Seattle Opera Channel streaming online

It's all opera, all the time.

KING-FM's new Seattle Opera Channel at www.king.org will present an on-demand opera program with programming that changes every two weeks. Each edition offers music, interviews, conversations between Seattle Opera general director Speight Jenkins and opera artists, backstage insights and historical/cultural context for the operas.

The five-hour-long program — including full-length opera recordings from an array of international opera companies — can be streamed on your computer any time. The channel is aimed at an international audience, with special emphasis on Northwest listeners.

The first program — already available — is aimed at Seattle Opera's production of Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci," which opens Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in McCaw Hall. The program features Jenkins' preview of the opera; a recorded performance of "Pagliacci" starring Placido Domingo, Montserrat Caballé and Sherrill Milnes; and the first installment of the informative series "Opera A to Z" (focusing on the term "aria").

In a statement, KING-FM programming director Bryan Lowe called the channel "the next step in KING-FM's plan to use new technologies to serve specific niches within the genre of classical music through highly targeted channels." The station already broadcasts previews of Seattle Opera productions before the opening of each opera, as well as presenting live broadcasts of Seattle Opera productions, on the second Saturday performance night of each run.

Melinda Bargreen: mbargreen@seattletimes.com