10 September 2025
Bloomsbury Digital Resources has announced two new additions to its Bloomsbury Video Library platform: The Opera Rara collection and the Wigmore Hall Music Performance Collections. These exclusive resources bring rare operatic recordings and world-class music performances to students, researchers, and libraries across the globe.
Opera Rara on Bloomsbury Video Library is a rich audio and video collection featuring premium, recent performances of rare and forgotten operas—an invaluable resource for opera researchers and students alike. Internationally recognized for their work in researching, reviving and rescuing opera heritage, Opera Rara brings together world-class artists to perform these works and commissions authoritative commentary to provide context and analysis. Through Bloomsbury Video Library, these unique materials will be accessible within the global education sector from early 2027.
Kathryn Earle, Managing Director of Bloomsbury’s Digital Portfolio said: “Bloomsbury is delighted to be partnering with Opera Rara to bring its outstanding catalogue to researchers, musicologists and new generations of students throughout the world. The work Opera Rara does – rediscovering and recording lost masterpieces – is not just vitally important, it’s inspirational. We believe that enabling access to this invaluable content through our educational outreach will help drive awareness of these lesser-known or unknown works, open up new musical journeys and ultimately enrich performance history for future generations.”
Opera Rara’s Chief Executive Henry Little said: “The main purpose of Opera Rara’s work is to widen access to and deepen the understanding of lost and forgotten operas and songs. This work is not simply about preserving the past, but also about restoring works that resonate with audiences today and teach us something new. We are delighted that our catalogue of recordings, documentaries, research articles and various resources will now have a new home at Bloomsbury, giving students the opportunity to learn from our findings as we continue to rewrite operatic history.”
Beginning in 2026, Bloomsbury Video Library will also launch the Wigmore Hall Music Performance Collections. These exclusive streaming collections will feature chamber, instrumental and vocal recitals from Wigmore Hall, one of the world’s leading concert venues. The first collection, covering the 2024/25 season, includes performances from Boris Giltburg, Konstantin Krimmel, Olivier Stankiewicz and more. New season collections will be added annually.
Anna Wright, Digital Portfolio Director at Bloomsbury said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Wigmore Hall to bring an exciting selection of performances from their internationally-renowned programme to a wider academic audience. Wigmore Hall’s concert seasons encompass exceptional chamber music, instrumental and vocal recitals spanning a Renaissance repertoire to cutting-edge contemporary works, delivering a unique range of inspirational performances for students and scholars to analyse and explore.”
John Gilhooly, Director of Wigmore Hall, said: “We are delighted to partner with Bloomsbury to bring exclusive Wigmore Hall performances to students and educators worldwide. This collaboration offers academic audiences front-row access to the exceptional artists and diverse repertoire that define our concert seasons, from the Renaissance to the present day.” This announcement follows the recent launch of the London Symphony Orchestra collections, with additional performance collections coming next year featuring the Royal Opera, Glyndebourne, Bolshoi Ballet and more. These partnerships reflect Bloomsbury’s longstanding commitment to enriching arts education and its ambition to make Bloomsbury Video Library the home of world-class performance for the education sector.