Whole operas online?

March 25, 2011 2:59 AM

Anyone know where I can listen to whole operas online?

You can listen to bits and pieces on Last.fm and the like, and you can hear a whole opera on BBC Radio 3 streaming live when that happens (and for a short time afterwards on iPlayer), but I'm wondering if there's a repository of streaming operas out there somewhere? It'd be great if there was just a huge list of them with some ability to filter by composer.

Right now I'd just like to listen to some, but as a bonus question, does anyone know if there's a similar thing for videos of performances?

posted by iivix to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

I guess a dedicated opera netradio station might do as second best, but I'd really like to be able to listen to specific things on demand.
posted by iivix at 3:00 AM on March 25, 2011

What about Spotify? You can at least select an album (which may or may not be a live version)
posted by itsjustanalias at 4:39 AM on March 25, 2011

Metopera.org. Most require a subscription, but they do sometimes offer historical performances for free.
posted by matildaben at 5:35 AM on March 25, 2011

I subscribe to the Met Player, through the Metropolitan Opera. It's $14.99 per month, or you can rent individual operas for a 30-day for $4. You get to watch full-length, often HD, operas with subtitles. They have a pretty gigantic catalog. They have a free 7-day trial.
posted by thebazilist at 7:07 AM on March 25, 2011

Thanks guys :) The Met stuff looks awesome, exactly what I had in mind.
posted by iivix at 3:57 AM on March 26, 2011