Glyndebourne this morning announced a 97 percent uptake across the summer, exceeding 90,000 tickets sold.
The hottest ticket was, unexpectedly, Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites.
New productions of Carmen and The Merry Widow.
Loss of nerve?
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Carmen and The Merry Widow. Lovely, will try to go.
Let’s be realistic. Might as well produce what the ultra elite wants. Who else can afford approx £500 for a day at the opera. Don’t forget your black tie. Very inclusive.
Plenty of seats at around £40-60, and at £20 the standing spaces are among the great bargains (I went standing for years when younger, you can see and hear no problem). The founder John Christie was most emphatic about attire – if you have a dinner jacket you should wear it to show respect to performers who’ve put in effort, but if you haven’t got one it DOESN’T MATTER. Glyndebourne is inclusive not exclusive!
The Glyndebourne website literally says “A very limited number of seats available” with regard to Slips and Standing tickets.
Not sure why the price of admission doesn’t indicate sufficient “respect” for performers. Not to mention the countless other people who make the show happen.
Well it’s been much more ‘elite’ since ACE withdrew funding for the touring branch.
It receives no public subsidy so there’s no pressure to be ‘inclusive’, but black tie is not imposed.
Gee, Officer Krupke, Krup you!
Why not mention they’re also performing Giulio Cesare and Tristan und Isolde? And what’s wrong with Carmen? A perfect introduction for anyone Glycurious.
Interesting. The Merry Widow is not exactly a frequent presence in Britain, and Glyndebourne states it’s their first performance of the work. Slow steps.
Great to see Rihab Chaieb getting a major production – she’s certainly a rising star to watch (and yet another major Québec singer).
I also note Thomas Allen is singing in The Merry Widow, which is interesting as I was under the impression he had announced his last performance in 2020 in Durham (I sang in the choir for that one). I’m glad to see he’s still going strong!
In the current parlous state of the Lyric Arts in this country I don’t see what is wrong with being ‘very safe’, even if I accepted your premise. Better a ‘loss of nerve’, again if it were the case, than a loss of the whole business model.
According to the programme, this year’s Semele was conceived in the mind of the director during lockdown. Which means, working backwards, that next year’s season was nailed down the same year. It’s not entirely surprising that the year originally planned during 2020 is a safe one.
Expect a more radical season in 2027.
And are you really surprised that Carmelites was a hot ticket? It’s a legendary opera, rarely done, by a 20th century great. I (and apparently Glyndebourne, judging by the free tickets they gave away to members) was surprised that Semele was so popular.
I saw Carmelites (or “The Nuns” as one friend who saw it at Glyndebourne refers to it) at The Proms and I really regret not seeing the fully staged production. I think it’s got the potential to be staged more often as its themes resonate hugely with the times we’re living in.
I turned up at Glyndebourne for two nights running last year in scruffy pink trousers, having managed to leave my DJ in the wardrobe at home. No-one was remotely bothered (except me!).
The snob police (we know who they are) will argue that you were mistaken for an eccentric billionaire.
I know from my student days, when I looked every bit the student, that audiences here are far more accepting than they are given credit for.
There’s a great French production of The Merry Widow with Veronique Gens available on video which shows that it doesn’t have to be a schlockfest for the Harrogate set. I do hope the Carmen isn’t going to be a koskifest for the Muscle Beach set: one of those is enough. Glyndebourne does have a streaming service called Glyndebourne Encore, which is marketed to those who’ve seen a product live and want to see it again. Try and find a link to it on their website …
Sad. Paulus is one of Broadways most safe and dull directors (Neverland, Waitress, Pippin) – and Merry Widow? Why not just do CATS and sell out for 25 years? If this elite venue must resort to desperate commercial programming, little hope for many others.
While neither of the stated operas is a personal favourite, I hardly think either represents “desperate commercial programming.” I have only seen The Merry Widow once, as I have Tales of Hoffman and The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein, my favourite. Despite having avoided yet another Carmen for decades now, if I were in the vicinity of Glyndebourne next summer, dosh in hand, I wouldn’t hesitate to go, though only if I could also pack in GC and T&I.
Well, I like the Merry Widow, and I am glad there is still room in the repertoire for performances which bring a “feel-good” factor with them . The world is full of unhappiness , so what is wrong with something which will make people happy, even if only for a few hours?
I think you’ll find, for regular Glyndebourne goers next season’s programme leaves little to get excited about. Most of us will have seen the productions to be reprised and quite honestly, another Carmen and The Merry Widow don’t whet the appetite. We will make the annual pilgrimage but possibly just for Tris and Is.
21 preformances of Carmen and 17 or so performances of The Merry Widow. There will be a few performances of Giulio Cesare, The Magic Flute and even fewer of Tristan and Isolde. However there will be something for the serious opera buffs at this increasingly commercialised venue. Hopefully I can get tickets for the Handel and the Wagner.