Fall Digital Season

[Kathleen O'Connell]

53 minutes ago, cobweb said:

the same series that we saw in the Digital Spring Season, apparently shot from somewhere in the back of the orchestra or first ring.

The 2008-10 renovations to the Theater Formerly Known as State included "a completely new communications and technology backbone for the facility and the creation of a media center to allow for recording and broadcast." Here's a picture of the media suite from the linked page.

From a November 2011 New York Times Article entitled "A Digital Future Not Quite Here for City Ballet": 

More than a year after its completion at a cost of several million dollars, a sleek media control room equipped to help the New York City Ballet record its performances for digital archiving and for theater broadcasts has languished unused.

The so-called media suite was installed as part of a celebrated $107 million renovation of the ballet company’s Lincoln Center home, the David H. Koch Theater, largely completed in 2009. Outfitted with the latest technology to capture, edit and store high-definition images, the room was promoted by City Ballet as a potential source of revenue that would bring the theater “into the 21st century.”

But that future has yet to arrive.

Per the article, NYCB blamed the delay on labor negotiations. I suspect that figuring out how to turn HD videos into a reliable revenue stream was also a factor. Just because you film it doesn't mean they'll come.

ETA: I believe that some of the cameras—or at least the housings for them—are mounted on the front of the first and second rings. 

Edited September 25, 2020 by Kathleen O'Connell

[cobweb]

Thank you Kathleen, you are always a source of great information! 

[BalanchineFan]

Great article! Thank you Kathleen.

Which ballet is it, (Brahms Shoenberg third movement, perhaps?) that is pictured in the media control room?

[Kathleen O'Connell]

3 hours ago, cobweb said:

Thank you Kathleen, you are always a source of great information! 

I tucked away a whole file of (digital) clippings on this because I was pretty pumped about the renovation's upgrade to the theater's media capabilities and the promise of some sort of publicly available video output, which, alas, never materialized. I'm not surprised: the decade or so since the media center was installed has been one of tremendous disruption in the media landscape generally and most performing arts organizations are still charting their way through the wreckage. Yes, there are labor and rights negotiation issues, but also simply figuring out who and where the audience is and what they (and/or the universe of arts funding organizations) will pay for.

I keep hoping that someone puts together a consortium of performing arts organizations; federal, state, and local arts councils; libraries; colleges and universities; foundations; and individual philanthropists that can fashion a meaningful arts streaming service that would 1) provide reasonable income to the participants, 2) actually be worth the subscription price, and 3) be distributed via a platform that made the videos more difficult to download and pirate than YouTube or Vimeo. 

I mean this as no disrespect to the various companies that are trying to put something together on their own, but there are only so many dollars most of us can plunk down for a limited run digital season. 

Edited September 25, 2020 by Kathleen O'Connell

[Kathleen O'Connell]

2 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

Which ballet is it, (Brahms Shoenberg third movement, perhaps?) that is pictured in the media control room?

Brahms-Schoenberg was my guess, too. 

 I always thought that the colors in Opi's New York City Ballet line of nail polish looked like an homage to Karinska's Brahms-Schoenberg costumes.

 

[cobweb]

42 minutes ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

I always thought that the colors in Opi's New York City Ballet line of nail polish looked like an homage to Karinska's Brahms-Schoenberg costumes.

Too funny!! I can totally see it. 

[pherank]

1 hour ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

I keep hoping that someone puts together a consortium of performing arts organizations; federal, state, and local arts councils; libraries; colleges and universities; foundations; and individual philanthropists that can fashion a meaningful arts streaming service that would 1) provide reasonable income to the participants, 2) actually be worth the subscription price, and 3) be distributed via a platform that made the videos more difficult to download and pirate than YouTube or Vimeo.

A shared platform would be the way to go - one stop shopping. I agree that it's not feasible to pay for 10+ different subscription fees in various digital locations to try to keep up with what major companies are doing. Personally, I would amend your above request to say that the streaming should be 2160p /4K capable, but allow for a lower-resolution download (of whatever production allows that contractually). It's great to have a video to go back to and review. But if anyone wants to see a high-resolution presentation they'll need to continue to pay for the subscription.

Edited September 25, 2020 by pherank

[Kathleen O'Connell]

36 minutes ago, pherank said:

It's great to have a video to go back to and review.

Of course the beauty of a streaming platform where the videos could live forever is that you wouldn't have to download them to review them later—you could just stream them again on the device of your choosing. Whatever the platform, it would need to support offline mobile viewing to be even remotely viable. I know a surprising number of people who consume tons of video content on their phones, tablets, and laptops, and that includes movies and TV shows they're streaming on platforms like Netflix or Hulu. It's possible to design streaming platforms that allow for downloads to enable offline viewing but make it difficult to keep those downloads forever or pirate them. 

Edited September 25, 2020 by Kathleen O'Connell

[Dale]

2 hours ago, pherank said:

A shared platform would be the way to go - one stop shopping. I agree that it's not feasible to pay for 10+ different subscription fees in various digital locations to try to keep up with what major companies are doing. Personally, I would amend your above request to say that the streaming should be 2160p /4K capable, but allow for a lower-resolution download (of whatever production allows that contractually). It's great to have a video to go back to and review. But if anyone wants to see a high-resolution presentation they'll need to continue to pay for the subscription.

First, thank you @Kathleen O'Connell for those clips. 

pherank, I was hoping another arts org would partner with the Met Opera. It already has a platform that is pretty good for showing video, can handle volume. It has a price point that makes it worth the company's while but is also somewhat affordable. 

[pherank]

15 minutes ago, Dale said:

pherank, I was hoping another arts org would partner with the Met Opera. It already has a platform that is pretty good for showing video, can handle volume. It has a price point that makes it worth the company's while but is also somewhat affordable. 

I guess the question would be: Is the Met actively looking for digital platform partners? Many companies continue to go it alone, during quarantine; although they obviously look around at what other companies are doing.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

12 hours ago, Leah said:

Seems like if they needed a ballet partner ABT would be the logical choice, no? 

Hmmm ... maybe. The Met would likely need more than one dance partner in order to keep the pipeline of dance performances full. One advantage the Met has is the sheer volume of new content in generates via its weekly HD and radio broadcasts to bolster—and refresh— its sizeable back catalogue. It's been posting a free performance from its on demand catalogue every night for going on thirty weeks with only a handful of repeats in the mix. (They have five different videos of Aida, Othello, La Bohème, Don Giovanni, and Carmen to choose from and at least three for a long list of operas one tier down on the warhorse scale. ) That's something ABT can't deliver. 

The Met has no incentive to add partners unless they pull in more subscribers, and a few ABT ballets won't do that. Neither would a few performances from any other single dance company, for that matter. (I don't think we need to assume that the Met needs to look only to ballet if it wanted to add dance to its on demand offerings. The audience that only shows up for La Bohème isn't their on-demand subscriber base; they can offer more than Swan Lake or Sleeping Beauty.)  Just performing in the Met's theater for five weeks out of the year isn't enough. The fact that more theaters have upgraded their own recording capabilities means the Met could look beyond its own venue for partners.

As an aside, I'd also be concerned that ABT would be tempted to sideline its homegrown talent in favor of dancers with international cachet in order to match the firepower of the Met's starry roster. 

Edited September 26, 2020 by Kathleen O'Connell

[volcanohunter]

13 hours ago, pherank said:

I guess the question would be: Is the Met actively looking for digital platform partners?

Probably not. 

16 minutes ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

It's been posting a free performance from its on demand catalogue every night for going on thirty weeks with only a handful of repeats in the mix.

At this point it's mostly repeats, which may be a strategic decision. If the Met were to stream its entire video archive, would viewers bother subscribing to Met Opera on Demand?

[Helene]

The Met in HD's are produced professionally and are top quality.  Their directors and production staff have a lot of experience. They tape an earlier performance to be sure that they have backup footage.  The Met Artists in Concert programs that I've seen so far are of the same quality, despite being in different venues. (And are a great bargain, in my opinion.)

I can not imagine the Met wanting any partners associated with their brand, unless the partners could guarantee similar quality.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

37 minutes ago, volcanohunter said:

At this point it's mostly repeats, which may be a strategic decision.

Huh. Good to know. I've only been checking out the free offerings since the first week in May and so far I've only encountered a few repeat casts. 

[Kathleen O'Connell]

7 minutes ago, Helene said:

I can not imagine the Met wanting any partners associated with their brand, unless the partners could guarantee similar quality.

Yes, absolutely. The Met not only has 14 years of experience with HD broadcasts to draw on, but also its 90 year history of live radio broadcasts. Whether explicitly stated or not, part of its mission has been making its performances regularly available to butts that are in seats somewhere other than its own theater. It's a legacy they should want to protect. 

That being said, circumstances might allow them to burnish that legacy with the right partner with the right institutional support. (By "institution" I mean a foundation or public arts agency.)

Edited September 26, 2020 by Kathleen O'Connell

[Kathleen O'Connell]

48 minutes ago, volcanohunter said:

If the Met were to stream its entire video archive, would viewers bother subscribing to Met Opera on Demand?

Well, if they wanted to view an opera more than once and at the time of their choosing—including spreading it out over more than one viewing session—they might. Yes, it's possible to download the free streams and save them to watch later, but I have to assume that most of the on-demand subscriber base isn't going to do that, either because they don't know how, don't have the requisite disk space, or can't be bothered.

[Helene]

13 minutes ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

Whether explicitly stated or not, part of its mission has been making its performances regularly available to butts that are in seats somewhere other than its own theater.

But ABT is America's company! [/sarcasm]

 

[Kathleen O'Connell]

1 hour ago, Helene said:

But ABT is America's company! [/sarcasm]

 

I don't think they're ready for HD prime time quite yet, but I'm going to give them props for at least trying to be a touring company. Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was a teen in San Antonio, ABT gave me one of my earliest looks at a fully-staged, live ballet performance. 

[volcanohunter]

1 hour ago, Leah said:

I thought ABT would be the logical choice because its and the Met's season wouldn't overlap and the technical infrastructure would already be in place.

I think ABT missed the boat on this 12-13 years ago. My anecdotal evidence is my aunt who flunked out of her junior year of university because she was going to the Met every night as a standee. When the opera season ended, she continued going to the Met every evening to see the Royal Ballet on tour, largely out of habit. I had hoped that ABT would capitalize on the new habit of going to the cinema to watch the Met in HD on Saturday afternoons. Now I think it's too late, because other companies have established themselves in the cinema market.

And in truth, although she is always happy to go to the ballet and has huge admiration for the dancers, my aunt never became a regular ballet-goer.

[Helene]

On 9/26/2020 at 9:31 AM, Kathleen O'Connell said:

Yes, absolutely. The Met not only has 14 years of experience with HD broadcasts to draw on, but also its 90 year history of live radio broadcasts. Whether explicitly stated or not, part of its mission has been making its performances regularly available to butts that are in seats somewhere other than its own theater. It's a legacy they should want to protect. 

 

I'm a Guild Member and attend many Live in HD's performances.  That doesn't make me see any fewer performances at my local company, subscribing to it, and donating to it.  Even though the Met has given up touring, they still have a loyal national audience that, too, supports local companies and live opera, where they exist, and see the Met as the place of one, where none exist.  I also think the Met Opera will survive this, mostly because it's important enough socially to the people with the kind of money who can float companies pretty much by themselves, especially people who have ambitions and were blocked until now, but also because it has a lot of general support and can offer product, through Met on Demand and Met Artists in Concert in an easy way that doesn't require physical media or much more equipment than a smartphone.

ABT was the Met equivalent for a lot of people.  They didn't necessarily tour the smaller circuits, like university circuits, but their few days through a city made those performances a yearly highlight.  And even where there were local companies, so many of those companies were neoclassical,. The classical Met rep, danced by those dancers, wasn't in direct competition for many dance lovers, and certainly by kids who idolized them but served as the classical wing.  For example, when ABT last performed in Seattle in the '90's, they brought "Giselle," which PNB did not perform until 2011.  Even when local companies with their schools  became big enough to stage their own Swan Lakes and Don Q's, ABT had the opportunity to bring other full-lengths.

I certainly understand that the Met had a long-standing radio tradition that was not transferable to ballet, but the lack of touring and the dearth of video representation, whether on PNB, in the cinemas, or on home media has severed that relationship with many people who might have rallied to its cause when it really needs the support. Does it have the same social pull as the Met?  Because that might be its only chance to survive.

[canbelto]

More pgoramming announced:

TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 13, 8:00PM

_{(available until Tuesday, October 20, at 8pm EDT)}

BRAHMS-SCHOENBERG QUARTET (First Movement)
Ashley Bouder, Russell Janzen*, Emily Kikta
Conductor: Andrew Litton, Filmed on 5/15/2019

DUO CONCERTANT
Megan Fairchild, Anthony Huxley
Solo Violinist: Arturo Delmoni; Solo Pianist: Elaine Chelton. Filmed on 4/30/2019.

DANCES AT A GATHERING (Scherzo and Finale)
Megan Fairchild, Sterling Hyltin, Unity Phelan, Tyler Angle, Adrian Danchig-Waring, and Peter Walker, with Ashley Bouder, Lauren King, Gonzalo Garcia, and Roman Mejia
Solo Pianist: Susan Walters. Filmed on 10/3/2019.

SYMPHONY IN C (Fourth Movement and Finale)
Erica Pereira and Troy Schumacher**, with Ashley Bouder, Maria Kowroski, Indiana Woodward**, Joseph Gordon**, Tyler Angle, and Sebastian Villarini-Velez**
Conductor: Clotilde Otranto. Filmed on 9/28/2018.

TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 20, 8:00PM

_{(available until Tuesday, October 27, at 8pm EDT)}

RODEO: FOUR DANCE EPISODES (Third and Fourth Episodes)
Brittany Pollack, *Justin Peck, Daniel Ulbricht, Gonzalo Garcia, Andrew Veyette
Conductor: Andrews Sill. Filmed on 5/11/2017.

PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION (Excerpt):
Tuileries: Tiler Peck
Bydlo: Sterling Hyltin, Sara Mearns, Claire Kretzschmar, Abi Stafford
Promenade: Gonzalo Garcia
Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks: Tyler Angle, Gonzalo Garcia, Joseph Gordon, Aaron Sanz*, Andrew Veyette*
Solo Pianist: Stephen Gosling. Filmed on 5/10/2017.

YEAR OF THE RABBIT (Year of Our Lord pas de deux)
Indiana Woodward, Taylor Stanley
Conductor: Daniel Capps. Filmed on 1/25/2018.

POLYPHONIA (Excerpt):
IX.: Lauren Lovette*, Andrew Veyette*
X.: Lauren Lovette*, Megan Fairchild*, Alston Macgill*, Sara Mearns, Andrew Veyette*, Jovani Furlan*, Roman Mejia*, Silas Farley*
Solo Pianists: Stephen Gosling, Alan Moverman. Filmed on 1/30/2020.

RUSSIAN SEASONS (Excerpt):
IX.: Abi Stafford, Sara Mearns, Amar Ramasar
Conductor: Andrews Sill; Solo Violinist: Arturo Delmoni; Soprano: Veronica Mitina. Filmed on 2/1/2018.

X.: Taylor Stanley*
Conductor: Andrew Litton; Solo Violinist: Kurt Nikkanen. Filmed on 4/26/2017.

MERCURIAL MANOEUVRES (Pas de deux)
Tiler Peck, Tyler Angle
Conductor: Andrew Litton, Solo Pianist: Alan Moverman. Filmed on 4/25/2017.

EVERYWHERE WE GO (Finale)
Maria Kowroski, Sara Mearns*, Indiana Woodward*, Teresa Reichlen, Russell Janzen, Taylor Stanley*, Gonzalo Garcia
Conductor: Daniel Capps. Filmed on 10/3/2019.

 

[Helene]

With a streaming service, NYCB could take the vacated place of America's company.

[Dale]

On 9/26/2020 at 12:23 PM, Helene said:

The Met in HD's are produced professionally and are top quality.  Their directors and production staff have a lot of experience. They tape an earlier performance to be sure that they have backup footage.  The Met Artists in Concert programs that I've seen so far are of the same quality, despite being in different venues. (And are a great bargain, in my opinion.)

I can not imagine the Met wanting any partners associated with their brand, unless the partners could guarantee similar quality.

I was dreaming   Continuing my day dream, the NYCB, while it doesn't have as large of a catalog as the Met, it has some things going for it for a (wished for) partnering. They are both full residents of Lincoln Center. And it is one American company that does have a catalog and experience filming. As we've seen, the high polished videos at State Theater only really started a few years ago but they do have decades' worth of house camera (wide, close) footage. Plus a history of recordings from Great Performances and Live from Lincoln Center.

A partnership doesn't necessarily mean a complete sharing of the platform. The Met would be "leasing" the streaming technology. It wouldn't "dilute" it's own service, just like when you subscribe to an add-on at Amazon Video (like adding BritBox), it doesn't dilute the other offerings. Having this platform technology, which works very well as we've seen this summer, can be monetized for the Met's benefit. 

[volcanohunter]

If the link for tonight's stream has already been posted, I apologize for failing to spot it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P71Z3mAxLy0

[sohalia]

Slowly making my way to this new video. Like many, I am not a fan of the excerpts, but I suppose it's better than nothing.

I have absolutely no words for Tiler Peck and Joaquin De Luz in Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux. Out of this world. What a partnership, what dancers, what a performance. I wish this would stay online for ever so I could watch it over, and over, and over.