I know this is going to sound wierd ,but I have a little opera lover.We knew nothing about opera ( and are not terribly musical like she is) before she came along ( I had seen one at the Met) ,but she started asking for opera at about a year.I thought she just liked the word opera,but it later became clear that she was very interested in Opera for some reason.

So she went to her first opera at 18m ,we saw a dozen before 3 and she watched Marriage of Figaro & other Met performances on video with the same passion that most kids watch Barney.She also loves Shakespeare, good musical theatre ( some ballet and symphany too) .I am extremely strict about proper theatre behaviour ( I have a hard time with even adults crinkling paper etc) ,so she has always been held to adult standards and my deal with her from the beginning was we leave immediately if she can not and we never have had a problem.So she is very welcomed at our small opera houses here and has been allowed to go to homeschool dress performances for teens when a toddler.People do sometimes look mortified when we sit down next to them,but they are always amazed and very complimentary by the first intermission as she has always been enthralled by it.

We have been to SF opera house and SJ,but mostly we go to smaller opera houses and University performances as we are always looking for opera ( & shakespeare) on a budget if we can possibly find it.I do try to get good seats for her,so she can see and not miss the action.( She is only 32 lbs so sometimes sits on my lap,tho those days are probably coming to an end soon as I use to be able to buy one great ticket and one cheap one for her & just put her on my lap).The smaller venues & childrens events are also quite good at letting her meet with the performers afterwards ( which was especially useful in bringing a toddler to Carmen and 'Butterfly because of the death scenes).We have lots of fun pictures of her being held by her favorite opera singers in costume.

I know Pavarotti talks about growing up watching opera as a child ,so I am hoping there will be more children watching opera there.She is often the only child and sometimes the only person in the audience under 40 or 50.

By taking her and following her passion ,we have all grown quite fond of Opera and I noticed that some here seem to know a lot about it.So I am hoping to find ideas on how to do opera (cheaply if at all possible like I can do it here)in Europe.I would love to visit the opera houses around the world as we do our RTW trip

Any ideas?

What a wonderful gift for a child to possess! And so nice that she has gotten you to enjoy it as well.
I was at an opera in Vienna - can not remember the name of what I saw unfortunately as it was about 5 years ago now.
I do remember absolutely loving it, the opera house and the whole experience!
As I had only just joined the workforce full time I did not have a great amount of $$ to spend on extras like the opera so it could not have been a very expensive outing for me.
So if Vienna is a destination in your plans I would recommend checking it out!!

WT- I got tickets to the outdoor Opera in Verona held at the Roman Arena. Ticket prices vary quite a bit. Here is the link. http://www.arena.it/

Dawn

From my reading, former Soviet-bloc Europe has excellent prices on opera. Take a look at Prague, Warsaw, Bratislava, and Budapest, for starters. (I've yet to do this myself, but of course I'm always researching!)

quote:

Originally posted by WT:
... So I am hoping to find ideas on how to do opera (cheaply if at all possible like I can do it here)in Europe.I would love to visit the opera houses around the world as we do our RTW trip ...

We toured La Fenice opera house in Venice last month, and were told that the upper box seats were €20 each. I thought that was an amazingly cheap price! La Fenice is incredibly beautiful, and just to see the interior would be well worth the price of admission. (But I understand the acoustics are perfect.)

We'd planned to see a Meierbeer opera during our stay, but it had been cancelled because of public funding cuts. We'll try again next time.

You're probably already familiar with the http://www.operabase.com website for performance schedules and venues...

How wonderful that your daughter loves opera, and that she caught the bug at such a tender age! I didn't see my first opera until I was maybe nine or ten, and it took me until college, really, to realize how lucky I had been to have been exposed to it as a kid.

There are lots of summer music festivals in Europe every summer, and many of them do have opera performnces. I have no idea about the prices, however. Verona is supposed to be wonderful, but, again, I don't know the cost. Dean went at least once; maybe he'll chime in with some of his experiences. And there was a rumor that performances were to be resumed in the Baths of Caracalla...

I did see an opera at the San Carlo in Naples. Fabulous, just perfection. Just an orchestra and rows of boxes. My ticket, I guess the best in the house, was 75 Euro, but I suspect that the higher one went, the lower the ticket price.

Have fun! I envy you all.

Yrs, Robert

Thank you all ,it was very helpful.Thanks for the websites too ( & I did not have them).Sounds like we are going to be able to find lots of great opportunities.We will be spending some extensive time in Eastern Europe next summer because we have not been there & we were not planning on Vienna ,but its a very open trip and now we might add it for that opera house. We will be in Italy next spring ( then onto Greece & Turkey).We will be avoiding hot areas or heavy tourist spots in the summer.

We start this fall in Northern Spain ( France first) & I have heard there is a beautiful opera house in that area.We will also probably like to see at least one of those light operas/musical theatre shows that are popular in Madrid.( Forgotten thier name...but a typical Spanish thing).We will be wintering in a small white village 40 minutes from Malaga ,so perhaps we will find something there as well if they have opera.

Thanks so much for the feedback!

I just wanted to also say I have been looking at some of these opera houses...& whoa...you are right,that alone is going to make quite an impression! Awesome.I can't wait to see the look on her face

I did get the cheapest ticket at La Fenice, and I was able to enjoy the beautiful opera house. But I had no view of the stage - at all!

Eventually people left during the intermissions, and I was able to move to a seat where I had a partial view of the stage and the gorgeous staging.

I can't feel too bad, because there were scarcely any tickets available at all, but you might want to book this months and months in advance to get tickets where you can see the stage.

I probably could have stood and seen the stage from certain vantage points, but I wasn't feeling too well at the time. The cheapest tickets might be worth it if you just view them as an opportunity to stand in the opera house.

WT:

If you're in Madrid, take her to a Zarzuella - which is Spain's answer to operetta. You should have no trouble finding opera in most any city in Europe. Most of the big houses end their season in May, but there are numerous festivals all over Europe. If you get this past month's Opera News it lists every opera festival and the repertoire playing all over the world.

I wish I had a kid who liked opera! If she ends up with a world class voice - bring her to audition for me - I'm always looking for talent for my opera houses. And if you're ever in Fort Worth - come see our opera company. Fort Worth Opera

Hey Darren,
I'm in the Dallas area regularly for business. I don't always have a rental car, but next time I do I'll check your site and see if there's a performance I can catch.

Darren-Yes,Zarzuella,thats exactly what I was talking about where I said I forgot the name.I have read about them & seem like a "must see" just because they are unique to the culture.Thanks for the tip on Opera News.We are really neophytes who are just learning as we go.

I loved your site & I have a brother in your area, so I will check it out when we are in that area!


I have heard good things about the opera house in Bilboa & just found thier site ( http://www.abao.org/ingles/index.html and it looks like thier season starts in Sept. when I will be there ( sept & oct time frame for northern Spain).I see they have special programs for chidren too which is nice.I see Cecilia Bartoli was just there & we love her recordings.

Looks like they have lots of fantastic festivals in the summer as well,but I will probably be there too late this year,tho I can start planning next summers agenda after I arrive in my village & kep them in mind.I just found ( & bought) a great ( for us) book by Fred Plotkin "Opera 101" that has a list of all the major and mid-major opera houses all over the world,so that is definately going to go in our box of books being shipped to EU soon.( Posting it incase anyone else might be interested in the list).

Thanks again!

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This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jonathan,

Hi WT

I don't think anyone has mentioned the Royal Opera House in London yet.

If you can put up with the discomfort of standing, you can see any production for less than £10. The catch is that you have to book very early, as these places go very quickly.

Google the Royal Opera House for details.

Ricardo

Hello,
Here is my vote for the ROH. Summertime performances are often relayed via big screen to several locations around London and often get nearly the same buzz as inside,depending on the weather! They are completely free.

The English National Opera is also very fine with price more affordable than the ROH and another thought if you do come over here then is to look out for companies such as "Crystal Clear" who perform full operas without the use of lavish sets. Unfortunately I can't find a web site for them but I have seen them and think the quality of their singing is first rate.

Our local theatre hosts Glyndebourne touring which comes in somewhat cheaper than going to Glyndebourne as well as several European company productions.
We have seen several of these and not been disappointed so here is a link to our local theatre to demonstrate !

I hope I have encourage you to come to London but if not then check out Palau de la Musica in Barcelona. In March this year we wee treated to a concert of Rigoletto which was really very good and was not overshadowed by the beauty of this UNESCO building!
Wendy

Thank you Ricardo and Wendyash! Yes, I will be in London ( two of my best friends live there )and one of our goals is to do a long stay tour of Ireland ( as its one area of UK we have not seen) at some point in this trip ( probably next summer).

Its very silly,but I did not even think about London and opera,so I am glad for the reminder.It might even be doable for a weekend fly in visit from our base in Malaga depending on flight prices as I hear some people commute between the two.

I love London and the theatre there,so ofcourse opera would make sense there as well.I love the free and bargain ideas as we will be on a fixed income.We often do things here to find ways to get the cheaper prices ( or free like with homeschool groups)so willing to do them,just harder to know those tricks out of country.The language issue is always easiest in UK as well.

Thanks for the Madrid link too.We have Spanish friends in Madrid ,so plan to be going there a lot for short visits from our base.I was hoping there was an opera house in Malaga or Marbella ( 40 minute drive away from our rental) ,but have not found one yet.
But it seems I will have lots of good choices.

I think its probably best to hear the best singers and the best large houses,but we have mostly done the much smaller houses and have been happy.We do have some of the best performances on video because I think its good to "imprint" with the best,even if you can not always do that in person.Even in theatre we see a whole range from top actors for Shakespeare,to kids productions to kids actually performing things like shakespeare ( really bad for theatre...but good to see for effort).We love discussing the different versions as much as voting on the best creme brule in our travels.I also like to support the smaller companies & grateful they are out there & that budget venues are possible.Same with finding great deals on big houses...we are willing to do what it takes.

Thanks for the links and ideas!