This Week in Classical Music w/Randy Kinkel 5/07/19

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Opera expands into Web, Theaters; 

Music leads to best performance at work

 

It’s “This Week in Classical Music”—an update on what’s happening in the classical music world—I’m Randy Kinkel.

 

Since the Metropolitan Opera started bringing live opera to movie theaters in 2006, companies from the Bolshoi to the Berlin have seen digital distribution as crucial to promoting themselves internationally.

Only a handful of players have the standing and resources to create for cinema, and many organizations in Europe turn to free web streaming, but never before have opera houses had such freedom to produce their own content.

The Met broadcasts to cinemas in 70 countries. The Royal Opera House in London relays to cinemas in 51 countries, while the Paris Opera is present in movie theaters in 18 countries.

The State opera of Berlin recently transmitted a production of Verdi’s “Macbeth” to French cinemas and plans a live broadcast of one production next season

 “Streaming is really about access and visibility,” said Peter Maniura, project director for the classical archive and orchestras digital strategy at BBC Music. “The vast majority oforganizations” have not tried to monetize their product, he said, “for the simple reason that there are very few with sufficient scale and impact to actually be able to make money.”

He distinguished between a “tradition which the Met started for high-quality cinema experience” and the “public service space” — which was traditionally in television and has now in part migrated to the internet — where viewers expect to have free content. “The major players have been in a position for a number of years,” said Mr. Maniura, citing as examples the Met, the Royal Opera or La Scala in Milan. “It’s hard for a midscale house to match that.”

La Scala in October produced Mozart’s “La Finta Giardiniera” in 8K (the current highest ultra high definition resolution) together with Japanese broadcaster NHK.  The house’s longstanding partnership with Italy’s RAI television and radio has branched out into three annual productions for cinema and limited-time streaming.

With the Met’s “Live in HD” series, the general manager, Peter Gelb, built upon the audience for Saturday matinee radio broadcasts that began in the 1930s and continue to draw an international following. One cinema transmission attracts an average total audience of 240,000 to 250,000 people, while ticket sales average 2.5 million annually, Mr. Gelb said.

 

 

We have been saying this for years, but it’s nice to have more research to back it up--- new survey from Sonos electronics company shows that listening to music at work can make you more productive.

For their “Brilliant Sound Survey, Sonos and its team of researchers had 12,000 listeners in 12 countries around the world answer some online questions about music.

Among the participants, 74% said listening to music helps reduce stress, while 39% said that while they were listening to their favorite tune they felt no stress at all.

In the survey, 52% of respondents said they’re happier when listening to a favorite song while 58% said that music helps boost their mood at work.

That’s an important detail when you consider that, in a separate study, almost half of all americans  admitted to crying in the workplace.  73% of respondents said listening to music helps them get more done than drinking coffee.

a whopping 76% of survey respondents said that listening to music helps them produce their best work. “Generally, music can have a strong stimulating effect that makes us alert and focused,” says Daniel Mullensiefen, a professor of music psychology at Goldsmiths College, University of London.

So when you listen to kbach at work online at kbaq.org, you’re really helping yourself be more productive.  Mention that on your next performance review! Be listening this week for love at first listen—each hour we’ll be playing your favorites and sharing your stories on 89.5 fm & kbach.org.

For more on these and other items and events, go to the website, kbach dot org; be listening every week at this time for another update;  find us on FB and follow us on twitter and Instagram,  add our mobile app to your phone or device; and remember to check out the Most Wanted Hour with Linda Cassidy, playing your top 100 classical picks.  I’m Randy Kinkel, for “This Week in Classical Music”.