Hamlet isn’t brooding on the battlements in Denmark. He’s in the Hague; starring in a new production from Oper2Day, the Dutch “new energy from old sources” opera company. Its premiere was broadcast live on OperaVision – www.operavision.eu – a cultural gold mine partly funded by the EU Commission (grant about to expire in 2020). It is now available on demand.
That’s my commercial. Here’s the threat. If funding for OperaVision is not continued beyond 2020, in some shape or form, I shall see to it personally that the ghost of post Brexit Britain returns to stalk the corridors of Brussels, demanding righteous retribution; “Alas, poor OperaVision, I watched it well”.
Tout court, OperaVision is an amazing cultural resource, allowing unlimited access to a raft of productions across Europe’s opera houses, and a full library of concerts and music documentaries. In the battle to make opera relevant to the many not the few (sorry for the tired trope) OperaVision is a gladiator par excellence. It combines the well-loved mainstream with the cutting edge, broadens taste, educates and draws opera watchers well beyond their comfort zone.
