Thursday, March 19, 2020
Coronavirus spikes demand for the Met's streaming opera broadcasts.
slate.com/culture: The New York Metropolitan Opera’s website crashed Monday night as tens of thousands of people attempted to simultaneously stream George Bizet’s Carmen, the first in a series of operas the Met will make available online, free of charge, after closing its doors in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.
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7 comments:
Although it is incredibly unfortunate the environment that led to this, as a broke opera lover I am very excited that the Met has made many of their greatest performances available online. Operas, yes are long - but now that it seems like many people have more time than they are comfortable with, this may be an alternative to further their own knowledge of musical and performance history. The Met puts on truly spectacular productions, and as someone who spent a lot of time checking on Met HD DVD’s from my library growing up, it’s exciting that you can see this content on the internet. However, I do express some similar concern to that which was in the article about the demand for fast, consistent streaming from internet providers. We, as consumers, already demanded a lot from our service providers, but now - when it seems like all eyes have turned to streaming services, the pressure will be placed far more on them.
This article was really interesting because it talked about what the Met was doing to help people still access the opera during this quarantine time, but it also talked about how internet companies might not be able to support this new high demand. I am so glad that big companies are doing their part to allow art to be accessible to people form their homes. I read something the other day that said something like, as you watch Netflix and movies during this time, remember that during this time of unknown you are turning to artists. I think it is important to remember how much people rely on art and artists for joy in their lives and this time is really reminding people. I hope more companies are able to get their work online, although I know for theatre it is a little harder with all of the copyright laws in place.
While opera may not typically be the most popular live performance to go see, it is definitely worth a shot when required to stay home in quarantine. I knew the Met has always had a streaming service, but never really paid attention to it, as I thought opera just wasn't "my thing." I figured if I really wanted to see it, I would just buy a ticket and go, but I never did outside of the university setting. Now that it's free and easily accessible, I may just give it a go. I'm glad this article addresses the website capacity concerns, as they've also been on my mind quite a bit. This is mainly a worry for me when I'm in class and trying to stream a Zoom lecture. It's been working out for me so far, but I am concerned about potential crashes, especially when my sister starts streaming classes at the same time.
I have to agree that it's heartening that so many people are interested in watching the MET. I've loved opera since I was in middle school, and it's always been a little sad to me that most of my friends weren't interested. Watching opera with my parents is great, but I'd love to go see an opera with friends just like we might go see a play or a musical. That's partially an expression of privaledge; I'm lucky enough to be of the group of people that are ABLE to enjoy operas. But it isn't entirely. Even my friends who are much wealthier than I am don't seem to enjoy it. I've often heard that opera is dying, that young people don't enjoy it and it will face steep decline in the coming years. I don't have the perspective to know whether that is true or if it's the same tune that's been sung for decades, but either way, it's encouraging that there is clearly a reservoir of interested audience members lurking somewhere on the internet ready to watch opera when given the chance. It's a rare moment of hope in the arts right now.
I think it is absolutely wonderful that the Met Opera is allowing people to watch live-stream recordings of their performances free of charge. This is such a rough time for everyone and I am really relieved to see how much people are trying to do to encourage people to stay home and to make the experience more fun. Although the Met Opera is closed because of the coronavirus, you can still watch their operas from home! And normally it’s at least $30 to stream their operas online so this is a real bargain. I’m also amazed that their website crashed due to the volume of traffic. This is great because it means that people still care about opera and the arts in general. It is also really wonderful that so many more people including myself who probably wouldn’t be willing or don’t have the luxury to spend money on opera tickets have the opportunity to experience it for free! I am a huge fan of the Met Opera costumes so I will definitely be taking advantage of this service!
I grew up watching some of the Met’s remote opera broadcasts. They truly were (and are) beautifully done in their entirety and I am glad that people are becoming more aware of their existence. I know that opera is not necessarily everyone’s cup of tea but it is just one more way of getting art out into the world right now. An interesting thing that this article mentioned that not everyone seems to be considering right now is broadband capabilities. I think the current situation in the world is an interesting time to have the internet available to us but it will also test its limits. I already know of areas near me that have experienced WiFi outages due to a limited bandwidth and a usage rate that is exponentially higher than usual and it has taken literal days to even get the companies to respond to the issue of internet - which is effectively a necessity in this special part of the “digital age” - being completely unavailable.
This reminds me of that argument going around the internet right now, that in these dark times you turn to artists for entertainment and to maintain your sanity while stuck in your house. This crisis has sparked a large wave of theatres trying to figure out if and how to put their work online and make it available. For some, who are not necessarily set up with that kind of technology, this may be impossible. For others, such as the Met, it’s a really cool solution that helps make theatre accessible to a wider audience than would normally be interested in opera. I think it’s great that people who wouldn’t normally go see opera are now able to watch these incredible performances from home, and possibly sparking them to reevaluate their preconceptions about opera as an art form. I do think the internet strain and crashing is an interesting point, and one that we’re going to have to deal with in various ways in the coming weeks as everything that can go online suddenly makes that transition. I’m a little amazed Zoom is still functioning and has supported our various meetings despite what has to be unprecedented levels of traffic.
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