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Top Opera House tickets hit £210 to pay for lower prices in the gods
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent19.03.08
Top prices at the Royal Opera House are rising to £210 for the hottest productions featuring stars such as Bryn Terfel.
The new pricing announced today is not the highest ever but is an increase on this season. Chief executive Tony Hall said: "What we're doing, bluntly, is taking what we think we can get from certain performances to make sure we can keep prices as low as we can in as much of the opera house as we can."
The most expensive seats are balanced by 40 per cent of the main house being available for £30 or less. The ROH is also aiming to make ballet and opera more widely available. Tory donor Lord Laidlaw and his wife are funding family performances with a £20 maximum price.
The ROH will also beam operas and ballets into cinemas. It has struck a deal with chains including Odeon and City Screen Picturehouse to show works, starting with The Marriage of Figaro next month.
The new season will see the return of some of the hottest young stars, including Juan Diego Flórez, the Peruvian tenor who received rave reviews for La fille du régiment last season, Rolando Villazón and Anna Netrebko.
Terfel, one of Britain's most popular singers, will be in The Flying Dutchman at Covent Garden for the first time. He will also return to the part of Scarpia in Tosca.
A new work, in the studio theatre, will be Ian McEwan's first opera, For You, written with Michael Berkeley.
The dance programme includes six full-length classical ballets and five triple bills, including Tamara Rojo dancing with Edward Watson for the first time and the first stage designs by artist Julian Opie.
The ROH orchestra will also be getting out of its pit for concert performances of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem and Verdi's Requiem.
Reader views (2)
I have been lucky enough to see nearly all the ROH's productions either through buying tickets on-line or previously through the ballot system. At no time have I paid more than £16.00 for a ticket and although being up in the gods does not give a close up view the acoustics are marvellous and the atmosphere terrific. I have enjoyed every performance and would rather see them from a cheap seat than not at all. So stop moaning - the ROH is not only for the elite it is available for everybody. You wouldn't expect to eat caviare so be satisfied with the cheaper seats. Book on-line as I do and enjoy. A marvellous experience everybody can and should participate in.
- Wendy Cotier, W7 London
This is totally outrageous !
Anyone who has been lucky enough to get any ticket for the Royal Opera House will know that often the 'top price seats' are sold to Corporate types - some who often don't even turn up - leaving empty seats that could be filled with genuine opera devotees (and more importantly devotees who can't stump up the 3 figure ticket prices!).
Whatever happened to the Lottery Funded initiative? Haven't we all already made a sizeable contribution to this venue? Shouldn't everyone have the chance to see what is available at present to the 'chosen few'?
Furthermore - given the state of the City and Banking Companies - what will the ROH do when these benefactors stop buying their corporate 'beanos' and the whole area of the stalls are empty and unsold?
- Padraigh Turlough, Crystal Palace, London
