By RUPERT CHRISTIANSEN [The Daily Telegraph, 29 July 2008]

On Sunday, for the first time, an opera performance was streamed on the Internet live from the Bayreuth Festival. Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg" was made accessible to the first 10,000 people prepared to part with the sum of $77. Joe Public's chance of buying a "real" ticket for this event is virtually nil — the waiting list for Bayreuth runs into many thousands — so this is a significant extension of its outreach.