Concerts

This page is a compendium of mostly free stuff so that I don’t have to keep sending emails to people event-by-event, and so that you, dear readers, don’t have to find those emails when you want them.

Last updated May 14, 2021 at 9:45 pm

Ongoing

  • A concert for Maundy Thursday from the St. John’s Co-Cathedral of Malta in Valetta with tenor Joseph Calleja, soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, mezzo Marvic Monreal, bass-baritone Christian Van Horn, and the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra. Music by Verdi and many others.
  • Opera Atelier : Handel’s The Resurrection ($20)
  • London Philharmonic: East Meets West (To May 18)
    • Arvo Pärt: Fratres
    • Mozart: Symphony No. 35
    • Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto (Gil Shaham)
  • London Symphony Orchestra: The Individual Heart: Percy Grainger (To May 19)
  • University of Washington Meany Center :
  • Carnegie Hall:

This Week

Notes:

  • The links in the daily listings for the Metropolitan Opera will take you to their main page. Scroll down to find the link to the then-current free opera screening.
  • Some URLs change after the live stream has been broadcast. For example, Wigmore Hall’s concerts move into their library of past streams with a different URL. If you find a link from a recent concert does not take you to it, the likely problem is that I have not updated the URL yet.

Friday May 14

  • Metropolitan Opera :
    • The Audition
      • This feature-length documentary takes you behind the scenes of the Met’s National Council Auditions, in which, each year, thousands of hopefuls compete for a cash prize, the chance to sing on the Met stage—and the opportunity to launch a major operatic career. Directed by Susan Froemke.
  • Wiener Staatsoper :
    • Eugene Onegin
  • University of Washington Meany Center

Saturday May 15

  • Metropolitan Opera :
    • Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia
      • Starring Isabel Leonard, Lawrence Brownlee, Christopher Maltman, Maurizo Muraro, and Paata Burchuladze, conducted by Michele Mariotti. Production by Bartlett Sher. From November 22, 2014.
  • Wiener Staatsoper :
    • La Traviata

Sunday May 16

  • Metropolitan Opera :
    • Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux
      • Starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Elīna Garanča, Matthew Polenzani, and Mariusz Kwiecień, conducted by Maurizio Benini. Production by Sir David McVicar. From April 16, 2016.

Canadian Artists/Companies/Venues

Against the Grain Theatre

  • No new performances announced.

Amici Chamber Ensemble

Angela Hewitt

  • Angela Hewitt’s performance of the Bach Goldberg Variations in the Thomaskirche is now available on Medici (paid site).
  • Le Tombeau de Couperin by Ravel on YouTube

Arts & Letters Club of Toronto

Art of Time

There are many excerpts from past concerts on YouTube.

Koerner Hall / Royal Conservatory of Music

There are many paid events some of which have been confirmed as live streams, some postponed with a new date, and some postponed sine die. Please refer to the Royal Conservatory’s calendar page for details.

There are many concerts/recitals in their library including:

  • ARC Ensemble: Ottoman Treasures
  • Rebanks Family Fellowship Concert
  • David Louie, harpsichord, plays Couperin & Bach
  • ARC Ensemble, Beethoven program
  • Rebanks Fellows at Mazzoleni Hall
  • Glenn Gould School Fall Opera: Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins and William Bolcom’s Lucrezia
  • Royal Conservatory Orchestra playing Mozart (Haffner Symphony) and Beethoven (Emperor piano concerto).
  • Stewart Goodyear Recital, December 4, 2016 Bach / Beethoven / Goodyear / Chopin / Tchaikowsky
  • Barbara Hannigan and Reinbert de Leeuw, November 10, 2017 Arnold Schönberg, Alban Berg, Anton Webern, Alexander Zemlinsky, Alma Mahler and Hugo Wolf

Music Toronto

  • Thurs. May 27, 7:00 pm: Carducci Quartet with Julian Bliss, clarinet (Avl to 9:30 pm May 29)
    • Mozart: Clarinet Quintet, K. 581
    • David Bruce: “Gumboots”
  • Thurs. June 17, 7:00 pm: Rituæls with collectif9 (Avl to 9:30 pm June 19)
    • Music by Hildegard von Bingen, Arvo Part, Nicole Lizée, Bryce Dessner, Michael Tippett, Jocelyn Morlock
  • Wed. June 30, 7:00 pm: St. Lawrence Quartet (Avl to midnight July 3)
    • A new Haydn Discovery, lecture/demonstration – prepared especially for us – followed by a complete performance of Haydn Op. 20, No. 5 

Music Toronto has announced a winter season, but how these concerts will be presented is still uncertain.

National Film Board

The National Film Board has a lot of free online content including their animation page. Of course this includes the ever popular Blackberry Subway Jam.

A series of shorts on recipients of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award:

Opera Atelier

Opera Atelier is offering tickets to their live streamed productions at $25 through the Koerner Hall box office.

Russell Braun & Carolyn Maule

Soulpepper Theatre

Around the World in 80 Plays will present eight plays from around the world in audio drama format in collaboration with the CBC Ideas program (paid events, April 21 to June 9).

Stratford Festival

Free Thursday evening viewing: These are streamed “live” as a watch party with a 7:00 pm curtain, and they are available for 36 hours linked from their main page.

The festival has a $10/month subscription ($11.30 with tax) available for access to much content both from their library and new productions on demand. To access this you have to create a Stratford online account.

The Stratford Festival has announced its 2021 Season. Read the press release with details here.

Tafelmusik

Free concert: Mozart Together

These are ticketed concerts for which links will be sent by the Tafelmusik Box Office to subscribers as previously arranged. Some dates have changed from those in the original season announcement.

  • Reflections of Mary: Cancelled.
  • Bach Brandenburg Concerti: June 10 at 8 pm
  • Spotlight 15: June 24 at 8 pm

Tapestry Opera

Toronto Consort / Early Music TV

The Toronto Consort presents its season and other content through a new site dedicated to Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque music. Subscriptions and single concert purchases available.

Available now:

  • All in a Garden Green: A musical stroll through the verdant gardens of Elizabethan England
  • A Medieval Christmas: A serene and contemplative exploration of enchanting medieval chants, polyphony and carols.
  • Of Tricksters and Trolls: The musical story-telling of the medieval fables of Valhalla, with Peter Tiefenbach.

Release date TBA:

Duly (Un)Noted: Unforgettable originals by forgotten composers and the masterpieces they inspired

Toronto Symphony Orchestra

  • The TSO will announce its 2021/22 season in June.

Trio Arkel

  • Sunday, May 30 at 3:00 pm (Available to June 13) (Suggested contribution of $20)
    • Grieg – String Quartet Op.27
    • Röntgen – String Trio in F# minor
    • Walker – “Slow Dance”

University of Toronto Faculty of Music

USA Artists/Companies/Venues

Academy of Vocal Arts (Philadelphia)

  • No concerts announced.

Carnegie Hall

Voices of Hope Festival (Videos available to May 31, 2021)

Note that some links below may not work, but the events should still be reachable via the main Voices of Hope page linked above.

Handel & Haydn Society, Boston & WGBH

Metropolitan Opera

The Met has free screenings daily. A list of planned broadcasts is available here.

University of Washington Meany Center

Across the Pond

Daniel Hope

No current concerts have been announced. ARTE plans a “best of” series in May 2021.

Please see this separate page for previous Hope@Home concerts.

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

The GSO has a page with both their upcoming concerts and links to many previously archived ones.

Holland Baroque

  • Violinist Aislinn Nosky and Holland Baroque play a program of music by Telemann in the Polish style.
  • Bach: Art of Fugue arranged for string quartet and harpsichord

Israel Philharmonic

Israel Philharmonic Archive page

  • Brahms: Trio for Cello, Piano and Clarinet
  • Mozart: Dissonance Quartet No. 19 in C major
  • Beethoven: String Trio in E-Flat Major, Op. 3.

Komische Oper Berlin

  • No performances announced.

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Future concerts:

  • May 12: East Meets West
    • Arvo Pärt: Fratres
    • Mozart: Symphony No. 35
    • Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto (Gil Shaham)
  • May 19: Hough Plays Brahms
    • Brahms: Tragic Overture / Piano Concerto No. 1

Past performances (Available on Marquee.TV):

  • Spring Storms and Summer Nights
    • Berlioz: Les nuits d’été
    • Schumann: Symphony No. 4
  • La Vie Parisienne
    • Ravel: Mother Goose Suite
    • Ravel: Piano Concerto in G
    • Offenbach:Gaîté Parisienne: Ballet Suite
  • The Emperor Concerto:
    • Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 with Denis Kozhukhin (piano)
    • Sibelius Symphony No. 7
  • The New World:
    • Haydn: Symphony No.49, ‘La Passione’; Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 (From the New World)
  • Towards Freedom:
    • Missy Mazzoli: These Worlds In Us
    • Sibelius: Finlandia
    • Sibelius: Symphony No. 1
  • London Calling:
    • Haydn: Symphony No. 30 (Alleluia)
    • Coleridge-Taylor: Ballade for Orchestra
    • Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 1
  • Bohemian Rhapsodies:
    • Janáček Jealousy
    • Dvořák The Wild Dove
    • Dvořák Cello Concerto with Stephen Isserlis (cello)

London Symphony Orchestra

Future concerts:

Past performances:

National Theatre

The National Theatre in London, UK, has announced an NT at Home program allowing subscription access to their library of plays with a choice of monthly or a discounted annual payment.

Productions currently online:

  • Amadeus
  • Three Sisters
  • Phèdre (2009 version by Ted Hughes adapted from Racine starring Helen Mirren)
  • Medea
  • Coriolanus
  • The Cherry Orchard
  • Dara
  • Yerma
  • Othello
  • Mosquitoes
  • Julie
  • Angels in America with Andrew Garfield, Nathan Lane, Denise Gough and Russell Tovey
  • Antigone
  • The Deep Blue Sea with Helen McCrory
  • The Comedy of Errors with Lenny Henry and Lucian Msamati
  • Julius Caesar with Ben Whishaw, Michelle Fairley, David Calder and David Morrissey

Old Vic Theatre

The Old Vic has a series called In Camera: Playback in which they rebroadcast past live streams.

  • No new streams are announced.

Wiener Staatsoper

To view screenings from the Staatsoper, you must create an account, but then they are free. Normally they are available only for a day or so. Current listings are on their calendar page.

Wigmore Hall

Wigmore Hall has a summer series.

Past Concerts:

You will need to create an account to watch stuff from Wigmore Hall, but it’s free!

There is also an archive of recent live streams. The expiry dates apply to Wigmore Hall’s own site (where these links point), but many YouTube videos stay around a longer.

See also their archive including: