I've been plugging www.onlineclassics.com nonstop here and elsewhere for
some very good reasons. All you have to do is access the site and you're
in a music lover's FREE paradise, able to see and hear opera, concerts,
ballet, special theater performances, etc. Right now, for example, there
is streaming media available in both low-speed (dialup) and high-speed
(cable, DSL) modes for "Die Tote Stadt," the recent Barbara Bonney recital,
"La Belle Helene," Simon Callow in "The Mystery of Charles Dickens," the
Berlin Philharmonic's Verdi Requiem, the Verdi Centennial Gala from Parma,
films on Callas, Ute Lemper, Rossini, Wagner, etc.
So what's the problem? I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop -
for the FREE part to go away - and it's happening. The site is being
reorganized and reprogrammed (it's been down a few times recently), and
logins are being changed. You can still go on site and register without
cost, but this classical-music version of Napster won't be around in the
same form for long.
Today, when I asked Online Classics marketing what's happening with
the site, I got this answer: "The site is currently free. However, we
intend to start charging for the 128K and 300K streams before the end of
June." Sigh. It was too good to be true for too long. If the charge is
reasonable, it may still make good sense to use the site, but at any rate,
the word from here: use it while you may.
Janos Gereben/SF, CA
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