La Rondine cut further

Top price tickets for the Royal Opera House's La Rondine are now down from £225 to £65, beating the earlier discounts by £10.

The Travelzoo offer covers stalls, stalls circle, and grand tier box seats, and it's valid for matinees on 13 and 21 July only. Book online using the code tzoo. 

Comments

[regkarpf]

So now, not only the people who paid full price will be unhappy, but the ones who paid £75 as well. This is customer satisfaction, ROH-style.

Still, it gives rise to an amusing new game. At Boccanegra last Monday I made sure to place my £85 Evening Standard front row stalls circle ticket visibly on the fingerboard as I sat down, provoking predictable indignation from the couple(2 x £150) next to me. What fun!

[Davelismore]

In fact, the indignation of those who paid full price is the one factor likely to curb the ROH marketing dept from making these offers too frequently in the future.

[inter mezzo]

That sounds logical, but in fact they'd far rather fill the seats, make the money, and bear the burden of customer wrath. They've been discounting like this for years, as have 99% of West End theatres. Right or wrong, it's an accepted way to fill houses these days.

[Siggy]

Glad I held out until ROH saw sense and discounted some Angela performances. Mind you, I'm not really expecting her to turn up as I've booked the final matinee performance on the 21st. I'll be more than happy if Charles Castronovo turns up and whoever they've got on standby for AG.

[Siggy]

And I see rather belatedly than ROH are contacting Friends who already have an amphitheatre ticket for these performances, a free upgrade to the orchestra stalls.

Desperate times indeed!

[michael]

from the headline i thought that the tenor aria from act 1 was going to be cut. my first encounters with "rondine" never included it and consequently i've never reconciled with it. perhaps its prejudice but i don't feel its musically impressive and it seems to impede the dramatic flow. not really all that knowledgeable about the text, but it does seem strange as this is his first time in parigi that he is espousing its virtues. can anyone explain when and why (if indeed it was not there originally) it was added?

[SJT]

She sang at the Dress on Tuesday, sort of. Mucho marko, alas. What was in staggeringly abundant supply was her cleavage, more than you'd see in a cat house..

[John]

If I remember correctly, it was a song Puccini published during the war which eventually made its way into the opera to provide an aria for the tenor. The booklet to the Pappano recording explains all!

[John]

Not just marked tonight - also transposed down (in her opening aria at least). I found that less bothersome than the way she coo'd and crooned her way through most of it, singing to an imaginary microphone rather than out to the audience. Castronovo was a solid Ruggiero and Armiliato kept things moving - a good performance but not remarkable. She didn't look happy at the curtain call, despite a warm ovation.

[John]

Glad to see that John Allison has given a frank appraisal in the Telegraph of last night's poor showing from Gheorghiu. I really wonder how long she can carry on like this and still be employed - she was barely audible for most of the first two acts. The actual sound is very controlled and beautiful but it doesn't convey very much other than a lingering melancholy and projects extremely badly. This was the press night so shouldn't she at least be showing her stuff for one performance? It sounded as though she were marking for most of the evening.

[SJT]

You sound remarkably like "Capriccio" to me: and I don't mean Strauss's.

Actually, as I've written elsewhere, I don't think she WAS in tune much of the time: and certainly either missed or anticipated any number of entries in Act I. But then, I suspect that the general level of her audibility was such as to preclude definitive statements on the subject...

[John]

Well I'm certainly not Capriccio - although I did read that review in passing so I may have unintentionally mimicked the phrasing (I apologise if Capriccio is reading - I simply happen to agree with you but I didn't wish to pass off your comments as my own). Thus far every single review has pointed out Gheorghiu's substandard performance so I wonder what the chances are of her turning up today? As I mentioned above, she looked far from happy when she took her curtain call and some of the reviews have been pretty damning (I think it was The Times' critic who said he wouldn't pay £2 to hear her these days).
*******
Intermezzo replies - Really? So he'd pay £1.99 then? Wonder if the ROH will bill him for his free ticket.

[John]

Well, they could try...will Intermezzo be attending? The applause was actually quite generous so I'd be curious if disappointed, paying audience members were in the minority.

[Richard]

The Guardian makes a similar point although its more positive about the production as a whole ... "But there are also whole passages when she makes us strain to hear her - notably her Act I chatter with her three friends, very well sung by Dusica Bijelic, Hanna Hipp and Justina Gringyte, all members of the ROH's young singers' programme"

[SJT]

She sang tonight, the 8th, same semi-audible deal throughout Act I, though the way she attacked the climax(es)of "Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso" - the Act II at Bullier's re-tread of the Quando m'en vo' ensemble at Momus - was actually quite thrilling and all heroically present and correct. So she's still got it: she just can't be bothered for the most part to deploy it. Lazy ****.

MUCH more positive audience response tonight, leading to herself working the footlights from proscenium to proscenium, dragging everybody else with her, and plastering Marco Armiliato with kisses. It must have been like this watching Sarah Bernhardt circa 1905.

[John]

You went twice? To an opera you don't rate and a run which you thought was poor on the first night?

[Andres]

Oh you know SJT, always against the trends... if Gloriana is panned, he loves it; Poplavskaya was better than Harteros in Otello, Gheorghiu still has it.... It's all part of his charm.

[SJT]

Thank you.

But you overestimate the part following "trends" has ever played in my estimation of anything much. I've never penned a word about a piece having engaged in temperature-taking or prior consultation in my life, and wouldn't. What I think is what I think. What other people think, I actually don't greatly care....

I was at the Gloriana dress: I thought - and still do - that the piece is superb, and the performance thrilling (the last night on Saturday was the single most powerful experience this season has had to offer). I have loved Gloriana ever since seeing Sylvia Fisher sing the role in 1972. I think I'm allowed as much, rather than assuming I'm just reacting to current events, which in my case just take their place in the scheme of things.

If I've attended two consecutive Rondine's that is no more than happenstance. My personal booking took place before being tapped to attend the prima. And I'm going again, to hear Jaho and the new boy. As I make it perfectly clear, Tish may still have it, but the problem is, she doesn't use it.

If you weren't at the ROH last year when Popsy stood in for Harteros, then you don't know what you're talking about. I was there. I said here that the voice was largely in ruins, but that she still seized the heart and imagination in a way that the vocally exquisite but expressionless Harteros did not.

My views are based on shoving 45 years of doing this: what you or anybody else thinks is of no real interest or concern to me, and most certainly does nothing to shape them.

[Kit]

Personally I find SJT's views informed, insightful and often very funny. All you can ask for in this context.
I'm always happy to read opinions about the music and performances, less so comments about fellow guests on the site. Don't be put off SJT, and thanks to IM for providing such a great platform for comment.

[Andres]

And me too. It was just a tongue-in-cheek joke! I actually was the 'only' one defending SJT a few months back when he got a, to put it mildly, harsh comment - see towards the bottom of this post...

http://intermezzo.typepad.com/intermezzo/2013/04/jonas-kaufmann-royal-festival-hall.html

[SJT]

Grazie, gentlemen.

I was clearly having a thin-skinned day, unusual for me....