Vienna Opera claims 100% ticket sales
NewsThe State Opera director Bogdan Rosčic has taken to the media to claim that ticket sales have returned to pre-Covid levels.
‘As I was recently able to report to our supervisory board, the house had a seat occupancy of around 98% in September, 19 of the 26 performances were even at 100%. Much the same for October, and as the preview shows, November and December will be exactly the same. The pre-sales for these months alone mean that we are well above the budgeted income. These are values that, to my knowledge, are currently not being achieved anywhere else internationally.’
If he receives a cash bonus for the stellar ticket sales, he could use it on a better tailor.
Nice.
We look forward to the day when musician cancelations will reach pre-pandemic levels.
Yes, Bogdan always was an little economical with the truth. At Sony he was a dab hand at sometimes double-county CD sales as they were then. Plus ça change.
Sounds a little like the playbook and career trajectory of an American intendant…sans black shirt and tie.
I live and study in Vienna. This summer, I signed up for email blasts regarding last-minute tickets and discounts to the Vienna State Opera. Hardly a week goes by where I do not receive a couple of emails with offers for 20 € last minute tickets. I do not deny that the house is full, but they are clearly scrambling to give away seats.
The real problem is the quality of production. When I saw Roscic’s brainchild “Von der Liebe Tod,” only about half of the house was full; those who are not in attendance were the lucky ones.
Lächerlich
In which world is 100% ticket sales an accomplishment? 98% sales with optimized pricing, that is the Graal. 100% you are simply too affordable…
Of you want classical music to survive, then it needs to be affordable
Very true, but let’s be transparent about the process (especially since taxpayer funds are involved) and the bottom line reality. Attendance and ticket sales are vastly different.
I wish the tradition of the old programme booklets to be continued…The old ones before coming of the director Roscic were real collectible items in different languages and quite rich monographies in luxurious presentation.They were a kind of signature of the Wiener staats opera.If it is an economic issue they can easily distributed at the double of the present price ,but will be an important part of the Vienna state opera experience.
100% Bogdan says? Strange … When I purchased tickets for Aida performances in January 2023, I was logged into the system as of 9 a.m., an hour before sales were to begin, i.e. 10 a.m., and was checking what seats remained in all the categories still available. There was no change as of 9:59. At 10 a.m. I tried to choose one of the seats for the first performance, only to receive a message that the seat had already been sold … !!! WHAT? Within OND MINUTE the seat was no longer available, nor were most of the seats that had been available as of 9 a.m. When I picked up my tickets at the Box Office I told the employee at the window about my experience and wanted to talk to a supervisor. The employee, however, had experienced the very same situation … and was confronted with irritated customers because of it. Maybe I should have asked to talk to Bogdan himself. What do you think?
Attendance – 100%. Artistic merit – much less!
The Asians who typically buy out the house through their many tours junkets from Japan, Korea and China allow Vienna to reach their capacity. If it were just Vienna, the numbers would dwindle significantly.
“Mother of Mercy, is this the end of opera?” (With apologies to Mervyn LeRoy.)
On 1/11 the opened the sales for January. Well, until now except for Aida with Kaufmann and Netrebko which are sold out all other shows are 80% empty.