Ed Ayres' recommendations to immerse in the arts online and on TV

Ed Ayres shares some recommendations to immerse in the arts online and on TV

You might be finding yourself at the moment with a little time on your hands (and maybe some cake dough and chocolate on them as well if you’ve been baking), so the richness of online and TV arts content is a daily gift to fill a little of that time, and a reminder of just how resilient humans are.
In between online teaching and practising the horn for my neighbours, I’ve been reliving a cycling trip across Tasmania with Passenger on ABC Classic, and rejoicing in the sight and sound of Yehudi Menuhin playing a Mozart Violin Concerto. No-one, still, makes a sound close to Menuhin’s…
If you haven’t been to an art gallery for a while, The Art of Australia on iview is perhaps an even better way to see art, as you come to virtually feel the brush strokes and smell the oil, guided by one of the great art commentators in Australia, Edmund Capon.
And if you’re missing a bit of travel, ABC TV Plus have a series of concerts from around the world , with one devoted to Romantic travel — Sir John Eliot Gardiner takes you on a trip to Scotland with Mendelssohn and his buddy Schumann. You’ll feel the salt spray in Fingal's Cave and hear the swish of kilts in his Scottish Symphony, and be wrapped in a tight embrace with Maria João Pires and the Schumann Piano Concerto. A dram is optional, and these little moments of reprieve are a pretty good way to wait while your cake is in the oven. Make sure you put on a timer!
Ed Ayres