Ouch and Awww at the Royal Opera House
by Zoe Strimpel
Fri, 21 Mar 2008 at 12:17 PM
In a move that combines a pained "ouch" with an admiring "awww," the Royal Opera House is to jack up the prices of its top-drawer seats to a whopping £210 ("ouch"). The rationale, according to the head of the ROH, Tony Hall, is to make other seats cheaper for those who would not otherwise be able to afford to the see best warbling in town ("awww").
The new top price — up from £190 — takes the ROH into an unprecedented range. Even at £190 per ticket, Glyndebourne (Britain's deluxe opera company, famous for its summer season in Brighton), the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and La Scala in Milan fell short. Last season the ROH charged £213 for some seats at its Ring Cycle — but hey, the four operas lasted a total of 18 hours.
Mr. Hall said that a quarter of the House's tickets would cost £30 pounds or less, and more than half will cost £50. This, he was quoted as saying in the Guardian, is "bloody brilliant compared with football."
There are only three operas next season which will carry the top price — "La Traviata," "Tosca," and "Der Fliegende Holländer" ("The Flying Dutchman").
London Arts & Letters Homepage
|
Print
Send
RSS
