Wednesday 25 November 2009

Villazonistas unite - Don Carlo streamed

Three more days to watch the full performance of the original (2008) Don Carlo at the Royal Opera House. Villazon, Keenlyside. Poplavskaya. Pappano conducts, Hytner's director. Follow this link to watch online, on demand til Saturday night. All 3 and 1/2 hours incl extras! Fabulous, watch it loud and full screen.

It's wonderful that such things are possible on public TV. The BBC is funded by a licence fee paid by taxpayers. This of course drives hard line extremist capitalists crazy. Rupert Murdoch thinks the BBC is "competition" and wants it crushed. Ironic, huh, that someone who believes in free market forces needs politicians to help him control the market ?

Maybe he'll succeed as there are plenty of folks who think only in terms of greed, not good. And those are the very ones who can be bought. When such folks have power, that's all the more reason for ordinary folk to stand up for the ideals behind the BBC charter "to entertain, educate and inform". The BBC, despite its hangups, serves the public good and supports whole industries in music, news and creative arts. Much better that public money should go to such a project than on guns, dodgy politicians, dubious bail outs and so on. Oops ! sorry ! NOT guns, they don't arm or support the troops in Afghanistan.

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