Originating live from the prestigious Marinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Kirov presentations can be seen daily now through Saturday, June 26, 1999. The complete schedule of events is posted on the GMN.com Web site and also in the table below. GMN.com has selected INTERVU to deliver the live opera events over the Internet. GMN.com is also utilizing the streaming formats from Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Real Networks (Nasdaq: RNWK) to ensure the highest quality audio and video transmission and distribution of this first-ever Webcast.

The Kirov Opera and Orchestra perform each summer in the White Nights Festival, held in St. Petersburg, Russia. It is directed by Valery Gergiev, Music Director of the Kirov Opera and Ballet, as well as Principal Guest Conductor at the Met. Mr. Gergiev runs the Marinsky Theatre, the Kirov Companies’ historic home and one of Europe’s most renowned cultural venues. GMN.com will be Webcasting opera and symphonic performances from the Marinsky through June 26th. Additional events include Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame and Verdi’s La Forza del Destino.

INTERVU, GMN.com’s streaming media provider, is delivering the live opera event over its patent-pending distribution network. The video and audio content will utilize the combined, state-of-the-art, audio and video streaming technologies of Microsoft’s Windows Media Technologies 4.0 and Real Networks RealPlayer G2.

“GMN.com is breaking new ground with these live Webcasts from St. Petersburg,” noted GMN.com chief executive officer Michael Lubin. “With three of the top streaming media companies as our Webcast partners, we have ensured the highest quality audio and video distribution of our content and the broadest exposure for our family of world-class artists. This type of Internet broadcasting, known as Webcasting, is unprecedented in the world of opera and puts GMN.com, INTERVU, Microsoft and Real Networks in the forefront of offering live, simultaneous online availability of the world’s most important cultural events. This Webcast marks an extraordinary new direction for classical music and opera.”

The Webcasts can be accessed by logging onto www.GMN.com where a full schedule of performances is also available. To further promote the streaming opera events, www.windowsmedia.com and www.REAL.com are also providing links to the events. All performances will be archived at www.GMN.com for future viewing and listening.

GMN.com intends to make available to its viewers a new promotional software tool called INTERVU AUDIENCE, which allows Internet users to make advance reservations to attend any of GMN.com’s live and archived events as well as be automatically reminded and taken to the live events when they begin. AUDIENCE will be downloadable from the GMN site in the near future.