While the Internet may not have helped global music sales, it’s certainly been a boon for fans wanting to listen to otherwise-inaccessible music, especially classical music. We often post classical musical finds on Open Culture. Take for example this compendium of freely downloadable music from over 150 classical composers, this open version of Bach’s Goldberg variations and all of Bach’s organ works, and then this collection of 85,000 free classical scores. Today, we bring you another fantastic resource: the World Concert Hall.
Just over a century after the first radio performance of Ruggero Leoncavallo’s “Il Pagliacci,” and Pietro Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” were broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera House in 1910, the World Concert Hall has made it its mission to bring free live classical concerts to the world. The website contains a collection of links to free radio performances each week, allowing listeners to tune into live concerts performed across the globe. You can browse performances according to the site’s schedule, or choose from a selection of classical radio stations in a large number of countries. As you might expect, the U.S has the largest selection by far, with 80 stations. But for more curious music lovers, World Concert Hall also offers a taste of what other fans are listening to in other countries, like China, Japan, and Israel.
Interested in checking out Mendelssohn’s concerto for violin, piano, and strings at Brussels’ Klara Festival (today, 7pm, GMT) or Irina Iordachescu and the Romanian Radio National Orchestra performing Tchaikovsky’s last works (Friday, 5pm, GMT)? Listen to your heart’s content at World Concert Hall.
Ilia Blinderman is a Montreal-based culture and science writer. Follow him at @iliablinderman, or read more of his writing at the Huffington Post.
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