Modern presentation

[Retune]

So a fellow Wimbledon / Wagner fan …excellent. They have so much in common of course (seriously ) not least the length , the heroism , the sudden reversal of fortune.
Have to say I’m recoiling at £230 for the cheapest stalls tickets for Die Walküre but , like Wimbledon , how many have I got left?
There is a theory that losing out on the ballot leaves you better placed on the returns for the days and courts you really want.I could well have ended up with court 3 on a rainy day.
As you may well be aware Covent Garden once had a ballot system for popular performances like Wagner and in my view it was much fairer and less time consuming than the infuriating internet booking we have now.

I'd say the 2019 Djokovic-Federer final was a greater tragedy than the last act of Götterdämmerung - Federer losing after having two match points on his own serve must be worse than being stabbed in the back by Hagen...

In a way, it's odd how >£200 Covent Garden tickets seem so expensive, though you could pay much the same for other high profile entertainment, whether it's Wimbledon or a major pop act. I think the generally moderate pricing of other classical music events and knowing that there are decent seats towards the front of the Ampitheatre for half the price tend to reset my expectations.

I seem to remember queuing outside Covent Garden in the 90s for some sort of priority booking - wasn't there at one time a mailing list you could sign up for that was cheaper than joining the Friends, but still gave you a level of priority? I also liked the old, civilised system at the Proms - mail in your choices, and wait to hear what you got without spending a couple of hours online on a Saturday morning struggling with the Albert Hall's overloaded booking system. It baffles me why they can't emulate the old system electronically and auto-submit the Proms Planner without customer intervention.

[french frank]

But a gold star to FF for the rather 'de haut en bas' opening sentence!

I caught that from Richard Hoggart on the subject of R3! But it makes some sort of sense, to me at least, because I'm into categorisation (as distinct from pigeonholing). I'm certain that there is excellent pop music but its excellence is no substitute if you're after classical music.

I prefer ordinary, even mediocre, classical music, so a programme of progressive rock may be excellent 'of its kind' but I wouldn't give it the time of day - unless perhaps it was an illustrative speech programme about prog rock which I might listen to in order to expand my knowledge. But where ignorance is bliss ...

[AuntDaisy]

...
I prefer ordinary, even mediocre, classical music, so a programme of progressive rock may be excellent 'of its kind' but I wouldn't give it the time of day - unless perhaps it was an illustrative speech programme about prog rock which I might listen to in order to expand my knowledge. But where ignorance is bliss ...

R3 has "The Listening Service", just waiting for you...

I had to look up 'de haut en bas' - FoR3 is always educational.

[LMcD]

[QUOTE=Retune;n1321616]

In a way, it's odd how >£200 Covent Garden tickets seem so expensive, though you could pay much the same for other high profile entertainment, whether it's Wimbledon or a major pop act. I think the generally moderate pricing of other classical music events and knowing that there are decent seats towards the front of the Ampitheatre for half the price tend to reset my expectations

In December 1963, I paid 8/6d (42.5p) to see The Beatles. In November 1969 it cost us 17 shillings (85p) each to see the RPO at the Royal Festival Hall (soloist Christoph Eschenbach). In January 2020, as part of our Golden Wedding celebrations, we returned to the RFH, paying £12 per person to see the Philharmonia. The tickets for the Wigmore Hall lunchtime concert the following Monday were £16 each. I thought at the time, and still think, that these prices were pretty reasonable.

[Retune]

In December 1963, I paid 8/6d (42.5p) to see The Beatles. In November 1969 it cost us 17 shillings (85p) each to see the RPO at the Royal Festival Hall (soloist Christoph Eschenbach). In January 2020, as part of our Golden Wedding celebrations, we returned to the RFH, paying £12 per person to see the Philharmonia. The tickets for the Wigmore Hall lunchtime concert the following Monday were £16 each. I thought at the time, and still think, that these prices were pretty reasonable.

I think most classical concerts even at the big venues in London remain remarkably good value. In the cheap seats at the RFH or the Barbican or the Proms, you can see an orchestra and often a soloist of international stature for about the same as it would cost to go to an indie gig in a room above a pub. The ROH can look expensive compared to this, but even there you can usually find very decent sub-£100 seats if you book early, and given the costs of production we should probably be comparing it with something like a West End musical, where the posh seats for the top shows can be in the £300 range, not to mention what people are now paying to see Oasis or Taylor Swift or a Premier League football match.

[LMcD]

I think most classical concerts even at the big venues in London remain remarkably good value. In the cheap seats at the RFH or the Barbican or the Proms, you can see an orchestra and often a soloist of international stature for about the same as it would cost to go to an indie gig in a room above a pub. The ROH can look expensive compared to this, but even there you can usually find very decent sub-£100 seats if you book early, and given the costs of production we should probably be comparing it with something like a West End musical, where the posh seats for the top shows can be in the £300 range, not to mention what people are now paying to see Oasis or Taylor Swift or a Premier League football match.

The Philharmonia have reduced their cheapest tickets to £10 for some concerts. The 'best seats in the house' start at £65.