Das Rheingold: ROH

[kernelbogey]

I managed to penetrate the ROH comms to get a message to the bookshop about whether they stock the Spencer - 'Our phones are turned off at this time' - to learn that they stock the Deathridge but not the Stewart Spencer libretto translation.

[alywin]

The new John Deathridge is best avoided, it reads like a first draft, with identical phrases in the German translated in different ways,

Good grief, did he not use a translation memory system? That should have been enough to avoid that problem.

[Belgrove]

To be broadcast on Opera on 3 on 7th October.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001r73s

[kernelbogey]

Just caught the last few minutes on R3 of the performance I was at. Georgia Mann said on air '[Pappano] is bringing the orchestra to their feet.... Not so: in fact he didn't take the usual conductor's bow with all the cast, there was a pause and the curtain went up on the entire orchestra assembled on stage. A wonderful coup de theatre and one I've never seen before.

[Bert Coules]

Well I don't know what that was like in the theatre, not having won the lottery or being willing to sell off a major organ or two, but tonight's R3 relay sounded quite splendid, chuckling Loge and all. I was sorry to read, in Belgrove's detailed review, that they drop the tabs in between scenes: a fatal mistake in my view, not only because it does provoke relaxation, fidgetting, chatter, and worse (but phones out? At the Royal Opera? Then is Doomsday near) but also because it destroys the continuity of the action, which is carefully plotted and blocked to run without a break. I think I remember rightly that apart from the beginnings and ends of acts Wagner specifies only one place in the entire cycle where the curtains should close, and he knew what he was talking about.

[underthecountertenor]

I wasn’t troubled by the tab-drop, and indeed it enabled me to appreciate the wonderful orchestral playing undistracted by stage business. Fortunately the audience members around me seemed similarly rapt, with no chatter or resort to mobile phones (unlike L’Elisir d’Amore a few days later, when a chap two rows in front of me decided that nothing was happening in Una Furtiva Lagrima so he might as well check his phone messages and show them to his companion).

[Simon B]

Just caught the last few minutes on R3 of the performance I was at. Georgia Mann said on air '[Pappano] is bringing the orchestra to their feet.... Not so: in fact he didn't take the usual conductor's bow with all the cast, there was a pause and the curtain went up on the entire orchestra assembled on stage. A wonderful coup de theatre and one I've never seen before.

The orchestra remained in the pit at the end of the performance I went to, though notwithstanding the high standard of singing across the board, they got the most thunderous applause of all. (Many were in hi-viz yellow rather than black due to the ongoing pay dispute...) Can we be sure the commentary was made at the performance you're referring to?

Isn't there a tradition of the ROH orchestra taking applause onstage for the Ring though, albeit usually at the end of a cycle? They've done so both times I've seen Gotterdammerung there.

[Simon B]

Well I don't know what that was like in the theatre, not having won the lottery or being willing to sell off a major organ or two,

I think I paid £20 for an acoustically excellent standing place - although with rather less excellent sight lines with maybe 25% of the stage obscured. For some productions this can be a blessing as the less of it you can see the better IMV, though that was firmly not the case this time around.

I do appreciate that for those unable or unwilling to stand, this isn't an option, but there are reasonably priced but still viable options. If the ROH is going to restore the orchestra to pre-pandemic pay, that's another £1m or so to either save by making cuts elsewhere or freshly obtain every year. Someone's got to pay for everything - increasingly that's only going to be the paying punters as the funding holes get bigger and bigger.

I was sorry to read, in Belgrove's detailed review, that they drop the tabs in between scenes: a fatal mistake in my view

Agreed - for both the reasons you cite. On the night I went, each such instance emphatically did provoke a bout of chat, rummaging and mobile phone ery. A big miscalculation in an otherwise refreshingly coherent production. I hope, without much expectation, that they do something, anything else rather than dropping the tabs (like just having a blackout) when the time comes for its reappearance in the full cycle.

[alywin]

I do appreciate that for those unable or unwilling to stand, this isn't an option, but there are reasonably priced but still viable options. If the ROH is going to restore the orchestra to pre-pandemic pay, that's another £1m or so to either save by making cuts elsewhere or freshly obtain every year. Someone's got to pay for everything - increasingly that's only going to be the paying punters as the funding holes get bigger and bigger.

I appreciate that, but have you seen what they've been doing to the ballet prices recently? (Don Quixote and Manon in particular, neither known to be an easy sell). I'd guess that they're expecting me to pay something like 3 times as much for the same seat as I would have paid in the last run. Historically, it's always been that ballet was the cheaper option - no expensive guest stars, all salaried performers, shorter duration, sometimes much smaller casts - but now it seems to be getting to the stage where it's overtaking the opera. Are balletgoers subsidising the opera prices? I'm beginning to wonder.

[kernelbogey]

Can we be sure the commentary was made at the performance you're referring to?

I believe so, but checking is a bit arduous....

Isn't there a tradition of the ROH orchestra taking applause onstage for the Ring though, albeit usually at the end of a cycle? They've done so both times I've seen Gotterdammerung there.

I didn't know that - thanks.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I appreciate that, but have you seen what they've been doing to the ballet prices recently? (Don Quixote and Manon in particular, neither known to be an easy sell). I'd guess that they're expecting me to pay something like 3 times as much for the same seat as I would have paid in the last run. Historically, it's always been that ballet was the cheaper option - no expensive guest stars, all salaried performers, shorter duration, sometimes much smaller casts - but now it seems to be getting to the stage where it's overtaking the opera. Are balletgoers subsidising the opera prices? I'm beginning to wonder.

I reckon the ballet used to be 30 per cent cheaper perhaps reflecting the fact that the principal dancers earn less than those in opera. I’m told there’s a £10,000 cap on principal singers - but through role sponsor ship the big stars earn more than that. I’ve noticed that they’ve repriced seats - reducing the number of lower cost side stalll seats for example. I still think it’s pretty good value for money perhaps reflecting that the seat price covers about 30 percent of the cost of running the ROH with less than 20 per cent public money as subsidy.

As a comparison with the west end I went last week to La Forza Del Destino - this had 5 world class singers*, every smaller role was strongly cast, there’s was I guess an 80 piece orchestra and what 60 in the chorus plus dancers etc. My side stall tickets were £159. The top price (£245)

Other shows I’ve been looking at recently -

Sondheim Old Friends 14 piece orch and cast of fifteen or so with a few top names £125 in the stalls

The Motive and The Cue (transfer from National Theatre ) £145 - cast of a dozen plus ? Couple of stars

but the standout -
Plaza Suite with Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick £300 top price seats
This one even made the TIMES . Suffice it say people weren’t impressed - its a two hander with one set!

I reckon the ROH is still good value in the context of one or two other places being something of a TOTAL ripoff.

* one or two of whom were extremely loud.

[Cockney Sparrow]

Interesting analysis of the ticket pricing, and the fee cap, thank you.

We went to a Sunday performance of Rheingold and I confirm the approving judgements of previous posts –in my less than authoritative judgement: uniformly strong casts, a production which serves the score and libretto, a sure hand from Pappano and well played by the orchestra (got a view of the Wagner tubas (and Pappano’s arms) as we were allocated a box after a box-office mix-up).
I'd also booked a cheap ticket and went back,solo, midweek -lucky me – one hour from central London (when the trains run). On both occasions the orchestra were on stage to take applause (as they were after Gotterdamerung in previous cycles). I’d wondered if it had been done on Sunday as getting home would be easier for the orchestra, but no…..

These days I often don’t recognise the names of a very large proportion of the principal singers on the cast lists. I don’t take Opera Magazine (and the local arts library stopped taking it) so it may well be I’m behind the times. However, overall I find the cast members very adequate, mostly better – which is an improvement over former times.
I wish I could comment more on the performers in Rheingold, but I stopped buying programmes some years ago – they just mount up. The one part of them I miss are the artist biographies…..

[Retune]

No biographies, but the cast sheets for each performance (with synposis) are available online:

https://www.roh.org.uk/about/cast-sheets

I went to Rheingold on the 23rd and was very impressed - singers, orchestra and staging all excellent. £113 for an amphitheatre ticket was not cheap, but I had no complaints about the view or the acoustics and (as above) the price looks almost reasonable compared to some other West End entertainment (not to mention the average stadium gig or major sporting event). I wasn't at all bothered by the curtains briefly coming down - there's plenty of music to hold the attention of the audience at these points.

[Simon Biazeck]

[QUOTE=Retune;n1286668]No biographies, but the cast sheets for each performance (with synposis) are available online:

https://www.roh.org.uk/about/cast-sheets

I went to Rheingold on the 23rd and was very impressed - singers, orchestra and staging all excellent. £113 for an amphitheatre ticket was not cheap, but I had no complaints about the view or the acoustics and (as above) the price looks almost reasonable compared to some other West End entertainment (not to mention the average stadium gig or major sporting event). I wasn't at all bothered by the curtains briefly coming down - there's plenty of music to hold the attention of the audience at these points.[/QUOTE]

Likewise, and the dazzling highlighting of the gold proscenium arch was beautiful. ***** on all fronts! Move to tears at times.

SBz.

[Simon B]

Apologies for dragging things off the specific topic of Das Rheingold. It is vaguely relevant though in that eye-watering prices are to be expected for Die Walkure next year etc. Ring operas are staggeringly expensive undertakings to stage which won't help.

Yes, I've noticed big price increases across the board. The same standing place that was £9 for Salome a few years ago is £24 for the upcoming Elektra. This is despite it being a similar duration 1-acter and Strauss/Janacek etc having long been priced much lower than the likes of crowd pulling Puccini/Verdi. Presumably they're literally banking on the draw of Nina Stemme.

There is though still considerable differentiation in pricing for ballet vs opera vs different types/durations of opera. I mostly stand these days as I can't afford to do anything else except in seats which are too far from the stage for my tastes. When I do sometimes get a seat it's usually the very same one. For upcoming events its prices are in the ratio Hansel&Gretel : Manon : Nutcracker : Rigoletto 5 : 8 : 7 : 10. So there's a big range there and mainstream ballet is significantly cheaper than a mainstream opera. Hansel is atypical because it's deliberately priced down to attract families.

The last time I looked (? FY 2019/20) the turnover of the ROH was about £130M/year. About 1/3 was coming from direct subsidy, 1/3 from private donors and non-box-office commercial activity and the remaining 1/3 from box office. Since then, costs have shot up (for a start try heating and lighting a building that size recently), Covid created a huge revenue black hole over several years, there are loans from the government to patch over that which must be repaid, public funding has fallen significantly and will continue to fall in real terms...

As an institution it gets a lot of stick about profligacy and there probably are quite a few... generously... remunerated administrators mostly drawn from certain circles. Then there's the likes of Pappano on £1m+ a year. However, if you somehow persuaded the lot of them to work for free instead the effect would be pretty marginal. To pay hundreds of soloists, orchestral musicians, chorus, ballet corps, every kind of costume/stage/lighting/backstage artisan, all the people that make the building run etc etc is where most of £100M+ is coming from.

The only response to the notion of obtaining increased public funds in 2023 is - "Good luck with that". The remaining public funding together with all those people paying £300+ to sit downstairs for Das Rheingold are already heavily subsidising the likes of me to see (well, 80% of the stage at any rate) the same production for £20.

Realistically about the only option left to try to keep the show on the road to current standards is for them to try to maximise the box office yield by whatever means are available. They're bound to try to increase pricing as far as they can without suppressing demand to the point where box office actually falls. What viable alternatives are left?