Stingray Brava (formerly Brava) was a cultural television channel originated in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, owned by the

Stingray Group Stingray Group Inc. (formerly Stingray Digital and Stingray Digital Group) is a publicly traded Canadian media and entertainment company based in Montreal, Quebec, with offices in the United States, Belgium, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. The programming consisted of

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

, and

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typ ...

s. Productions were recorded in

opera house An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically fo ...

s such as the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal ...

, the

Teatro Real The Teatro Real (Royal Theatre) is an opera house in Madrid, Spain. Located at the Plaza de Oriente, opposite the Royal Palace, and known colloquially as ''El Real'', it is considered the top institution of the performing and musical arts in the ...

, and

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

. The productions consisted of stage performances such as ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions ''quadri'', ''tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe G ...

'', ''

Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 5 February 1887. Th ...

'', ''

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 December ...

'', ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

'', ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

'', ''

Zoroastre ''Zoroastre'' (''Zoroaster'') is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, first performed on 5 December 1749 by the Opéra in the first Salle du Palais-Royal in Paris. The libretto is by Louis de Cahusac. ''Zoroastre'' was the fourth of Rameau's '' trag ...

'' and ''

Così fan tutte (''All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers''), K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte w ...

''.

History

Brava was founded by Jur Bron and

Gerard Ardesch Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this ca ...

. The pan-European Brava HDTV (now Stingray Brava Europe) was launched in 2006, and Brava NL (now Stingray Brava Dutch), which is broadcast in Dutch and focuses on Dutch contents, began on 1 July 2009. Brava was co-owned by Strengholt BV between 23 December 2011 and 31 July 2015. On 25 November 2010, Brava launched Brava 3D, which showcased

stereoscopic Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the depth perception, illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stere ...

3D television 3D television (3DTV) is television that conveys depth perception to the viewer by employing techniques such as stereoscopic display, multi-view display, 2D-plus-depth, or any other form of 3D display. Most modern 3D television sets use an ...

content across Europe as a

Free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...

channel on the

Astra 3B Astra 3B is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES, launched in 2010 to the Astra 23.5°E orbital position providing digital television and radio for direct-to-home (DTH), and the AstraConnect two-way satellite ...

satellite. The channel, however, was closed down on 1 August 2012. The Canadian company

took over Brava on 31 July 2015. Followed by

Cultuur 7 Cultuur 7 (formerly EXQI Culture) was a Belgian Dutch language speciality television channel broadcast in Flanders and Brussels. The channel broadcast filmed classical music performances, operas, and other cultural programmes in four-hour blocks, ...

in Flanders in October 2015, which merged with Brava on 1 December 2015. Both versions of Brava (all of which simplified names to Brava in 2014) were renamed as Stingray Brava at the end of 2016. The Stingray Brava brand was abolished on 1 March 2019, in favour of Stingray Classica. Stingray acquired Classica brand and channels from Unitel in Germany in 2017.

Versions

;Stingray Brava Europe: Launched as Brava HDTV in 2007, it rebranded as Brava HD in 2013, before simplifying its name as Brava in 2014. This version was available in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and French across Europe. This version was closed down on 1 March 2019, and it was effectively replaced by an existing pan-European version of Stingray Classica. ;Stingray Brava Dutch: Launched on 1 July 2009 as Brava NL, the Dutch version was renamed as Brava NL Klassiek in May 2013. It simplified its name as Brava in 2014. On 1 December 2015, the Dutch version of Brava replaced

in Belgium (which Stingray acquired earlier in October 2015) in its former channel slot; Cultuur 7's programmes were integrated into the new Brava's schedule. This version was rebranded as Stingray Classica on 1 March 2019.

References

External links

* * Classical music television channels Defunct television channels in the Netherlands Defunct television channels in Belgium Television channels and stations established in 2009 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2019 B Music television channels Music organisations based in the Netherlands {{Netherlands-tv-stub

History

Versions

See also

References

External links