Mythbusting: Debunking the idea that trips to the ROH have to cost the earth
In the light of a recent Time Out article, why opera and ballet can be for all.
Following a recent article in Time Out which mentioned the high price of coming to the Royal Opera House, we thought we’d take a look at the various ways that you can come to Covent Garden and see world class opera, ballet and music without having to break the bank, dispelling a few myths along the way:
True, opera and ballet can be expensive. This is due to the scale of the task of staging such art forms: the Royal Opera House is a large building, it has a resident ballet company, orchestra and chorus; employs a huge team of essential behind the scenes staff from technical to props to costume departments; and brings the finest international artists to perform in Covent Garden. That said, helped by the support of the Arts Council, Friends of Covent Garden and many other sponsors and philanthropists, it doesn’t have to be expensive and it’s easier than ever before to find tickets and events to suit tighter budgets.
At the Royal Opera House 40% of tickets to main stage productions are priced at £40 or less, considerably less than Premier League Football tickets can cost and for that price you get a full orchestra and some of the world’s top opera singers and ballet dancers. Ticket prices needn’t be expensive with opera seats starting at £4 and ballet at £5. In fact this season 175,000 tickets will be priced at £30 or below.
If you want the best seats in the house, prices can be easy on the wallet too; the top tickets for our upcoming triple bill featuring works by top British choreographic talent – Wayne McGregor, Christopher Wheeldon and Liam Scarlett – are priced at just £37.50 with opera-goers able to get the best seats for The Minotaur for £65. We also heavily subsidize tickets for some groups such as students, who have access to £10 Student Standby tickets, and newcomers who are able to attend our family-friendly Welcome Performances and other events.
For those who prefer their opera and ballet with a side order of popcorn, it’s likely that wherever you are in the UK, you’ll have a cinema showing live relays of our productions each month. Our Cinema Season starts on 23 October with a live relay of Swan Lake.
Subscribers to the adage that “the best things in life are free” are catered for too. Our annual trio of BP Summer Big Screen events beam opera and ballet live around the country and we also have regular Monday lunchtime recitals, free concerts by the stars of tomorrow – the Jette Parker Young Artists – and the annual Deloitte Ignite Festival of contemporary work. For those online, last Season we broadcast a whole day of behind the scenes access, talks and rehearsals via YouTube as part of Royal Ballet LIVE. So far, over one million have watched footage from the day.
So you see, seeing world class work at the Royal Opera House needn’t cost the earth; a visit to the ROH can be cheap or expensive, but it is an experience open to everyone.
I am so glad that you are spelling this out! I am sick to death of people telling me that opera and ballet are elitist, and that seats are ridiculously expensive. It is completely untrue.
I watch the Royal Ballet most weeks when they perform, and, with side stalls circle seats at around £10- £15, I am paying only 25% to 38% of the price of a premier league football ticket. Sometimes I am even paying more for my tube ticket into Covent Garden and back than I am for a ticket to see a world-class ballet company.!
When I say I go to Covent Garden for £15, people are astonished. I wish everyone could know that you can watch ballet and opera cheaply - there is so much prejudice about the established arts at the moment. Thank you for these wonderful value seats - and please continue to sell them!
"Opera is an art form that has the power to deeply move and captivate its audience, and despite the popular misconceptions, it is for everyone"
No, opera most definitely is NOT for everyone.
Opera requires a degree of focus and concentration and a willingness to subsume oneself in the art form. Opera will never, ever be a medium of wide popularity. Its appreciation and love will always be confined to a relatively narrow segment of the population. Why? Because listening to and assimilating the great masterpieces requires a level of commitment and patience that most people are not prepared to give (or, more likely, interested in giving).
I have to disagree with you completely. Having sat in the back of a schools matinee at the ROH I am entirely convinced that in the right atmosphere opera is for everyone. These children were young, but from the moment the conductor walked out the majority of them were transfixed. Yeah they weren't taken by that particular Oboe line, or that in joke about the composer but they were following the story and enjoying the music from both orchestra and singers.
My dad never seen an Opera before I took him to Francesca da Rimini
at Opera Holland Park and he was absolutely blown away by it. He isn't musical at all, he wouldn't know his Wagner from his Puccini and he probably thinks, "Nessun Dorma," is about football, but when the performance started he followed it fine, he got the story he got the characters and he loved the music. How arrogant to assume that "most people" won't have the concentration to follow an opera.
Check YouTube for peoples reactions to Opera flashmobs people love it. The challange to the industry is how do you fight the stigma that opera currently has, one you get in the door the art form speaks for itself and can reach everyone.
Like anything the more you know about Opera the more you get from it but that's not to say that someone can't enjoy it if they are not used to it. The "it's not for the masses" mantra is self perpetuating, people won't come if try don't feel welcome.
Opera isn't as popular as it could be, but the fault there lies with the Opera establishment, not the people who are not watching.
If your comment, Nicholas M. is intended to keep the 'plebs' out of 'your' Opera House, well done. This is exactly the elitism problem - it's not the ticket prices, it's the minority of audience members like you.
It IS an art form for everyone, and we don't need your instructions on how properly to appreciate it.
I would recommend anyone to go to an opera, and with such affordable ticket prices pretty much anyone can.
I went to see the ballet Nutcracker with my daughter. We sat in the slips for £8 each as that is all we could afford. really enjoyed it although it was impossible to see all the stage.
When I was at the ballet a few months ago in seats costing £10 or £12 (front of amphitheatre, not slips) a woman behind me told her companion that she found it cheaper to go to the ballet than to stay at home. (I don't think people would say that about the opera though.)
Thank you for spreading the word about what great value ballet and opera tickets are.
I saw a wonderful mixed programme of contemporary ballet in the main hall last night, which was both exquisitely danced and very moving...all for £11.
My colleagues at work cannot believe how reasonable the prices are.
David
PS Nicholas, scholars of the history of opera tell me it has been, and continues to be, quite a popular art form in Italy. So, far from 'never, ever be[ing] a medium of wide popularity' it has been and is.
I have not yet seen an opera at ROH (though have seen the Barber of Seville at Royal Albert Hall) but I have seen countless ballets, getting hooked a couple of years back when still a student.
I've sat pretty much everywhere and while certain seats don't afford the best views, it's worth it every time for the brilliant atmosphere and exquisite dancing.
Though I'm not the target audience anymore for the student standby scheme, it is evident, along with efforts made to attract more families, that ROH takes the issue of encouraging everyone to feel welcome, seriously so, in true end-of-show style, bravo!
Well said Helen...SO true !
( a 'culture pleb' with frugal pockets)
My last opera cost me £8 and my next one is costing me £12. I recently saw the entire Ring Cycle for just £44 for four operas over four nights. A couple of Fridays ago I got a last minuet £10 ticket to see Swan Lake. I think the ROH actually offers one of the best value nights out in London! I recently decided against going to see a West End musical because the cheapest tickets where £45...
I certainly don't agree that House prices contribute to elitism in opera. Has anyone tried getting tickets for a Madonna or Kylie concert lately? VIP seats run into the £thousands (a concept unknown to our beloved, proletarian Royal Opera House!!) and I'm sure you'd be hard pressed to get a seat for less that £20...
I think there is a wider problem in the UK in that audiences of live performance seem increasingly unaware of the right way to behave in auditoria, often regarding their seat as an extension of their living room. I've heard people carrying on conversations during theatre, cinema, and even opera performances with no regard for their fellow patrons. I fear that education is failing to expose younger people to live performance of all kinds and the correct etiquette that goes with it.
Its ridiculous that pop acts and other bands get none of the 'its too expensive' press coverage when tickets to those are far more expensive than the majority of opera, ballet, or classical concert tickets.
I totally agree that opera is for everyone. We in India are an audience/market that is just waiting to be tapped. Metropolitan Opera has already begun HD screen performances to much acclaim, and it would be great it Covent Garden ROH did this too, and onto more screens across the country. More and more of us love opera and ballet every day!
http://luisdias.wordpress.com/2012/10/11/yay-its-beginning-to-happen/
I spent a few years in prison as a teenager, love my football, and have the attention span of a 3 year old, but I love the opera and ballet. Seeing the opening 15 minutes of Act III in Die Walkure recently, was really one of the highlights of my life so far - and I was transfixed for almost the entire of Swan Lake, and also loved the recent gala. I'm not speaking for everyone, but opera is for me, and it is very affordable to someone on an average wage. Some people on average and low wages pay £35-40 a month for their phone! Don't complain that you can't afford the ROH if you p*** your money up the wall on a phone. La Scala's prices have gone up 12% this season, and most musicals and other music industries in London are run through investment for profit - this is not the case for ROH - the profit is found in those that go to see it, and what they take away.
As someone who attends virtually everything at the ROH, I'm not going to disagree with much published here. However, there is a related issue to the price and that is there availability. I usually use the Stalls Circle Standing places; like other good budget options, they are excellent value but few in number and so sell very quickly. Who does the ROH think is free to wait either online, on the phone or in person for hours on a working day to buy tickets? Is it beyond the wit of human reason to understand that, whilst no option is ideal for everyone, it is surely fairer for the ordinary person to open booking at weekends? Even as a Supporting Friend, waiting times online of an hour and a half are by no means uncommon and so completely unrealistic at work.
Dear Ian
What you refer to sounds like the old system of the ROH waiting room, where periods of high demand were dealt with on the website through people joining an online queue. Now that we have a new ticketing system you should be able to buy tickets in a matter of minutes.
Best wishes
Ellen