Met Opera subscriptions

[Dave2002]

Ideally we'd like to see La fanciulla del West from the NY Met this coming Saturday, and it's on in a number of cinemas.

I noticed, however, that there is a subscription possibility which could be annual or on a monthly basis, and it is affordable. Does this only work with "live" screenings - at the same time as the cinamas, or is it possible to view performances after the event, and perhaps also access an archive of earlier performances? If so, then the fairly modest price of a month's subscription could provide a good way to "hibernate" during the winter months, with binge watching of a number of productions.

Knowing about this could enable more control over future schedules.

[Stanfordian]

Ideally we'd like to see La fanciulla del West from the NY Met this coming Saturday, and it's on in a number of cinemas.

I noticed, however, that there is a subscription possibility which could be annual or on a monthly basis, and it is affordable. Does this only work with "live" screenings - at the same time as the cinamas, or is it possible to view performances after the event, and perhaps also access an archive of earlier performances? If so, then the fairly modest price of a month's subscription could provide a good way to "hibernate" during the winter months, with binge watching of a number of productions.

Knowing about this could enable more control over future schedules.

I notice that some cinemas have stopped showing Met productions.

[Dave2002]

I notice that some cinemas have stopped showing Met productions.

I don't know about cinemas "stopping showing" some productions, but there has always been some segmentation - though what the criteria are I haven't found out. Some cinemas show NT and RSC productions, as well as ROH - including ballet, but others stick fairly solidly to just a few "brands" - such as Glyndebourne. Maybe some cinemas try to cherry pick, and the management decides that there is too big a risk of loss for some productions, particularly if the cinema has to pay some form of fee to show a performance. Some cinemas are belong to chains or conglomerations, so the decision to show or not may be taken higher up than at an individual cinema level. Some are also very commercially biased, while others may have a mission to show films "of interest" - even in some cases making a slight loss if things don't go so well.

Without knowing the financial models on which showings are based it is hard to get to the bottom of this.

[Ein Heldenleben]

If you are a Times digital subscriber you can get a pair of tickets to the screenings of Samson and Dalila , Fancuilla and Adriana Lecouvreur for free.The £ 8.66 per month subscription is almostly exactly equivalent to the cost of six pairs of tickets so effectively that's the Times free for a year...

[Dave2002]

If you are a Times digital subscriber you can get a pair of tickets to the screenings of Samson and Dalila , Fancuilla and Adriana Lecouvreur for free.The £ 8.66 per month subscription is almostly exactly equivalent to the cost of six pairs of tickets so effectively that's the Times free for a year...

Interesting. Maybe that only applies to new Times subscribers though, as one of us here has the Times online and hasn't mentioned that. Could be worth following up.

Part of my reason for asking though wasn't to do directly with the cinema screenings, but rather with the possibility of amending one's personal schedule to access the opera performances online. If those are in lock step with the cinema then there's not a great benefit, other perhaps than the ability to avoid going out. We do go to cinema showings - most recently to see King Lear - a play I still find very difficult - with Ian McKellen. Very good performance by him though.

Generally we work our schedules out quite well, but sometimes there are seriously unavoidable clashes.

Over the years I have failed to persuade our local cinemas to change the dates of their showings to suit my schedule, and the same is also true for many orchestras and the conductors who direct them, when they perform pieces which I particularly want to hear.

[subcontrabass]

Ideally we'd like to see La fanciulla del West from the NY Met this coming Saturday, and it's on in a number of cinemas.

I noticed, however, that there is a subscription possibility which could be annual or on a monthly basis, and it is affordable. Does this only work with "live" screenings - at the same time as the cinamas, or is it possible to view performances after the event, and perhaps also access an archive of earlier performances? If so, then the fairly modest price of a month's subscription could provide a good way to "hibernate" during the winter months, with binge watching of a number of productions.

Knowing about this could enable more control over future schedules.

Are the answers to your questions on this page: https://www.metopera.org/season/on-d...versary-promo/ ?

[LHC]

The Met Opera streaming service provides access to over 600 performances which can be watched or listened to whenever you want:

This online streaming catalog includes HD videos (from the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series of worldwide cinema transmissions), classic telecasts (standard-definition videos that were originally broadcast live on television from 1977-2003), and radio broadcast (audio-only) performances dating back to 1935 (from the Met’s long-running series of Saturday matinee radio broadcasts as well as more recent satellite radio broadcasts.)

Subscribers to Met Opera on Demand enjoy unlimited access, anywhere in the world, to everything available through the service. Met Opera on Demand is now available and accessible on many of the most popular device and platforms, including: computers (desktop or laptop, directly through the Met website), tablets (iPad and Android), mobile phones (iPhone and Android), Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Apple TV.

You can even sign up for a 7 day free trial to see if it works for you.

I am not a subscriber myself, but I don't think the app includes the live performances as they are beamed into the cinemas; I believe these are made available on the app at a later date.

[Dave2002]

Are the answers to your questions on this page: https://www.metopera.org/season/on-d...versary-promo/ ?

Thanks for this. Maybe it depends on when and where that page was put out. It looks US oriented, and there's no date.

However

New content is added monthly, with most Live in HD presentations available to stream 3-6 months after their initial live transmission date.

So if this is current and applies in the UK, the only way to see Live presentations currently without having to wait 3 or more months is to go to the cinema. The offer may still be worthwhile for the archived material. I do still think there's a page with a pay monthly option somewhere on a UK oriented site.

[Dave2002]

If you are a Times digital subscriber you can get a pair of tickets to the screenings of Samson and Dalila , Fancuilla and Adriana Lecouvreur for free.The £ 8.66 per month subscription is almostly exactly equivalent to the cost of six pairs of tickets so effectively that's the Times free for a year...

This is indeed the case, but there may be limits. I think in popular locations it may only work by applying early. There's some form of limit/quota and it's possible to be put on a waiting list as we have discovered - by applying for Golden Girl. That doesn't necessarily prevent access to the showings as it might still be possible to pay for a regular ticket, but it might reduce the effective benefit for some subscribers.

I am not personally a subscriber, but it seems that the Times do allow associated persons (e.g. within a family) to read the digital pages if the subscriber is willing to share access details. Sometimes this is useful, but on the whole I rarely bother.

I had considered taking out an extra subscription for myself, but really that's not such a good idea, though I might try one of the other papers if there's a deal. OTOH with access to other media sources - BBC News, and TV etc. there's not maybe a great deal of point - except for news fanatics.

[Dave2002]

We did actually get in to see the Golden Girl free of charge in the end - and it was very good. A different experience from being in an opera house, and of course in this case much cheaper - apart from the ticket prices the air fare would also have presented additional costs.

The cinema production had a variety of shots, including close ups, which are not usually possible from an audience point of view. Some were really quite clever. I don't know enough about poker (unlike seemingly many others - according to the singer in the interval) to know whether Minnie's hand was any good or not - I suspect it bore no relation to her replies - but it was quite visible. Of course nearly all of us could see that she substituted the cards for those she had tucked away, though we don't really know if they were as she stated either, but Rance knew he was beaten.

The other significant feature of the cinema experience was seeing the vast number (50 or more?) of people moving scenery and stage equipment around during the intervals, and the steps they took to get everything more or less in place and on time. That stage and the back of stage areas must be really huge.

[LHC]

The Met has decided to make its live cinema broadcasts available for viewing at home. There is, however, a cost in doing so. This service is only available to subscribers who make a $10,000 donation to the Met! For those unwilling to subscribe for the whole year, they can instead purchase individual operas to watch live at home for the princely sum of $2,500 a pop.

At those prices, I think I’ll stick with the cinema broadcasts.