It's not often ENO flog off first night tickets cheap, but via Time Out you can see the UK premiere of Weinberg's The Passenger for just £24 (Dress Circle) or £12 (Upper Circle). You will be sent a voucher by email, which you then print off and exchange for a ticket at the box office.
*Move quickly - offer expires at midnight today, Saturday 17th now extended to midnight Sunday 18th *
If you miss this one, don't worry - judging by the swathes of unsold seats for every performance there'll be more deals soon.
grrrh - was hanging on for an offer but bought full price tickets this morning. I would not be a decent poker player but happy to support ENO in the wonderful venture - and if Weinberg is not a familiar name, check out his scores on the rather wonderful Russian Winnie-the-Pooh on YouTube.
Posted by: Rabbie | 17 September 2011 at 02:47 PM
Are there swathes? It doesn't look like it from the "book now" on the ENO site. I do hope not, such a wonderful opera it'd be a shame if it wasn't a commercial success for them
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Intermezzo replies - at the time of writing there are 950ish tickets for the first night, 1400 for the second, 1300 for the third, etc.
Capacity is 2358 - do the maths....
I have to add that your opinion of the opera wasn't shared by all reviewers who saw this production in Bregenz, which could be part of the problem.
Posted by: Dumbledad.wordpress.com | 17 September 2011 at 05:02 PM
I am so sorry to read that ENO cannot fill up the house by presenting a wonderful opera, by a composer who is 1000 times better than cheesy Puccini, and in a superb production... while the Royal Opera House is selling like mad all the garbage they present throughout the season (modulo about 20% of the program that is relatively decent.)
Conservatism of operagoers keeps opera stuck in the dead-art category. Luckily there are still some places that resist -- ENO being one of them. For how long, I wonder...
Posted by: opera-cake | 17 September 2011 at 08:28 PM
The Time Out offer is valid until midnight Sunday, not midnight Saturday as stated (I've just taken advantage of it!)
It will be a great pity if ENO lose money on this. It's a brave, but hugely commendable, piece of programming.
Posted by: Alan Trench | 18 September 2011 at 06:15 PM
"a composer who is 1000 times better than cheesy Puccini..." Oh, purleaze - that kind of juvenile snobbery went out of fashion in the 1970s. There's a reason why "cheesy" Puccini is played by every self-respecting opera-house in the world. Weinberg is an interesting, but third-rate composer- his symphonies and quartets are well-crafted, but his operas...well, let's say dramatic construction wasn't his forte. The Passenger has its moments, but they are just that, moments which hardly add up to a compelling whole, and the music is wafer thin.
Posted by: Nikolaus Vogel | 20 September 2011 at 01:18 AM
@Nikolaus
Well said!
It would appear the critics are far less generous than you about Weinberg's abilities too.
Posted by: Simon | 21 September 2011 at 01:23 PM