I noticed that Channel 4 had an opera by Handel scheduled one Saturday night in 1996. I like opera so I thought I would tape it.  This being the nineties taping it literally meant making a physical copy on electromagnetic media.  I plonked the tape in the video recorder and rather than wrestle with the elaborate procedure of setting the timer I just made a point of being by the telly when it was due to start and pressing the red button.  I started watching it to see what it was like and to make sure the temperamental machine was actually doing its job.   Within minutes I was hooked, and in the end sat through the whole three and a half hours.  I wasn’t alone – my wife and small kids joined me and were similarly captivated. Continue reading →