelona (the only service with Catalan captions), the Royal Opera in London, Malmö Opera, and San Francisco Opera.
Radio/Audio
Queer opera zine Parterre maintains a useful list of upcoming audio broadcasts on its front page, with the opportunity to chat with other users.
The Metropolitan Opera frequently streams live audio from weekday performances on their website. They also have a Saturday matinee radio program, which goes out to a long list of partner stations all over the world. Perhaps the most globally-accessible way to experience opera. (Additionally, there is their extensive archive of live audio recordings on the Met Opera on Demand service, noted above).
Stage+, as noted above, is part of Deutsche Grammophon, and as such has a large catalogue of albums from DG's long recording history.
Public radio organizations in the US typically have a designated opera slot on their classical stations, often matching/alternating with the Met matinee slot - try WQXR in NYC. Among European radio broadcasters there are many high quality stations, including France Musique, Berlin's Radio 3, Munich's BR Klassik and BBC Radio 3.
Updated with better info and a section on cinema broadcasts!
