As Anna Netrebko's great fan Carlos kindly informs below, not only was Anna Netrebko found in the least glamorous of the Royal Opera House's bars at last night's Don Carlo premiere, she even sat in the cheap seats!
Seats in amphitheatre row B, from where Carlos says she watched her old mate Rolando Villazón bringing down the house, cost less than a quarter of the posh ones downstairs.
The seats are narrow and armless, the legroom limited. If Anna found herself sitting next to anyone vaster than Kylie Minogue, she would have had to squeeze her dainty elbows into her hugely pregnant belly all night.
And from that distance, if Rolando had wrinkled his nose adorably in her direction, there's not a chance in hell she would have spotted it without binoculars.
But the acoustics are vastly superior to those in the expensive boxes - indeed many including myself believe the amphitheatre front rows have the best sound in the house. Anna, surely, could have bagged herself a freebie in any seat she wanted. But she chose instead to sit with the people who come to every show, and experience the Pappano magic at its most awesome. Respect!
(Any further Anna sightings last night? Let me know!)
I don't want to detract form the fact that Anna was sat in the ampitheatre but for the record a Row B Ampitheatre seat for Don Carlo costs £73 compared with £190 in most of the Orchestra Stalls. I guess this could have been different on the opening night 'gala' where people should obviously be expected to pay more cause they may sit next to Anna Netrebko! Oh why didn't I buy B59?
Prices at Covent Garden vary by evening and matinee and by the production. Relative to the top stalls seats the top ampitheatre seats get more expensive the cheaper the overall production. So ampitheatre/stalls was 38% for Don Carlo (£73/£190), 41% for Tosca (£71/£175), 45% for Simon Boccanegra (£63/£239) and 77% for The Minotaur (£50/£65). Looked at the other way, stalls seats (as well as being cheaper on the night) are better value relative to elsewhere in the house when the overall show is cheaper.
Posted by: Dogbrook | 09 June 2008 at 12:43 PM
Only the very central row B seats cost £73. The other 3/4 of the row cost £29 or £50. I don't know which seat Anna was in. But if she was up there for the sound (and I can't imagine any other reason why she'd want to sweat it out) it may have been the cheapest ones (front sides have the best acoustics IMHO). That's what I was basing my pricing comment on.
(http://info.royaloperahouse.org/AfcStyle/DocumentDownload.cfm?DType=DocumentItem&Document=NEW_Price_Chart_0708III.pdf if you're interested)
The decisions behind ROH pricing remain a mystery to me......
Posted by: inter mezzo | 09 June 2008 at 02:24 PM
I was incredibly lucky and found a return in row A of the amphitheatre, left off-centre, for £50. The sound was fantastic, though it was only my second time in the amphitheatre.. I'm thin, but I still find it a squeeze! I saw a slightly pregnant lady - central amphitheatre row B - thought she looked like Netrebko, but didn't really think more about, assuming that the management would never dare to put her anywhere besides the stalls/boxes/grand tier! She seems to be in London quite a bit then - I spotted her a few rows away from me earlier this year at Barenboim's Beethoven sonata cycle.
Posted by: Ed | 09 June 2008 at 09:47 PM
Will anybody commit to record the TV broadcast of Schönbrunn concert with Netrebko, Domingo and Villazon - Friday June 27 - ORF 2 (or ZDF) 21h 15 to 23h 15 ?
If there is a (wonderful) possibility to get it, please let me know.
Thanks from an "unfortunate" French woman
Catherine
Posted by: catherine | 25 June 2008 at 05:57 PM