Bloody good deal on ROH Salome

Best stalls seats for the Royal Opera House's latest Salome revival are chopped down to £65 (previously up to £120) with this Evening Standard offer, valid for performances on 8, 14 and 16 June only.

Either book online entering the code essalome before picking seats, or call the Box Office on 020 7304 4000, quoting ‘ES Salome offer’.

Comments

[Nik]

Yay! I've been waiting for this.

Just a shame that these offers are always in the stalls. I don't like sitting there at all, but I suppose it's the section they most want to fill for cosmetic reasons.

[Ed]

Thanks! I've been waiting for this too! Was hoping it would be eligible for next Tuesday, but I'm certainly not complaining..

[Edward George]

To help boost ticket sales and to give his fans a much-needed sight after the recent disappointment, may I suggest Jonas takes on the mantle of the silent executioner. I'm sure he could pull it off magnificently.

[John]

Kaspar Holten, are you reading this?

[amac]

Went last night - overall pretty good I thought. Nelsons and the orchestra were very good.

Angela Denoke was slightly better than last time round - I thought.

[Andres]

Agreed, it was a good night, Denoke gets better. They just need to, dare I say it, amplify the stairs area as Herod's first lines coming down from the dining room were nearly inaudible and the final "Kill that woman!" uttered from those steps wasn't as thundery as it should be.

[Seagirl]

Oh, bother! Why do they always make these offers at the last moment? I've already got my ticket for the 14th and it cost almost as much to sit up with the gods as it would to sit in the stalls with this offer! I'd love to sit in the stalls for a change; it's not that the amphitheatre isn't ok, but there's almost always some noisy person there (last time it was a man attending with a plastic bag at his feet, which he just couldn't let go off and he totally ruined the experience for me)! How I wish I hadn't booked anything yet....

[Frances]

Thought the orchestra sounded fab last night. Does anyone else feel they have modified the dance sequence ... I felt that it was more effective and seemed to fill the whole width of the stage this time. A pity that the movement of the "rooms" is so noisy!
*************************************
Intermezzo replies - yes, I thought the dance sequence was slightly different (simpler) - and a lot better for it

[simon]

Nothing short of thoroughly average I thought and it would be nice if they could have started it at 7:30 and allow us all to get home at a reasonable time.

[Michael (londonstuff)]

I thought it was fabulous, with this being my second viewing of it. Seven veils scene definitely simpler and I love the way they do that scene.

I can't get the code working so I may have to phone them. It accepts it but then just gives me normal price stalls' tickets.

[Frances]

I do agree. Whenever there is a shorter show without an interval the start time is moved onto 8:00pm. Presumably so that the takings from diners don't suffer (but the Salome audience didn't seem to be very keen on eating at ROH prices!). I'm sure that the majority of operagoers would prefer that the performance ended earlier but then that's not the kind of question that any of the surveys ever ask.

[Nikolaus Vogel]

The starting time is geared to the notion of the ROH as "a first-class restaurant with a nice little opera house attached". As there is no interval, those who go for evening out first and the opera second will feel they've got their money's worth.

[Justin Chapman]

Denoke gets better? Maybe flatter! Her singing was off pitch all night and towards the end I actually flinched at one of the climaxes as she missed the note by at least a semi-tone. Her phrasing was bumpy (that's being polite), intonation wayward and whilst many singers manage to hide the fact that they are having to negotiate a role that is technically beyond them, Denoke alas was unable to do this. Her singing was shocking. And the orchestra definitely could have done with some (more) rehearsals. Meh - not a patch on the 2010 revival - I just hope Denoke was having an off night. Having said that though she was better than Nadja Michael but that's not difficult.

[John]

I feel that's a bit unfair - it might be annoying for some but most people do go to the opera for 'an occasion' and probably appreciate the extra time to have a drink etc. Isn't that responding to visitors' needs? It doesn't mean the opera isn't important or that their primary concern is the food - just that people come for the whole package.

[simon]

on a separate note did any one enter the golden ticket hunt today more commonly called a load test for their new website. At least they are testing it at last.

[Frances]

Not sure how much of a load test it was. There wasn't much advance notice so I don't know how many people actually tested it. You were taken straight to the "productions" so not much downloading of pages required. I certainly experienced a long delay on first trying to get things in my basket but OK after that. Initially they did have an issue with confirmation emails not being sent out. I wondered if it was more of a dry run to see if people who hadn't investigated the new site could cope with the new seating plan. In other words a test of the friends and their browser settings!

[Nik]

Can't fault the ROH too much in that respect. I went to the Met last year to see Pique Dame. It started at 8:00 and finished close to midnight (on a Monday evening!). Not surprisingly the auditorium was pretty empty during the last act.

[Nik]

It's not an easy role to cast. Has anyone seen an all round excellent Salome in the last five years? Do they still exist?

[John]

I'd love to hear Camila Nylund in it. She has the right vocal colour and the YouTube snippet is quite intriguing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX0F1oVjrLk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[Justin Chapman]

I don't believe Nina Stemme is too shabby in the title role, and Lise Lindstrom has recently had tongues wagging...the problem with Denoke is was that she sang flat all night. It was painful...

[Miriam]

Although the surveys don't ask questions about starting and finishing times there is always a space where you can write any extra comments you like. I sometimes use this to complain about how long the intervals are in ballet performances as I would prefer shorter intervals and getting home earlier. I once attended one where there was more interval than actual performance.

[Nikolaus Vogel]

I've seen Nylund in the production made for Mattila at the Bastille - zero charisma and overparted (in that theatre anyway). Lindstrom might be a hot Salome. Amanda Echelaz got mixed reviews in Brussels. It's a really difficult role to cast these days - I'm glad to have seen Gwyneth, Leonie and Hildegard in their primes.....although they could sing flat and squawkily. I think we didn't set such high standards for those old-school divas as we do for Michael, Denoke et al. But that was because their voices were better, more individual, instruments and they had charisma and personality to spare - their flaws were outweighed by the total effect. Today we put up with Nadja's caterwauling because she looks sexy in a blood-soaked white shift.

[John]

Well, I still can't understand why we're having Deboke again. Is she really that much of a draw? I see she's Kundry at the house soon - hmmm. Will Nina Stemme ever return? I'd so love to hear her Elektra!

[SimonG]

Karita Mattila caused a sensation at the Met in 2004 and again in 2008 - though I only saw it on television.

[sub opera]

Denoke was awful last Friday (8 June). The worst sung Salome I've ever heard. She was flat more than 80% of the time. Awful beyong belief.

The house, however, gave a huge reception at the end.

[Justin Chapman]

I'm more alarmed by the reviews in the dailies - most critics giving this dreadful performance four stars, very few even bothering to mention that Denoke was flat. Did they not notice? Or have standards sunk so low these days that they felt her off-pitch singing didn't warrant a mention? Reviews on Opera Britannia and Whatsonstage.com seem far closer to the mark.