PRESS RELEASE

Last week-end, Opera was alive and online throughout Europe, and beyond!

The now traditional European Opera Days took place between 8 and 10 May with 101 opera companies in 23 countries celebrating opera in all its diversity. This year’s theme – opera alive and online – translated into the most creative events alongside the well-loved guided tours and open houses. The launch of The Opera Platform (), offering free access to full opera performances, extracts and behind the scenes peaks, reinforced the message, and it is a pleasure to say that opera was very present and easily accessible for all.

This year’s European Opera Days activities ranged from the free streaming of GöteborgsOperanHänsel und Gretel to Opera de Oviedo’s opera emoticon competition; from Opéra royal de Wallonie’sDiscover your voice workshop to Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre’s guided tours from the pit to the ballet rehearsal room; from Teatro Regio di Parma’s Verdi! Puppet show at PalazzettoEucherioSanvitale to BadischesStaatstheater Karlsruhe’s Opernball. In France, over 100.000 people were invited into 29 opera theatres. / La bohème emoticon

The Opera Platform, a website offering free opera, live and on-demand, saw its first live stream meet a great success: on top of the 6.000 people who saw Verdi’sLa traviata during big screen relays throughout Madrid, 28.000 watched the live broadcast from Teatro Real de Madrid hosted by Within the first five days, over 108.000 unique visitors had found their way to The Opera Platform, and 55.000 had viewed Verdi’s masterpiece.

Teatro Real’s performance of La traviata will be available for 6 months with subtitles in six languages – English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Polish. Many other videos are already available, from over 25 European opera companies.

On Saturday 15 May,Szymanowski’sKról Roger (King Roger) will be streamed live from Royal Opera House Covent Garden. Later in the month, Finnish National Opera’s Kullervo by Jean Sibelius and Latvian National Opera’s Valentina by contemporary composer ArtūrsMaskats will be added, before Wiener Staatsoper’s live transmission of Wagner’s Götterdämerung on 7 June and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence live transmission of Mozart’s Die EntführungausdemSerail on 8 July.

For more information, please contact:
Audrey Jungers
Manager
Opera Europa

+32 2 217 6705