The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has finalized a deal which will give Members access to more than a dozen operas by Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) and Richard Strauss (1864-1949) in time to mark the anniversaries of their births.

The broadcasts will be available to Euroradio broadcasters at no additional charge as part of an agreement on a lump-sum payment for authors' rights concluded by the EBU and UK publisher Boosey & Hawkes.     

Some of the pieces, from venues including the Vienna State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera of New York, will be available during the current 2013 Euroradio Summer Festivals; the remainder will follow during the 2013-2014 Euroradio Season.

The Summer Festivals, which comprise more than 400 concerts, run from June to mid-September.

A third of the way into the season, Euroradio audiences have enjoyed 136 concerts. Highlights include the Martha Argerich Project in Lugano (Switzerland, RSI), the Schubertiade (Austria, ORF), the Granada Festival (Spain, RTVE), Les Chorégies d'Oranges (France, SRF), the start of the Proms (UK, BBC) and a final performance by the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, which has been dissolved due to state financial cutbacks.