Royal Opera embroiled in elitist ticket row
Fury as members snap up most seats for must-see show with just ‘hundreds’ left for the general public
THE Royal Opera House has found itself in the midst of a ticket row after the majority of seats for next year’s must-see show sold out the day before they go on general sale.
For six nights in March 2020, the British home of opera is set to host more than 13,000 people for Beethoven’s Fidelio staring “the world’s greatest tenor” Jonas Kaufmann.
But only “hundreds” of tickets have been kept back for general sale, which starts today, after the majority were sold to members, known as Friends of Covent Garden, leaving little chance for ordinary opera lovers to experience the “hotly anticipated” performance.
Membership packages for the Opera House range from £105 to £2,500 a year, and allow access to advanced tickets for Fidelio – costing up to £275 each – seven weeks before the public.
The move has attracted criticism from those within the industry as the Royal Opera House is heavily subsidised by taxpayers through Arts Council England, receiving more than £25million in public funding per year.
Announcing two years ago that it would continue to receive Government funding until 2022, the Opera House said it wanted to use the money to “enable as many people as possible to participate in our work”.
John Allison, editor of Opera magazine, described the situation as “alienating” for opera fans who cannot afford a membership, adding: “Ordinary opera lovers won’t be able to get near these tickets and it raises all the old questions of accessibility of opera houses and their tier schemes.
“I think it’s rather sad that Covent Garden are doing this and alienating everybody else.
“Normally these schemes work, but when members of ‘the club’ have access to tickets that others don’t, it doesn’t look good. This show is probably the most hotly anticipated production of the season.”
The news comes after another production starring Kaufmann – where reportedly fewer than 100 tickets went on public sale – was criticised earlier this year when stall seats were resold on ticketing website Viagogo for up to £3,500 each. The face value for the taxpayer-subsidised seat was £125.
“It will be interesting to see what happens to these [Beethoven’s Fidelio] tickets nearer the time next year,” Mr Allison said.
Last night, opera fans described the ticketing arrangement as elitist.
“I just think this is absolutely appalling, I can’t say how angry I am,” Penelope Simpson, 55, a writer from Dorset, told the Evening Standard. “I really hate this behaviour and not just because I want to see Fidelio, but because
I want to trust a place I love and where I have spent tens of thousands of pounds over the years.”
The Royal Opera House last night refused to say precisely how many tickets would be available to the general public today, only stating “hundreds”.
“There will be hundreds of tickets available across many different price bands when public booking opens for
Fidelio tomorrow morning. Following this, tickets will be available through our Friday Rush ticket scheme….the production will also be relayed live to 1,500 cinemas across the globe on March 17.”
The Covent Garden institution, which has a capacity of 2,256, will host the performances on six evenings from March 1 to 17.