«...and all for a tenner»
reuters reported tuesday that the royal opera house, fighting accusations of elitism, announced that some of its most sought-after seats (which normally cost around us$320) will be sold for just us$18, thanks to one of the uk's biggest arts sponsorship deals: us$1,8 million from foreign exchange company travelex. the deal will make one hundred of the best seats available monday evenings for £10, to go on sale an hour and a half before the performance. the offer will cover a total of half of all weeks over the next three seasons.this is truly brilliant news.
the idea of opera as entertainment for the priviledged is rather inaccurate; the art form has indeed entertained the masses and with a rather high degree of vulgarity to be found everywhere from libretto to the very performances of the singers themselves since the time of monteverdi. note as well that historically, the true connoisseurs (which i don't necessarily consider a mark of distinction or even good taste) are hardly ever found in the "expensive" seats, which are more often than not occupied by people who're likely to applaud most everything short of an actual caterwaul.
in any case, i am extremely glad true lovers of the form and the uninitiated will have a chance to enjoy and discover quite affordably some of the very best singing on the planet.
[note: this post is a published draft].
