The Digital Concert Hall

[johnb]

If someone happens to live within easy reach of London or, to a lesser extent, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Glasgow, etc then I would agree with Cellini and Flosshilde. Being present at a live performance is a totally different experience to watching the same concert on the box.

However, people who live in vast swathes of the UK have either no professional concerts or so few as to be not worth mentioning. For these people something like the BPO innovation could be extremely valuable indeed.

As far as the financial aspect is concerned - bear in mind that most concert halls have something like a 2000 seat capacity whereas the internet relays could reach a very much larger audience. So even is the subscription brings in less per head per actual concert it is probably still a very attractive proposition.

[Mahlerei]

Well, flossie, I'm sorry you're so sniffy about all this. I only posted this link because I felt it was worth sharing. Obviously I was wrong.

BTW, during the interval do you ever dash to the bar for a drink or to the loo for a pee? Or do you sit alone in your seat, legs tightly crossed, soaking up the 'live' atmosphere?

Jeez, some people.

[Flosshilde]

Sniffy? I don't think I was being sniffy, & I take on board johnb's comments. But I do think that a live concert, experienced in a hall with others, beats the same concert seen & heard electronically in one's own home (or even in a cinema). As for the interval, yes, I sometimes go for a pee, & sometimes I have a drink; mostly I watch other people, & sometimes see friends with whom I can talk about the performance or the work (or even what I did that day). All of this is a communal experience. I don't think that it's sniffy to point that out. As you said, Mahlerei, jeez, some people.

There is another downside to instantly available performances by major orchestras - if a performance of a Beethoven symphony by the BPO is easily available on demand, will people want to got to a concert by their local provincial professional (or even amateur) orchestra? It might not have an impact on the major outfits, but it could have an impact on the smaller ones, who won't have the benefit of income derived from subscribers. Could it lead to a reduction in live music-making, and in opportunities for young performers?

[salymap]

A point that no-one has raised is that we all get too old or infirm to get to live concerts, I know that from personal experience. I don't have the spare cash or wish to try this new thing, good luck to those who do have both.

[Cellini]

Well, flossie, I'm sorry you're so sniffy about all this. I only posted this link because I felt it was worth sharing. Obviously I was wrong.

BTW, during the interval do you ever dash to the bar for a drink or to the loo for a pee? Or do you sit alone in your seat, legs tightly crossed, soaking up the 'live' atmosphere?

Jeez, some people.

To be fair to Flossie Mahlerei, maybe you have taken this a bit too personally. The link was excellent and I'm sure we are all pleased to learn about new opportunities when we can't get to the concert hall - and to quote saly ...

"A point that no-one has raised is that we all get too old or infirm to get to live concerts, I know that from personal experience. I don't have the spare cash or wish to try this new thing, good luck to those who do have both"

I think this is quite legit. But when it is possible to get there it is nice to soak up the atmosphere which is often that of high expectations and electryfying excitement (which of course often causes a need for the loo in the interval).

As mentioned elswhere a very good friend joined us in a concert only the other night and commented on how attentive and knowledgeable the audience was, and this was coming from a professional musician who has been playing live to audiences for about 40+ years. On this occasion we got there early and had a drink before the concert. All part of the wonderful expierence of concert going which I have been doing for over 55 years (since I was 6 months old).

Yes, it is great to have audio/visual opportunities which are very high quality - but the live element is very important too. And I think performers can only be judged accurately on their live concerts - and not on CD's and Videos where too much "improvement" can be added or arranged too easily.

[BillyR]

Digital HD

I haven't bothered to register here since the BBC3 Messageboard closed, but have been lurking from time to time. This topic prompted me to finally register. Thanks, Mahlerei, for posting this, which is something I've been flogging for several years on the now-deceased board as well as in various messages to BBC management, etc., thus far to no effect. I too have investigated the BPO web site and watched/listened to some of their samples, as well as the Metropolitan Opera, who have a similar system. Although I've been tempted to subscribe to one or the other I haven't done so yet, but it's very possible that I will eventually give it a try. I've had season tickets to my local Philharmonic Orchestra for more than 20 years and plan to continue attending for as long as possible, but as has been pointed out in this thread, time is marching on, and there will come a time when I am unable and/or unwilling to deal with the traffic and inconvenience of parking, etc., and that is when I expect to take advantages of the opportunities described here.

If BBC3 were to offer a similar audio/video HD service that would be available to foreigners like me, even just for the Proms, here is one listener who would jump at the chance, and I strongly suspect that the response from around the world would bring a huge amount of much-needed cash into their coffers. I hope that someday before it's too late for me that they will do so, but for my part I have no interest in listening to a 48 kbps feed when there are so many more 128, 256 and 320 kbps options available. I cannot but believe that they are missing a great opportunity by failing to do so.

[Uncle Monty]

I'm very strongly tempted to shell out to watch tomorrow evening's Mahler 3 from Berlin, but -- just a small problem -- I won't be here!

(Goes into spiv mode, whispering behind hand)

Anyone found a way to download the concerts on the BPO DCH site?! Using the free stream of Rattle rehearsing a splendid youth orchestra, I've hit it with every bit of technology I possess, but it won't have it

Wireshark and Hidownloader don't seem to touch it. It looks to me as if it's not a stream in the normal sense, but what sort of protocols are operating here, I don't know.

I hate to be beaten by these things :cool2:

[Petrushka]

I'm very strongly tempted to shell out to watch tomorrow evening's Mahler 3 from Berlin, but -- just a small problem -- I won't be here!

(Goes into spiv mode, whispering behind hand)

Anyone found a way to download the concerts on the BPO DCH site?! Using the free stream of Rattle rehearsing a splendid youth orchestra, I've hit it with every bit of technology I possess, but it won't have it

Wireshark and Hidownloader don't seem to touch it. It looks to me as if it's not a stream in the normal sense, but what sort of protocols are operating here, I don't know.

I hate to be beaten by these things :cool2:

I have shelled out for this already and will, moreover, be in the RFH when Rattle and the BPO bring this programme to London later this month.

As for recording it I will resort to the headphone jack-to-phono cable-into-my-DVD-hard-drive solution and capture the audio only. I think the best thing you can do, Uncle Monty, short of cancelling all your engagements tomorrow night is to carch it on the archive in a few days time.

[Uncle Monty]

As for recording it I will resort to the headphone jack-to-phono cable-into-my-DVD-hard-drive solution and capture the audio only. I think the best thing you can do, Uncle Monty, short of cancelling all your engagements tomorrow night is to carch it on the archive in a few days time.

Harrumph I'm afraid you're probably right! I just have a "Hut 6 at Bletchley Park" mentality -- I absolutely WILL crack that code

I'm sure my conductor tonight would love it if I emailed him to say, "Sorry, can't do the concert, I've got to watch the computer"

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

i think it is a brilliant idea, partly for salymap's reasons but also because the jazz audience is small and dispersed, and it could provide a wonderful access to the new young jazz ensembles across the globe who will get few opportunities for live performances in the uk

the potential for this approach to enable access to music making in many different domains is stunning - schools, choirs, colleges to pick the obvious ... much better than amateur videos on youtube eh ....

[Cellini]

I tried their test video and (1) it was all out of sync and (2) I could not stomach all those sick making close ups of Rattle. So I think its out for me.

[Spatny]

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[Petrushka]

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Please be patient and refresh this page. Thank you.

Very angry and disappointed. The website seems to have crashed completely. Managed to connect again at 7:30 by which time the Mahler had begun. Had persistent drop outs and failed connections. Gave up and tried to access one of the archive concerts - same story. Another case of the technology not being equal to the task.

Won't be bothering again.

[Threni]

I'm having lots of fun on Medici now I have discovered it. Mozart requiem at moment, very nice :-)

[BillyR]

Medici

I'm having lots of fun on Medici now I have discovered it. Mozart requiem at moment, very nice :-)

Could you provide information about accessing that site? I've tried two search engines using the name "Medici" and cannot come up with anything except sites about the Medici family, restaurants by that name, etc.