All but two of the Mariinsky Ballet performances at the Metropolitan Opera House are selling dismally because of the outrageous prices. According to the folks at the David Rubenstein Atrium, at this time, there will be no discounted tickets on the day of the performance because the Metropolitan Opera, which is co-producing the Mariinsky's visit with the Lincoln Center Festival, refuses to participate in the Rubenstein program.
The Met Opera, which has fixed the pricing for the performances, is clearly conveying that ballet is an elitist art form intended only for rich audiences.
The ticket prices, as Haglund reported here in his comparative analysis, are ridiculous - especially those prices for seats in marginal viewing sections such as the family circle, balcony, and side boxes.
Haglund has decided to boycott the Mariinsky performances because of the Metropolitan Opera's outrageous pricing policy. He will save his money toward a trip or three to Washington DC in a few short months when the Mariinsky brings a beautiful classical repertory program to the stage and the Kennedy Center offers tickets at reasonable prices.
Enough is enough.
Hmm, those two performances must be the ones I tried to get tickets for. My friends and I were willing to splurge, but I still couldn’t get great seats!
Ah well. Unfortunately, I doubt I can make it down to DC, so this may be my only chance to see the Mariinsky for a few years, and I guess I have no choice...
Posted by: Batsuchan | June 20, 2011 at 11:30 PM