ROH Fidelio

[Ein Heldenleben]

I see there’s some press criticism ( Rupert C in the Telegraph to be specific ) that tickets for the above largely sold out to Friends’ before going on sale . I didn’t buy any at either the Friends Package or Friends general stage because
- there’s a cinema relay
- paying £200 plus to hear Kaufman sing one aria and a couple of ensembles is a bit steep.
When you add on travel , hotel and meals the cost for me is pushing £800...

RC is right - the ROH is a club but only for the one or two operas a year ( last season it was Forza Del Destino ) that everyone wants a ticket for . The next “must have “ will be Netrebko in Tosca ...

[gurnemanz]

I see there’s some press criticism ( Rupert C in the Telegraph to be specific ) that tickets for the above largely sold out to Friends’ before going on sale . I didn’t buy any at either the Friends Package or Friends general stage because
- there’s a cinema relay
- paying £200 plus to hear Kaufman sing one aria and a couple of ensembles is a bit steep.
When you add on travel , hotel and meals the cost for me is pushing £800...

RC is right - the ROH is a club but only for the one or two operas a year ( last season it was Forza Del Destino ) that everyone wants a ticket for . The next “must have “ will be Netrebko in Tosca ...

We booked for this via our daughter's Friends Package (she's a ballet fan). I commented on this recently in another thread. As I said, Kaufmann was for us by no means the only reason for wishing to see this production. We do have have experience of booking for a production where he hasn't turned up. A cinema relay is for me not really a substitute if you can get to the live staging. The only such relay we've ever watched, and indeed really enjoyed, was the Met Parsifal a few years ago (also Kaufmann, as it happens).

We wouldn't pay £200. Our preference is for front Amphitheatre seats for £60-80 pounds. We paid £59 for an excellent Row D postion for recent Forza del Destino. You can easily pay this for Premier League football or West End theatre. Luckily, we can keep costs down by going by car (two hour drive from N. Wilts), taking sandwiches and not staying overnight.

There is obviously an element of injustice if access to tickets for non-subscribers is limited due to people paying to queue-jump. The same thing sometimes happens at the National Theatre - also publicly funded - and for this reason we do have a subscription there.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I agree the amphitheatre is another reasonable option and indeed I sit there ( and the lower slips ) for rehearsals. But with eyes and back not what they used to be I need to be quite a bit nearer the stage and the lack of leg room in the amphi is a problem. Still think the best overall sound is in the lower slips though....

[Barbirollians]

Sold out this morning for all performances - annoyingly it seems the customer before me bought the last 2 tickets in the balcony for the 9/3 performance !

[Ein Heldenleben]

Always worth logging on occasionally as there will be returns....

[Orphical]

I think it is becoming more difficult to obtain tickets for high profile or in demand productions at ROH. I would go to CG more often but travel from Edinburgh and accommodation costs limit my attempts. I was a friend about 20 odd years ago and remember hearing Pavarotti, Caballe, Carreras and others and having very few problems obtaining tickets. Domingo, even then was always a little more difficult. Now there are too many tiers of membership that even the most basic friends level often seem to struggle. This can’t be fair?

[Stanfordian]

I see there’s some press criticism ( Rupert C in the Telegraph to be specific ) that tickets for the above largely sold out to Friends’ before going on sale . I didn’t buy any at either the Friends Package or Friends general stage because
- there’s a cinema relay
- paying £200 plus to hear Kaufman sing one aria and a couple of ensembles is a bit steep.
When you add on travel , hotel and meals the cost for me is pushing £800...

RC is right - the ROH is a club but only for the one or two operas a year ( last season it was Forza Del Destino ) that everyone wants a ticket for . The next “must have “ will be Netrebko in Tosca ...

Hello Heldenleben,

At your potential outlay the cinema relay seems a must.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Yes : but still going to Otello, Jenufa, Tristan ,Tosca and Elektra which , even though it’s cinema relayed is on so rarely I don’t want to miss a live performance. It is these days just about my only extravagance ....