Opera streaming on the Web

The state of contemporary opera is more than a bit bizarre and interesting. Today it is considered haute culture and only for those who are not only economic elites but of course culturally elite. But it wasn’t always for those people. Socio-historically, opera is something more akin to the musical than something like an orchestral concert, something that all kinds of people can go see. (Still doesn’t mean it’s not expensive to go see “The Producers” for example, but still you see what I’m saying.) Yet what has lagged behind is opera’s ability to keep up with the times and remain relevant. This is the case not only for opera but for classical music as well. Alex Ross of the New Yorker has written about this almost everywhere. Here’s is a good place to start. That’s why he has claimed that classical music has been on the brink of death for a very long time. First of all, it has a name problem. Even those who compose music today and are let’s say under the age of 40, how can you possibly seem not old when the genre of music you compose is deemed classical (though not yet classic)?

In a similar fashion, the very same forces that precluded the masses from enjoying classical music have thus turned on opera for its own demise. With arts funding basically zero during the Bush Administration, opera is dying a slow death as its patrons (the rich white people who actually go see opera and also contribute their production) are dying off. What will opera do?

Enter the Internet. The NY Times reports that the Metropolitan Opera will begin streaming operas on the Web. There’s a catch of course. There’s a fee. It is a silly thing for the Met to do since it is basically making a pay-per-view service in the era of fluid file-sharing. Why in the hell would people pay for such a thing? It is a rather terrible survival strategy for an institution that is not going to last much longer. Now, I’m not all that attached to opera (I’ve only been to one–a costumed rehearsal of The Great Gatsby in high school which SUCKED. All my Fieldston people, you know what I’m talking about.), but I find it so disturbing (and thus funny) when I see institutions attempt to stay afloat by integrating online content because “that’s what the kids are all raving about.” That’s exactly the business model which the Met has taken except that they don’t really know what the kids are doing. They have just applied their bourgeois principles onto online content for the Met and have effectively confirmed their out-of-touchness. They are not just out of touch with the main currents of online media but indeed of their own failing health.

You know what, good riddance!

X-posted at Human Potential.