It is by far the most-viewed video in the history of The Inquirer/Daily News website philly.com, with more than 1.2 million visits to the video's page in four weeks.
A YouTube spokeswoman says that the way the video has spread is classic viral - quickly and exponentially - but that it is "remarkable" for cultural material to do so.
In terms of competition, "Nothing springs to mind in terms of something from the classical world," said YouTube's Annie Baxter.
As a calling card for the city and its culture, the Opera Company's stunt might be the digital age's answer to the Philadelphia Museum of Art's 1996 Cézanne blockbuster show, which drew 548,741 viewers. But those consumers of culture were flesh and blood, spending money in the city. Are there tangible benefits to this new breed of virtual cultural tourist?
"What the opera did could stick like Cézanne - if we made it stick," says Meryl Levitz, president of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. (GPTMC). "It won't happen by itself, just by virtue of the medium of the Web, which makes it increasingly easy to reach people and increasingly difficult to influence them. Marketing is needed."
Opera Company executive director David B. Devan is working on it.
"One of the things I have on my agenda is to ramp up that discussion with the city, GPTMC, and other people who brand the city," he said. "Is there a way that this kind of thing can be developed for [hotel] room nights, for restaurants? Is there a way for this to equal local economic impact?"
For the Opera Company, the episode has been measurably beneficent.
