The Met Opera website is up and running, holiday performances have begun
After almost 9 days of downtime caused by a hacker attack, the Metropolitan Opera website Metopera.org is up and running. Now you can again buy tickets, use the archive, read about past and upcoming performances and cinema screenings. True, the main page looks slightly different, but everything else is unchanged. It’s not difficult to figure it out and, most importantly, buy tickets. The failure of the site cost the Met Opera a lot - about $200.000 a day. And the stream of spectators who flocked to the Lincoln Center website to buy stall tickets for $50 (regular prices range from $120 to $350) will, of course, not close the gap in income. One hope is holiday performances: Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” in an abridged version and in English and a New Year’s gala with the premiere of Umberto Giordano’s opera “Fedora,” which has not been performed on the Met stage for 25 years and may well become a hit of the season. The production, directed by English director David McVicar, promises to be very traditional and visually attractive. The luxurious melodies and rich orchestration of Puccini’s contemporary, a native of Southern Italy and a lover of Russian themes (his second opera is called “Siberia”) should find an adequate embodiment under the musical direction of the experienced Italian conductor Marco Armiliato, who has long been familiar from previous Met performances.
Another draw is the soloists: Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva as Russian princess Fedora and Polish tenor Piotr Beczala as her lover (and also her fiancé's murderer) Count Loris. The events take place in the 19th century, and alternately in three countries: Russia (palace in St. Petersburg), France (fashion salon in Paris) and Switzerland (villa in the Alps). On the afternoon of January 14, the performance will be shown in cinemas around the world, via live broadcast.
It is interesting that the disruption of the Met website was initially attributed to Russian hackers, considering it to be the Met’s revenge for supporting Ukraine. Soon after the start of the war, the Met refused to feature Valery Gergiev and Anna Netrebko in its performances (Netrebko is suing the Met), and Kerry-Lynn Wilson, the wife of Met general director Peter Gelb, became one of the main organizers and chief conductor of the Ukrainian National Orchestra, with whom in the summer performed in Europe and America. However, Gelb does not believe the talk about Russian hackers. He believes that Meth most likely became a victim of one of the gangs that distribute ransomware. By the way, the famous Viennese concert hall Musikverein became a victim of such a gang almost simultaneously with the Met. His website is still dormant.
Author: Maya Pritzker
