Four Summer Streaming Options

Summertime is festival time! Here’s how to secure the best seats in the house thanks to streaming services – anytime, anyplace.

August is peak season for music lovers, with some of the most prestigious festivals in the world serving up productions of the very highest level. But actually attending isn’t always easy – some of the more popular events sell out exceedingly quickly and demand for tickets almost always outstrips supply.

But never fear – streaming offers have improved drastically over the last few years, and nearly every major festival is now viewable online from wherever you may be. Here are but four of the many major musical events now available to stream:

Salzburg Festival: Founded by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Richard Strauss and Max Reinhardt and shaped by giants like Arturo Toscanini, Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan, this music and drama festival is one of the most anticipated in the world to this day, attracting top tier talent and high society from around the globe.

Aside from public screenings of select productions on Kapitelplatz, platforms like ServusTV, ORF, ARTE and medici.tv regularly broadcast or stream festival highlights – here’s a list of what’s on offer!

Bregenz Festival: This summer spectacular has enchanted audiences since 1946 with remarkable performances of popular operas by the Wiener Symphoniker set on stunning floating stage sets constructed right on Lake Constance. This year, they’re tackling Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, which is viewable on zdf.de (Germany only) until 25 October; the festival’s back catalogue until 1963 is available on myfidelio.at.

Bayreuth Festival: A place of pilgrimage for all Wagnerites, this festival was founded by the maestro himself to realize his operatic vision, making the quaint Bavarian town of Bayreuth a musical epicentre every summer. Among the streaming highlights this year is the new production of the Ring der Nibelungen cycle by Valentin Schwarz on Deutsche Grammophon’s DG Stage platform, which offers a state-of-the-art experience with 4k video and immersive surround sound.

BBC Proms: One of the world’s most beloved concert series, BBC proms has been delighting listeners for decades with eight weeks of high-profile musical guests, its festive venue at the Royal Albert Hall and highly accessible formats, converting legions to the wonders of classical music. Concerts are streamable via the BBC’s iPlayer; for those outside the UK, there are numerous highlights from over the years on YouTube.