Britten Operas

[Susan de Visne]

The live cinema transmission on the 15th must be on somewhere in London, surely? (Assuming from your name that's where you are.)

[Tsaraslondon]

The live cinema transmission on the 15th must be on somewhere in London, surely? (Assuming from your name that's where you are.)

Yes I am. I'll have to check it out.

[Tsaraslondon]

The live cinema transmission on the 15th must be on somewhere in London, surely? (Assuming from your name that's where you are.)

Thanks for the tip, Susan. It's showing at the Barbican Centre in London on March 15th.

[Anne]

Thanks for the tip, Susan. It's showing at the Barbican Centre in London on March 15th.

I'd assume that at the same place on 3/22 Tristan und Isolde will also be shown from the Met.  April 5 will be La Boheme.  April 26 will be La Fille du Regiment.

[Tsaraslondon]

I'd assume that at the same place on 3/22 Tristan und Isolde will also be shown from the Met.  April 5 will be La Boheme.  April 26 will be La Fille du Regiment.

Yes indeed.

[knight66]

And in the cinema near to me it costs £25 a ticket. I will not be paying £50 for two of us to watch a film any time soon. I gather the price in the US is about 22 Dollars.

Mike

[karlhenning]

And in the cinema near to me it costs £25 a ticket.

Woof!

[bhodges]

And in the cinema near to me it costs £25 a ticket. I will not be paying £50 for two of us to watch a film any time soon. I gather the price in the US is about 22 Dollars.

Mike

That is a bit weird, why it's so expensive...although I suppose £25--even £50--is cheaper than a flight here.    PS, and during the week, you can go to the actual, real-life opera house...for $15.

--Bruce

[karlhenning]

Oh, moderators tormenting fellow moderators . . . to think I should see the day! . . .

[knight66]

That is a bit weird, why it's so expensive...although I suppose £25--even £50--is cheaper than a flight here.    PS, and during the week, you can go to the actual, real-life opera house...for $15.

--Bruce

Now let me think about this. Swimming is excelent exercise and it is free.  I could get to NY by...........when is there to be a revival?

Mike

[bhodges]

Oh, moderators tormenting fellow moderators . . . to think I should see the day! . . .

Now let me think about this. Swimming is excelent exercise and it is free.  I could get to NY by...........when is there to be a revival?

Mike

If you start today, you could probably arrive by March 24, the final performance.  I'd be happy to greet you when you swim ashore.    (Not to mention hand you a restorative brandy.)

--Bruce

[Susan de Visne]

I'm surprised that it's so expensive, but I suppose a live transmission isn't exactly a film, and everyone will have a good view. I'm going, anyway.

It's bit of a myth that opera is very expensive in Britain. People only talk about London, and then only about the very expensive seats. You could see Peter Grimes in Leeds (Opera North, excellent - I've seen it) for £9.50, and the cheap seats at the Royal Opera House in London are even cheaper - £6 for Eugene Onegin.

[Tsaraslondon]

I'm surprised that it's so expensive, but I suppose a live transmission isn't exactly a film, and everyone will have a good view. I'm going, anyway.

It's bit of a myth that opera is very expensive in Britain. People only talk about London, and then only about the very expensive seats. You could see Peter Grimes in Leeds (Opera North, excellent - I've seen it) for £9.50, and the cheap seats at the Royal Opera House in London are even cheaper - £6 for Eugene Onegin.

Yes, but in the cheap seats at Covent Garden, you can only see about a tenth of the stage. You might as well stay at home and listen to it on the radio. Even the mid price seats only offer a semi- restricted view. To get a really good view, you need to be paying around £100 or more. Designers and directors these days only ever seem to sit in the expensive seats, and never give sight lines a second thought. With Covent Garden's horseshoe shape, this means that even in a quite expensive seat part of the way round the side of the shoe, you can miss any scene that is played on your side of the stage if the singers are placed a little too far back. As directors these days only ever seem to sit in the same seat in the mid stalls, it never occurs to them, especially if, fashionably these days, they have come from the world of cinema rather than theatre.

[Susan de Visne]

Yes, I know the very cheap seats at Covent Garden have a restricted view, but nevertheless you can be there, and feel the atmosphere, and hear the music without the intervention of radio. The cheapest seats I've ever sat in are the Amphitheatre ones, but last time I went I sat in a Balcony seat, perfect view and definitely not £100 - I've never paid that, even in the Stalls. Thomas Ades's The Tempest cost me £50 in the Stalls.

There's English National Opera at the Coliseum as well, and in regional theatres. There's Sadler's Wells, sometimes. Covent Garden isn't the only place.

[Anne]

At the live Met opera productions in our town, I overheard people talking about raising the $22 fee and someone telling them the Met had set the price.

I did discover a cheaper price near St. Louis, Mo. - like $15 or $17.  Maybe that was geared to the cost of living in that town or the theater owner lowered the price as he feared the tickets would not sell otherwise?  

[Tsaraslondon]

Yes, I know the very cheap seats at Covent Garden have a restricted view, but nevertheless you can be there, and feel the atmosphere, and hear the music without the intervention of radio. The cheapest seats I've ever sat in are the Amphitheatre ones, but last time I went I sat in a Balcony seat, perfect view and definitely not £100 - I've never paid that, even in the Stalls. Thomas Ades's The Tempest cost me £50 in the Stalls.

There's English National Opera at the Coliseum as well, and in regional theatres. There's Sadler's Wells, sometimes. Covent Garden isn't the only place.

Of course The Royal Opera does charge a lot less for contemporary operas, in the hope of luring in audiences (though it doesn't always work), but to see, say, the recent La Traviata, a decent seat would cost you at least around the £100 mark. Incidentally, as a student, I used to go to Covent Garden quite regularly and sit in the amphitheatre, which was comfortably within my student budget. but, taking a look at the current Salome, for instance, a seat in row G of the side section would be £41, which isn't exactly cheap.

At the Coliseum, I have a different problem. My hearing isn't that great, and, the acoustics not being all they might be, I find that I can only hear certain singers from the Orchestra Stalls or Dress Circle. Consequently I only go when I am lucky enough to be offered a complimentary ticket, which, fortunately, does happen from time to time.

[knight66]

I do recall going to a performance of Dutchman and from the Gods, all I saw of him for the entire last act was his feet and up to knees. No doubt the stalls were getting a coplete picture.

Mike

[bhodges]

Photos from the new Peter Grimes, here.  Apparently the news of the day is that the final image was removed after opening night, for all subsequent performances.  The wooden walls part to reveal a white-lit stage, with a steel catwalk upon which were perched about 20 people posing (as one person said) "like an ad for The Gap." 

Interesting that such a huge change was made so swiftly, but I guess the comments were mostly negative.

--Bruce

[(poco) Sforzando]

Photos from the new Peter Grimes, here.  Apparently the news of the day is that the final image was removed after opening night, for all subsequent performances.  The wooden walls part to reveal a white-lit stage, with a steel catwalk upon which were perched about 20 people posing (as one person said) "like an ad for The Gap." 

Interesting that such a huge change was made so swiftly, but I guess the comments were mostly negative.

--Bruce

The biggest complaint I've heard so far concerns the set. Just what is that monstrosity at stage rear supposed to be - mid-rise apartments come to the Borough?

[bhodges]

My take (just a guess): it was an attempt to vault the story and its aftermath into some kind of "we are all complicit--all members of that little fishing village, even today" sort of thing.  It's not the most original idea, but I bought it.  But now it appears that scene will only live on in the minds of those in the audience last Wednesday.

PS, I've been looking for a photo of the removed scene...if I can find one I'll post it.

--Bruce