Streaming site Idagio has launched a new ticketed online concert hall. Called 'The Global Concert Hall', it will provide a platform for artists and ensembles to offer exclusive digital concerts on a pay-per-view basis, with 80 per cent of the net proceeds from ticket sales going to the artists.

Concerts, priced at €9.90, will be available for 24 hours after the initial broadcast, while artists will be able to communicate with their virtual audience after the performance in the Virtual Green Room.

‘The pandemic has led to an unprecedented increase in the popularity of classical music streaming, but almost all of the digital concerts are offered for free,’ said Idagio Founder Till Janczukowicz. ‘In the near future artists will rely on earning an income online, and audiences want more programmatic variety – both now and whenever the current restrictions are lifted. The internet should provide more than archived broadcasts of old recordings: it’s a medium that offers new opportunities, and we want to use these for classical music.’

The opening concert took place on May 29, with Norwegian violinist Mari Samuelsen, and as a nice twist on the usual concert format, audience members were able to choose her encore. Further concerts planned in June include violinist Christian Tetzlaff, soprano Kristine Opolais, pianist Garrick Ohlsson – and this Sunday, June 7, a broadcast of Verdi's operatic music from the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Another is baritone Thomas Hampson, who also stressed the importance of artist remuneration: ‘With the coronavirus crisis, the concert and opera sector has come to a complete standstill. At the same time, the situation that has developed where streamed performances are offered for free devalues artists’ work and threatens our livelihood. The Global Concert Hall marks the beginning of a new era, since it is not only a virtual stage and a site for artistic experimentation. It also helps artists to be proactive and to take charge of the current situation.’