ROH Stalls Circle Seat Availabilty

[Richard LH]

For a while a number of Stalls Circle seats nearest the stage have been unavailable  "for acoustic reasons" (A4 to A13, A101 to A111, B6 to15, B98 to B106, C12 to 16 and C97 to C101).  However these seats are now showing up, priced, on the Pricing Plan for the general booking for the Winter Season, which opens 31 October, and also for the Spring Season events - see attached example plan (for Romeo and Juliet). So it looks as if these cheaper seats are now coming back into general availability. I have emailed the ROH for confirmation and will report back - unless anyone is in the know already?

Edited October 16, 2018 by Richard LH

[Bluebird]

I think this might well be an error on the ROH website. I'm almost certain these seats were not available during Friends' priority booking for the Winter Season.

 

I just checked virtually every date in the Winter season and, unless the Friends of Covent Garden have booked every available seat in these areas, there is no sign of these stage seats being available to book.   I suppose there's an outside chance that they're all being reserved for Public Booking but I think this unlikely.

[Richard LH]

1 hour ago, Bluebird said:

I think this might well be an error on the ROH website. I'm almost certain these seats were not available during Friends' priority booking for the Winter Season.

 

I just checked virtually every date in the Winter season and, unless the Friends of Covent Garden have booked every available seat in these areas, there is no sign of these stage seats being available to book.   I suppose there's an outside chance that they're all being reserved for Public Booking but I think this unlikely.

That's what I thought initially Bluebird, but on the other hand I am wondering how come the seats have been allocated specific prices for each production. Perhaps this is part of the much discussed plan to have some lower priced seats available for  later on in the booking process? I hope to find out!

[Scheherezade]

I used to love those seats and for a while the ROH/Friends used to email post-rehearsal and in advance of the performances as and when any of them were subsequently released. This no longer happens although from time to time I have seen audience members in these seats. The last time was for Solomon last week. Not a peep from the ROH.

[Richard LH]

I have received a reply from the ROH  as follows:

 

"The interactive seat map on the website is in no way linked to the actual ticket availability and will therefore show the price of any seat in the house if or when it becomes available.  The map would have been the same if you had checked it prior to Friends booking opening.

 

I can confirm that the side stalls circle seating is still off sale for all performances in the Winter Season.  If this is to change, it doesn’t usually happen until a bit closer to the time of the first performance for a particular production.

 

I hope this information is of help."

 

 

[bridiem]

38 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

I have received a reply from the ROH  as follows:

 

"The interactive seat map on the website is in no way linked to the actual ticket availability and will therefore show the price of any seat in the house if or when it becomes available.  The map would have been the same if you had checked it prior to Friends booking opening.

 

I can confirm that the side stalls circle seating is still off sale for all performances in the Winter Season.  If this is to change, it doesn’t usually happen until a bit closer to the time of the first performance for a particular production.

 

I hope this information is of help."

 

 

 

I don't really understand this. Can they not decide in advance if those seats are going to be available for a particular production, and sell them as normal?

[Bluebird]

1 hour ago, Scheherezade said:

I used to love those seats and for a while the ROH/Friends used to email post-rehearsal and in advance of the performances as and when any of them were subsequently released. This no longer happens although from time to time I have seen audience members in these seats. The last time was for Solomon last week. Not a peep from the ROH.

 

Susan Fisher had a list of Friends of Covent Garden who had consistently booked these seats in the past.  When the orchestra made the decision not to use those areas, she would email people on that list and they would be given the opportunity to exchange their tickets for the stalls circle stage seats at no extra cost.  Indeed, on occasion, I had booked more expensive seats and was given a refund!  I asked the Interim Head of Friends why this was no longer happening and she told me that it had been Susan Fisher's personal project and had been discontinued.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Bluebird

[Bluebird]

2 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

I don't really understand this. Can they not decide in advance if those seats are going to be available for a particular production, and sell them as normal?

 

They don't know in advance whether or not the orchestra will need those spaces.  Occasionally they have decided well in advance for some Mozart and Rossini productions.  I  assume that this is because they know for sure that they will have a smaller orchestra for Mozart and Rossini operas.  Usually, however, they have to wait till rehearsals start so as to test the sound levels.

[Richard LH]

A further clarification from the ROH:

 

"The seats are held off sale due to orchestral requirements. If, during the rehearsals for a particular production, the Orchestra Management Team decide that they do not need the extra space then it is possible that the seats will be made available for sale.

 

Unfortunately it is not possible to say as yet whether any of these will be released for the productions in the Winter Season.

In previous experience this does not happen very often".

[bridiem]

But with ballet performances, of works that have been done before or new works with small (or no) orchestral requirements, why would this not be known at the outset? Why should orchestral requirements change from one run to the next of a production? (Might this change if a new conductor is involved? Or the same conductor using a different approach?).

 

And even with operas, why would the required orchestra strength and sound levels not be known in advance especially with established works? I realise that I know little about opera; but I do know a bit about  mounting (and costing) choral and orchestral concerts involving amateur/semi-professional/professional musicians and orchestras of varying sizes and the issues involved. Perhaps the luxury of having a house orchestra means that such matters don't need to be decided in advance?!

 

Sorry, lots of questions! Just thinking aloud about the questions raised for me by the ROH response.

 

Edited October 17, 2018 by bridiem

[bangorballetboy]

1 minute ago, bridiem said:

But with ballet performances, of works that have been done before or new works with small (or no) orchestral requirements, why would this not be known at the outset? Why should orchestral requirements change from one run to the next of a production? (Might this change if a new conductor is involved? Or the same conductor using a different approach?).

 

And even with operas, why would the required orchestra strength not be known in advance especially with established works? I realise that I know little about opera; but I do know a bit about  mounting (and costing) choral and orchestral concerts involving amateur/semi-professional/professional musicians and orchestras of varying sizes and the issues involved. Perhaps the luxury of having a house orchestra means that such matters don't need to be decided in advance?!

 

Sorry, lots of questions! Just thinking aloud about the questions raised for me by the ROH response.

 

 

The layout of the orchestra can change from the last time a work was performed.  Also, the noise levels are measured on an average basis over a week (IIRC) so a Wagner opera can affect the seating requirements for a ballet the next evening.

 

So far as I'm concerned, if it necessary for those seats to not be available in order to protect the health of the musicians, that is sufficient reason for me.

[bridiem]

5 minutes ago, bangorballetboy said:

 

The layout of the orchestra can change from the last time a work was performed.  Also, the noise levels are measured on an average basis over a week (IIRC) so a Wagner opera can affect the seating requirements for a ballet the next evening.

 

So far as I'm concerned, if it necessary for those seats to not be available in order to protect the health of the musicians, that is sufficient reason for me.

 

Ah, so it IS actually space that is the issue, not numbers! I misunderstood the fundamental issue. Thanks, bbb, that's interesting.

[Bluebird]

4 minutes ago, bangorballetboy said:

 

The layout of the orchestra can change from the last time a work was performed.  Also, the noise levels are measured on an average basis over a week (IIRC) so a Wagner opera can affect the seating requirements for a ballet the next evening.

 

So far as I'm concerned, if it necessary for those seats to not be available in order to protect the health of the musicians, that is sufficient reason for me.

 

Since these seats have been taken off sale, they’ve only ever been released for opera. I don’t remember a single occasion when they were released for a ballet production.  This reinforces what BBB writes in the above post. I’m also in full agreement with him about the need to protect the health of the members of the orchestra.  That has to be the overriding consideration.

[bangorballetboy]

6 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

Ah, so it IS actually space that is the issue, not numbers! I misunderstood the fundamental issue. Thanks, bbb, that's interesting.

 

Just to mention, in case it's not well known, the floor in those areas can be opened up to let the sound (or some of it) travel upwards into the auditorium rather than sideways through the pit and then into the auditorium.  

[Richard LH]

Thanks BBB I was just about to ask for a technical explanation...

[Don Q Fan]

8 hours ago, bridiem said:

 

I don't really understand this. Can they not decide in advance if those seats are going to be available for a particular production, and sell them as normal?

Maybe they need to keep some seats back in case of on the night complaints, so they can move people? 

[alison]

I've never known them move people to that area.  Restricted-view boxes in the tiers above, yes, but not there.

[Scheherezade]

23 hours ago, Bluebird said:

 

Susan Fisher had a list of Friends of Covent Garden who had consistently booked these seats in the past.  When the orchestra made the decision not to use those areas, she would email people on that list and they would be given the opportunity to exchange their tickets for the stalls circle stage seats at no extra cost.  Indeed, on occasion, I had booked more expensive seats and was given a refund!  I asked the Interim Head of Friends why this was no longer happening and she told me that it had been Susan Fisher's personal project and had been discontinued.

 

Thank you, Bluebird, it is good to know why the emails have stopped.

[Scheherezade]

20 hours ago, bangorballetboy said:

 

Just to mention, in case it's not well known, the floor in those areas can be opened up to let the sound (or some of it) travel upwards into the auditorium rather than sideways through the pit and then into the auditorium.  

 

Thanks also for this information, which is also good to know. I must admit that I could not understand how freeing up the area helped the musicians from an auditory point of view. And presumably the availability of these seats for the Russian summer ballet performances is due to the fact that the average noise level over any given week is minimised by the absence of opera.

[Bruce Wall]

14 minutes ago, Scheherezade said:

 

Thanks also for this information, which is also good to know. I must admit that I could not understand how freeing up the area helped the musicians from an auditory point of view. And presumably the availability of these seats for the Russian summer ballet performances is due to the fact that the average noise level over any given week is minimised by the absence of opera.

 

..... and also a commercial producer on a straight rental.  

[Scheherezade]

3 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

 

..... and also a commercial producer on a straight rental.  

 

True, but if the musicians' hearing is the point in issue ...

[alison]

Remind me: do they use a Russian orchestra, or one of the "Royal" ones?

[Bruce Wall]

2 hours ago, alison said:

Remind me: do they use a Russian orchestra, or one of the "Royal" ones?

 

I believe they bring the (or certainly a substantive part of the) Bolshoi Orchestra.  (I may be wrong.)  Certainly they did sell those side Stalls seats at previous Bolshoi outings.  This time perhaps they will not sell them which, I agree, would be most prudent in terms of health and safety. ... That, of course, should take priority above all ... given that it is based I assume on effective and proven evidence.  

 

Edited October 18, 2018 by Bruce Wall

[alison]

And EU health and safety legislation, I believe?

[Amelia]

6 hours ago, alison said:

Remind me: do they use a Russian orchestra, or one of the "Royal" ones?

 

For many years now the Bolshoi and Mariinsky come with their own orchestras.

[betterankles]

Their ears are not so squeamish