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Hungary Travel / Budapest Travel / Opera Travel / → All Tags

A Night at the Opera in Budapest is Cheaper Than a Tour of the Opera House

A night at the opera is normally one of the most expensive, OTT things you can do. Not so much in Budapest, though. A tour of the incredible opera house costs 2900 HUF ($13) per person, but show tickets start at just 300HUF—that’s right, $1.33. We know which we’d prefer.

On our recent trip, the cheapest opera ticket we could buy on the day was 4400HUF ($19.50) for a seat in a box. Luckily, we decided to shell out. Luckily because even though we’re not opera buffs, it was one of the most incredible productions we’ve ever seen (Mephistopheles, since you ask).

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Opera Travel / Travel Health / Milan Travel / Italy Travel / Landmarks / → All Tags

What's the Italian Word For 'Asbestos?' Because Milan's La Scala Has It

Yes, we know that's a radiation icon, but we mean it in a Hazmat capacity

A fat lady singing can't do anything for asbestos removal, as Milan's La Scala is finding out. Back in spring, officials in Milan discovered the toxic stuff in the famed opera house's ceiling, and they've just now closed down the 270 seats of the uppermost tier in order to begin removal.

This poses a problem for the tourists who, in last few months, have possibly been exposed to asbestos from officials rustling up there, but thankfully it's been confirmed that there's no spread of asbestos. Ticket holders will either be offered an upgrade to better and less toxic eating, or, if that's unavailable, then a simple refund. No loud Italian opera for the cheapskates, we guess.

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Opera Travel / Baseball / Ballparks / Stadiums / San Francisco Travel / → All Tags

San Francisco's Ballpark Breaks Out The Free Opera

If you’re in the Bay Area and are looking for something classy to do on a Friday night, then have we got the perfect event for you. The San Francisco Opera is putting on a free simulcast performance of Puccini’s Tosca at AT&T Park. Sure, it’s just a live stream of the performance, but we’re pretty sure this is one of only a few opportunities to have opera glasses in one hand and a hot dog in the other.

Things get underway this evening starting at 8:00 pm, but you’re welcome to spread out your blanket and get a good spot from 6:30 pm. Just remember to pre-register your group online, or else you won’t get early access to the festivities. For the best seats, head straight to the front of the stadium’s 103-feet wide high-definition screen.

Leave your Two-Buck Chuck at home, because the ballpark rules are still in effect. Also, no unsealed bottles of any kind, and no picnic baskets. You can bring in picnic-type foods; they just have to be in a soft-sided container. Squished sandwiches don’t sound like a great accompaniment to a night at the opera, so swing by the concession stands for garlic fries instead.

Related Stories:
· San Francisco Opera At AT&T Park [Official Site]
· Baseball Mancation Planning Made Easy [Jaunted]
· Opera Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: terren in Virginia]

Opera Travel / Williamsburg / Brooklyn / Concert Travel / Culture Travel / → All Tags

Dust Off Your Top Hats and Capes: The Opera is Coming to Brooklyn

Everybody likes to make fun of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with its insufferably ironic scenesters and their asymmetrical haircuts, but it's still one of the best neighborhoods in New York to find bold new ideas in music and art. Case in point: the 'burg will host the borough's first opera in years this November when OperaOggiNY stages a performance of Franco Leoni's one-act verisimo opera L'Oracolo. The company is renovating the 600-seat McCaddin Memorial Hall Theater on Berry Street between South 2nd and South 3rd Streets, and will welcome city opera buffs to its grand opening performances on November 6, 7, and 8. Admission is only $20, which seems like a bargain for a "real" opera, and there are dozens of great bars and restaurants nearby - Dressler comes to mind - where patrons can discuss the tenor's register over drinks and snacks. It will be interesting to see what kind of crowd is drawn to these classical performances in the midst of hipsterville.

[Photo: nag-brooklyn.org]

Related Stories:
· OperaOggiNY [Official Site]
· OperaOggiNy to re-open McCaddin Memorial Hall Theater on Berry Street [nag-brooklyn.org]
· Opera Comes to the Burg [Gothamist]
· Opera Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

Nuclear Travel / Opera Travel / History / → All Tags

Kaboom! Manhattan Project Opera Hits New York; See Nuclear Test Site For Real in New Mexico

Even for regular opera-goers, the Met's production of the new opera "Doctor Atomic" is big--and not just because it contains a bomb. The ambitious piece, written by Peter Sellars, had its world premiere in San Francisco in 2005, and attempts to depict the first ever nuclear bomb test conducted by J. Robert Oppenheimer without resorting to movie-style special effects, filling its characters' mouths with lines from the Bhagavad Gita and poet John Donne.

It was for Donne that the test was named Trinity, represented by the goosebump-inducing Act I finale. All that, and it's an opera too! You can catch the ambitious, extensive "Doctor Atomic" at the Metropolitan Opera through November 15.

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Pyramids / Archaeological Tourism / Archaeology / Opera Travel / Concert Travel / → All Tags

Placido Domingo's Smooth Moves Calm Chichen Itza Kerfuffle

A concert by Spanish tenor Placido Domingo went off without a hitch last night at Mexico's Chichen Itza archaeological site, silencing for the moment a controversy about whether the ancient Mayan ruins are an appropriate venue for such a modern spectacle. Prior to the event, a union of archaeologists pressed prosecutors to file criminal charges against the concert's organizers, saying that the event violated a law that states the ruins must be preserved for educational purposes.

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Euro 2008 / Culture Travel / Opera Travel / Sports Travel / → All Tags

High Culture, Low Culture Travel: Sing and Sock 'Em

They may be rowdy, drunk and disruptive, but football fans are generally welcomed with open arms for the sheer economic force they bring to host cities. But not everyone in Vienna is stoked about the UEFA Football Championship and its assorted mayhem: The Vienna State Opera has canceled a concert scheduled the night of the final, and attendance is down by nearly a third overall since the footballers came to town.

Given how much singing goes on at European football matches--albeit in profane ways too complex to explore here--one would think a love of opera and the Euro Cup need not be mutually exclusive. The European championship continues through June 29, and tickets can still be had through the national organizations in competition. (That includes for matches involving teams from Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain at this writing.)

If you'd rather go highbrow, you can buy tickets by phone to the Vienna State Opera's performances or try for €30 ($46) rush tickets to shows like Verdi's "La Forza Del Destino" and Tchaikovsky's "The Queen of Spades."

Related Stories:
· Soccer 1, Opera 0 [Canadian Press, via Google]
· Culture Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Sports Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: station_nord]

Opera Travel / Culture Travel / Music Travel / Summer Travel / → All Tags

Summer Opera Travel: Verona Opera Festival

Tune up your tenor and soprano appreciation level a huge notch this summer with one of the world's most renowned opera festivals, the annual Verona Opera Festival in Italy's fairest city.

Kicking off this coming weekend, this year's festival (the 86th!) offers tons of live performances of amazing classics like Aida, Carmen and Tosca, but it's the setting that truly makes them magical. The entire festival is held in a sonically perfect 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheater, the Arena di Verona.

Tickets to individual performances are sold through many online dealers, but check out one like Keith Prowse that offers packages for travelers that include both tickets to the major shows and decent local hotel rates, too.

An insider tip? Just like any other opera make sure you're on time for Act One. The locals apparently aren't friendly if you're cutting through the massive rows five minutes after start time. Feel free to BYOB though, concession stands are few and far between.

Related Stories:
· Datebook [NYT]
· Summer Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: andy_kyte_uk]