The Week UK - 04.04.2020

ARTS 31

Music

I

t’sa“prettygloomy

time”tobeamusiclover,

saidTheDailyTelegraph.

Theatresandconcertvenues

haveshuttered,andlive

eventsfromGlastonbury

toGlyndebournehavebeen

cancelledorpostponed

indefinitely.Butthegood

newsisthatrockand

classicalmusiciansalike

havecomeupwithnew

waystoreachlisteners

online,andmanyvenues

areusingnewtechnology

tomakeworld-class

performancesavailable

toanyonewithaninternet

connection.Majorclassical

concertsarebeingheld

withoutaudiencesandstreamedlive,while

popactsarebroadcastingonlinegigson

socialmediachannels:EltonJohnhosteda

star-studdedfundraisingconcertfromhis

homeinLA.It’s anencouragingsignthat

“slowingasthearts world maybe,it has

notyetground toacompletehalt”.

C

lassicalandopera fansareinfor a

treat, saidClassicFM.com.TheRoyal

Opera House, forinstance,hasfieldeda

star-studded“programmeofonline

showsandmasterclasses”, whichare

now available towatchatnocostonits

Facebookor YouTubechannels. Viewers

canwatch “some oftheindustry’s most

talented ballet dancers andopera singers”

perf orming in weeklyspectacles, including

Mozart’sCosìfan tutte(on10Aprilat

7pm)and The RoyalBallet’sThe

Metamorphosis(17April at7pm) .There

are also videos that giveaglimpse of life

behindthe scenes atthe OperaHouse .All

performanceswill be av ailable towatch on

demand once they’ve been live-streamed.

T

he London SymphonyOrchestrais

also pulling out thestopstokeepits

show on theroad, saidImogen Tildenin

The Guardian.Itisbroadcasting twice

weekly“full-lengthconcerts”, whichare

avai labletowatch for freeuntil midnight

on the day ofperformance;the programme

includesSchumannand Mendelssohn, and

François-Xavier RothconductingDebussy,

BrucknerandBartók.WigmoreHall has

a“hugearray”of free-to-watcharchive

performances,includingrecentconcertsto

commemorate Beethoven’s250thbirthday.

OperaNorth,meanwhile,hasmade its

“acclaimed” productionofWagner’sRing

Cycleavailable tostream onitswebsite.

N

owisalso agood timeto investigate

greatorchestrasand performances

fromfurther afield,said ImogenTilden.

The streamingplatform OperaVision.eu

hosts a“wonderful” archive of Europe-

wide productions,fromwhichit curates

regularthemedselections–thismonthit

hasa“miniMozartfestival”.Elsewhere,

theBerliner Philharmoniker is“offering

accesstoallconcertsandfilms”,bothlive

andarchived,saidTheNewYork Times.

Andnot tobeoutdone,NewYork’s

Metropolitan Operahasfree“nightly

streams”of past productions;sofar, the

programmehastakenin performancesof

everythingfromRossini’sTheBarber of

SevilletoJohnAdams’sNixoninChina.

P

op music’sresponsetothe crisishas

beenabitmoreidiosyncratic, said

GwendolynSmithint he Inewspaper. As

if we hadn’t sufferedenough,celebrities

from Coldplay’s ChrisMartin toWonder

Womanactr ess GalGadot havebeen

“crooning coronavirus-themedditties

andposting them to social media”.Much

of this is just as “toe-curling”asyou’d

expect: checkout U2singer Bono’s syrupy

tribute to quarantined Italians singing to

eachother frombalconies. But there is

ple nty to savourout there, said Stuart

Jeffriesin TheGuardian.Musicians of

all stripes arelive -streaming themselves

performing whileinisolation.Ifnothing

else, thisoffers us thechance to poke

around theirhomes as neverbefore:

witness grizzledrocker NeilYoung

launchingintohis back catalogue “flanked

by sleepingdogs andfilmedbyhis wife,

DarylHannah”;or the“superb”UK

soul newcomer Celesteperforming her

“quietly devastatingsongs”

from“whatlookslike her

bedroom”. Conversely,

musician JamesBlunt

tweeted:“During

lockdown,whilemany

otherartistsaredoingmini-

concertsfromtheirhomes,

IthoughtI’ddo youalla

favourandnot.”

T

hereareopportunities

foramateursingers too,

saidTheDailyTelegraph.

Forinstance,The Sofa

Singers, hastily established

bychoirleaderJamesSills,

is an“onlinechoir” which

invitesup to 500 people

fromallover theworld to

singtogetheron videoconferencecalls.On

theirfirstevening,theysangBenE.King’s

StandbyMe,andBrunoMars’sJust the

WayYouAre.Some localmusic venues

aregettinginon theact,too, saidDaisy

JacksonintheManchesterEveningNews.

The much-loved ManchesterbarJimmy’s,

forexample, ishostingaseriesof liv e-

streamed“isolation gigs”featuring new

andupcomingacts;anymusiciansare

invitedtobookaslotviaemail.

I

nternetradiohasmuchto offer,said

Fiona MaddocksinThe Observer.For

instance, youcould tuneintoRadiohead’s

Jonny Greenwood’s appearance on Radio

3’sLate Junction,where he sharedhis taste

for everythingfromArabi cclassical music

to 1980s dub. Andon Netflix, you’llfinda

“beautifullyshot,Emmy-winning film”of

BruceSpringsteen’s famousBroa dway gigs

in 2018,saidThe Sunday Times.But

YouTubeis the best betfor classicgigs:

checkout the artistPrince’s 2007 Super

Bowl half-time show, whichcaptured him

“at his astoundingbest”; a1976Grateful

Dead setshot in “black-and-whiteduring

asearingJuneheatwave”;andJames

Browngivinga“pass ionate” performance

in Boston the nightafte rMartin Luther

King was killed,aconcertinitially

broadcastto“help quellpotential riots in

the city”.From the highbrow tothevery

lowbrow, the variety is endless.

From opera to rock... the show is still going on

4April 2020 THE WEEK

EltonJohnathishomeinLA,wherehehostedabenefitconcertthisweek

The Royal Opera House: weekly spectacles

©R

OH 2016. PHOTOGRAPH BY SIM CANETTY-CLARKE