Metropolitan Opera and Marketing Packages

[Helene]

Remember how we made fun of New York City Ballet for coming up with those programs with the fancy marketing names? I just received an email from the Metropolitan Opera to market ticket packages (3-5 operas) under the following names:

All Levine

All Matinees 1 and 2

All Puccini 1, 2, and 3

Classic Comedies -- I'm not sure Le Comte d'Ory is a classic yet, but Florez dressed as a nun will soon be

Fairy Tales and Legends

For the Family

French Gems

Historic Dramas -- included "Nixon in China"

Italian Masterworks 1 and 2

Love Stories 1, 2, and 3

Modern Masterpieces 1 and 2

Myths and Epics

Opera as Spectacle 1 and 2

The Art of Bel Canto 1 and 2

The Art of the Diva 1 and 2

The Art of the Tenor

Tragic Heroines -- How did they narrow down that one?

Tragic Masterpieces 1 and 2

Viva Verdi 1, 2, and 3

Wagner and Strauss

A few of these are a bit of a stretch, but they make a lot of sense to me. If I lived in NYC, I'd sit through "Ariadne" for tickets to "Das Rheingold", "Die Walkure", and "Pelleas".

[abatt]

NYCB has come up with much more absurd titles. like "Girls Night Out". For the upcoming year, they have a program titled See The Music. Given the awful content of the program, I'm guessing Balanchine is spinning in his grave from the use of his own words in this manner.

[bart]

All Puccini 1, 2, and 3

I know several people who would LOVE this. They would love it even more if it were called "All Puccini ... plus Carmen .... but not the Bondy Tosca."

How about an "All Zefferelli" subscription?

I'm curious about what "All Levine" will involve. A few years ago it would have been quite a large category. But now? What will they do if he is obliged to cancel?

Actually, niche marketing like this -- assuming that it complements rather than replaces the conventional subscription approach -- might not be a bad idea. I would love to see a ranking of how well each Series sells.

[dirac]

Arts organizations have to do what they have to do in this environment, although the richest folks who pony up for the elite arts groups seem to be doing quite well again. If it works, it works. I'm not crazy about signing up by program the way companies do now, but that battle is lost.

[Helene]

All Puccini 1, 2, and 3

I know several people who would LOVE this. They would love it even more if it were called "All Puccini ... plus Carmen .... but not the Bondy Tosca."

I know I'd feel a lot more comfortable saying I'd subscribed to a program called "All Verdi 1" than one called "Petipa's Posse".

[Kathleen O'Connell]

NYCB has come up with much more absurd titles. like "Girls Night Out". For the upcoming year, they have a program titled See The Music. Given the awful content of the program, I'm guessing Balanchine is spinning in his grave from the use of his own words in this manner.

Well, some of the works in the series are definitely missable, but there are eight Balanchine ballets plus a couple of decent Robbins and Wheeldon works in the whole seven-program "See the Music" series. The general idea of the series itself (a discussion and orchestral demonstration of one work from each program) sounds like it has potential, if tad geeky -- although I gather that the orchestral demonstrations will focus on works that have newly entered the repertory rather than on the acknowledged masterworks, alas. "Call Me Ben" has been dropped, but the series does put all the rest of the "Architecture of Dance" ballets into one handy package for those who might feel inclined to check them out.

Naming a program "Girls Night Out" was truly as lame as lame could be. I note that the 2010 / 2011 season programs have reverted to less fanciful names - "Balanchine Black and White," "Founding Choreographers," "All Balanchine," "All Robbins," etc. I do like "All Balanchine All day" on Jan 22 ...