Ok. It happened. My one week free trial of the Metropolitan Opera's MetPlayer expired and I got sucked into buying a month's subscription. Currently, I am in the process of making my way through the Ring Cycle (on Die Walkure from 1989 with none other than James Levine at the podium and Jessye Norman as an incredible Sieglinde plus plenty of other ringers). The newer productions are in HD with intermission interviews, shots of stage changes and even more from productions as recent as last April! Of course the Met isn't the only classical organization developing an online comsumer group. Similarly, the Berlin Philharmonic has a Digital Concert Hall where viewers can access concert archives, documentaries, view live streaming concerts and watch discussions with soloists, conductors etc. Both of these organizations give their online audience a better view and more acoustic balance / clarity than one can get from almost any seat in the house of a live performance.
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