OliverB

Which are recommended most and which should be booked in advance?

There are so many venues that it's difficult to discern from the quality stuff and the tourist bait. I'm guessing that La Fenice should probably be reserved early, right? Any seating section tips for La Fenice when making reservations online?

Thanks very much!

OliverB

Also I'd appreciate learning of any other tours or cultural activities that should be reserved ahead of time. I'm not planning anything for Italy so I just want to be sure we aren't disappointed by being too lax about the trip.

KLouis

First things first, check details here. As far as many venues are concerned, let's not exaggerate. For example, Opera a Palazzo should be viewed with caution from the point of view of opera lovers. If you are interested in a "chamber" version of an opera and enjoy the idea of sitting in a renaissance palazzo, do it, but I'd never pay so much money for that. But, coming back to La Fenice, buy your tickets the soonest possible, as soon as sale opens for a given performance.

Perche

If there is an event at La Fenice, that is the ticket to get. Dress is informal. Most seats are great, but there are some very bad ones, where you cannot see, only hear.

On the floor (Platea) the first five rows are too close. Rows E-M are the best. There are also a few seats in those rows that are on the side, separated by a corridor for the people to walk to and from their seats. They are only a few seats. I like to sit there because you aren't squeezed in by people, and can see very well.

The side boxes are even better and and I often choose them. Boxes 6-11 and 29-25 are the best, but very important: only if you can sit in the front row of that box. For some reason, the boxes point towards the center of the floor, and not actually to the stage. In the front row, your head is at the front of the box, and you just look to the left or to the right so it doesn't matter. If you are in row two, unless the people in row 2 are very kind and sit to the side and let you lean in, you will not be able to see all of the stage. If you are in row 3, you are lucky if you see anything. The boxes way back look more directly forward and you can see, but it's pretty far away.

Fenice seats are quite expensive, so if you've got to go up to higher levels, you do it, but don't get a box on the side unless you are in the first row.

Teatro Malibran is the second most prestigious place for music. It's quite a bit less expensive, and yet is of high quality. I saw a great Ferrari-Wolf operetta there last week. I tried to book two 80 euro front row side boxes on their website, but was unsuccessful, so I went there about an hour before the show to purchase them. They gave them to me and said, "40 euros." I said, "No, I want to 80 euro side boxes." They said the price for those seats went down to 20 euros as it is, "last minute." Sometimes, you can get great seats at a bargain, but not at La Fenice, only Malibran.

There are two churches that have the same show all the time, usually Vivaldi one night, then some singers the next, and they alternate the two every night. On church is on the water front in Castello, Santa Maria della Pieta, the other is in Campo San Vidal, near Campo San Bernado. This goes on all year. You see the players in the streets in period costume giving out programs and asking you to go. They are actually professionals, and are actually highly accomplished, although the singers are not as good. Nights when it is only instrumental are usually better. I think they are called Interpreti Veneziani, but you'll see the flyers everywhere, including in your hotel.

Then, there are always one of a kind church singing events that you just have to look out for. The Venice tourist office in San Marco Square is generally unhelpful, and concierges won't know. You just have to look online or in the newspaper. Get Il Gazzetino, the local paper, and ask your concierge to read the musical and cultural events to you. Tourist things won't be in there.

Once I saw a flyer in a bookstore indicating that the world famous, grammy winning contralto Sara Mingardo was giving a concert on a November evening in the local church of San Giovanni e Paolo. I went to it, and it was sheer magic. Afterwards I went to get a few chichetti, then walking back to my apartment I passed the church and there she was, standing alone outside holding her bouquet of roses. I went up and talked to her, and had someone take a picture of us on my phone. Unlike the glamorous, costumed, person you see singing in the opera, she was without making up, and sang in a plain black dress. She just came to her local church to sing (she is Venetian). Sometimes you are lucky and can find things like that in local churches.

KLouis

This brought back a "weird" memory. I was in a big and famous theatre overseas (for me!) and during the intermission of the opera I went to the place where even kings go alone. Entering the common (for the two genders) lobby for that place, a very famous soprano and I literally bumped into each other. I was so astonished to see her that, although she certainly was one of my favourite singers (and still is) I just intensely looked at her from a distance of ~one foot, no daring to say anything. Well, she just stared back, and that was it I later found out she was singing there the next evening...

OliverB

Thank you SO much for this incredibly detailed response; it's extremely helpful and I appreciate so much! As of right now, the calendar for La Fenice only has the following scheduled for our dates in October: http://www.teatrolafenice.it/site/in...an=&lingua=eng

Do you suppose there will be anything added to the calendar in the coming months? I'm trying to decide whether I should just book tickets right now or wait another couple of months to see what else, if anything, gets added to the calendar.

Thank you again!!!

KLouis

Go for it as soon as possible, as long as tickets are available: Italian houses (and all opera houses of the world) plan their seasons years ahead and other than cancellations, don't count for any changes in a published program. Also, consider yourself lucky, since in Italy regular opera presentations, as a rule, stop from August to November (obviously, I'm not talking about summer festivals like Verona and others).

By the way, you're in for a small surprise in the overture (sinfonia in rossinian terms). As a matter of fact, at the end of the sinfonia of the opera which he later called a "Peccato di mia gioventů" (sin of my youth - he wrote when he was 21), Rossini noted in the manuscript "Dio ti salvi l’anima" (God save your soul), most probably anticipating the reaction of the Venitian music lovers where the opera was presented for the first time.

Enjoy it!

Perche

No changes. Singers of the caliber that can sing at La Fenicemade scheduled years In advance.

jerseygirl

Planning to be in Venice in mid September and want to go to La Fenice, probably Traviata

Websites seem to only have seating categories and want to get good seats. Are there any websites that allow choosing specific seats as in NY theaters?
In second category seats might be way on the side or more central, seems we might be unfortunate and get some at extreme side but still pay as if for better seats. In first category seats might be either in orchestra or balcony, I would prefer more central balcony if paying such large price
Thanks for help!!

Perche

The Fenice website is a difficult one, but you can see the specific seats on the website. Go to the site and choose the english icon on the upper right. In the search box type in Traviata. It's playing over several months, so find September. The trick is, to make the Fenice website functional, you have to register and establish an account. It will ask you for information that seems intrusive, like either your social security number of passport. You don't have to do that type of thing in the USA, but internet security is different over there.

Once you are logged in and get to the Traviata there should be a list of the dates it is playing in September. Click on the day you want. That should lead to a list of the available types of seats, from high to low price. Type in the number of tickets you want. That will take you to a seating chart that shows the two seats you will get if you purchase. See the example below, notice the two yellow dots in first row of palche 14. In the second photo below, look at the two dots in the first row of box 22.

That way, you will know your specific seats. The caution is, in a box on the side you must be in the front row. The second row is obstructed view, and from the third row, you can only listen, but not see the stage. Way in the back in the center you can see the stage over the people in front of you so you are not obstructed. A side box, not too high up, in the front row, is a great seat. Just fool around with it until you see the seats you want, at the price you want. Try to be flexible with the dates. Already, the seats are going fast. The trick is, if you don't establish an account and log into Fenice, you won't be able to do this.

jerseygirl

Thanks for detail on la fenice site!!

Perche

If you were in the third row of boxes 4-13, or 32-23, you obviously cannot see the stage, or palcoscenico. Even from the second row it can be difficult. Make sure to get the front row. You can see that even from boxes 16 and 20 without leaning way over the person next to you, the view is partially obstructed. Pay a lot of attention to the row you are in.

jerseygirl

KLouis

I am not a big fan of bona fide chamber opera (i.e. operas written for chamber orchestras) of which you can find a small selection by composers including "famous" ones such as Hindemith, Britten and Glass. I confess though that this is due to the fact that I am not particular fond of most 20th and 21st century opera in general. On the other hand, I don't like at all the transcription of "normal" opera to chamber music. This was not the idea of the composers, and even if the full-length version is played, the orchestra sounds strange in the ear of somebody who's hearing (and/or watching) at least two full operas per day (you can imagine how glad the people were, whose offices were around mine, when I moved my office to the basement of my home ) In brief, there is a good chance that you'll like it, in particular if you only occasionally listen to opera, and a guarantee that you'll hate it if you are a purist and a fanatic like me. Try it out, and let us know!