barbara33

My daughters are in many ways like most teens. One way they are not is their love of opera - acquired from their Irish (not Italian) grandmother.

Tickets for La Boheme at La Scala go on sale soon. Does anyone have advice about ordering online or over the phone? I'm the kind of person who will get up at 1 a.m. to buy them during the first minutes they go on sale. Ordering online seems easier than trying to communicate my credit card number to someone who did not learn English as their first language. However, the best I can figure from the website, one can only order two tickets at a time - and I want all four of us to be able to enjoy the performance sitting together.

Perhaps the people who take orders over the phone understand English well enough?

While I'm at it, any recommendations for (relatively speaking) cheap seats? Balcony straight back? Boxes on the side?

Thanks to anyone who knows something about this (or not) and is inclined to reply! course, y!

julie_Colorado

I just ordered tix for LaScala by phone (I don't believe they had an online option).. there is a prompt - and you can select English. It is fully automated. I had to call in about 10 times before I got what I wanted... but I was finally able to make it work ( I would go down a certain path for a type of ticket only to find out they had singles only - and no easy way to back out). You then must fax your credit card details within 3 days. I dind't hear for several weeks - and just when I figured it hadn't worked... the tickets arrived in the mail!

Spygirl

Yes. You can order tickets for the opera at La Scala online: www.teatroallascala.org.

La Boheme should be fantastic. The last time I was there in 1999, I had a box, which was nice. However, I fell asleep in the middle, because it was a boring, pompous not very good German opera (not Wagner) which I can't remember the name of now. Didn't wake up until intermission, at which point I picked up after walking out on the terrace for some fresh air and a glass of Soave!

barbara33

Thnnk you for the info, Julie and Spygirl! Sorry about the gobbldey-gook at the end of my first post.

Julie, about how long did it take you to get your tickets? We'll have about six weeks from the time I order to the time we leave for Europe.

Spygirl, what did you think of the location of your seats, and seating in general. Some theaters have virtually no bad seats, some do. What did you think of La Scala?

Thanks again, and looking for any other info out there from others...

julie_Colorado

It took about 4 weeks. The ballet we bought tickets for (the sad part of the story is the ballet is next week and we had to cancel our trip!)... I could not purchase on line. There was a comment that said you must call for tickets... Maybe that is not always the case.

barbara33

Julie, so sorry you had to cancel your trip.

I probably will call rather than order online, since it sounds somewhat straightforward and I'm assuming I can order more than two tickets at a time if I call. Did you?

barbara33

Okay, just want to see if anyone else has any input. Thanks.

Spygirl

Barbara-have you gone on the La Scala website? What makes you think that you can't order more than one ticket online? You should have no problem doing that. Btw, I went online and I saw no mention of La Boheme-and I looked through June. You must have gotten some advance notice on La Boheme from somewhere that's.

As far as seats, La Scala has been renovated since I was there in 1999, so it must be that much more magnificent. Since you have a group, I would suggest getting a box, as it's great fun to be able to chat amongst yourselves, and to peek over at everyone else in their box-they're quite elegant, with red-brocaded walls and elegant gilded trim. I don't really know if there are so-called "bad" seats, although it didn't seem that there were. I know that you and your daughters will find it an unforgettable experience, regardless of the seating arrangements.

sansman

A word of warning, LaScala is officially open but not having performances (as of last week). It is to open soon, just make sure the performance is actually at the LaScala and not the other opera house.

Cicerone

There has been a strike at La Scala since February which has caused the cancellation of all performances. Right now, they expect the strike to go through mid-April. As they are allowing people to buy tickets for performances in April, I guess they are hopeful that the strike will be settled. They will refund tickets, but don’t make a special trip to Milan just to see a performance, and you may end up with no performance to see. I had tickets to a performance two weeks ago which was canclled, but as I was coming from Zurich just for the weekend, I could rearrange my plans, probably not so easy for you.

I see from the website that La Boheme is scheduled for late June through July, but tickets don’t go on sale until April 13. It is in the Teatro all Scala, the main (and famous) venue.

barbara33

Oh wow...thanks for the info about the strikes. Our plan IS to go to Milan for one night in order to go to La Scala...

I'm still going to go for it and cross my fingers.

It is good to know about the box seats. I can picture us sitting there.

When I've done practice runs with the website, the choice for number of tickets never exceeded "2" even when more than two seats were still available. Perhaps I won't really know until midnight April 12th when I (who goes to bed early) get up and try to navigate my way through either the website or their phone system.

Really appreciate the info. Thanks.

barbara33

I went on to La Scala's website and found La Boheme is still there, with an opening night of June 13. (Spygirl, you may not have found La Boheme listed because tickets have not gone on sale yet. I found it listed under Season - 2004-2005 - Opera and Ballet.)

The following is also posted on their site:

"The public is reminded that the première of ballet Giselle, foreseen for 1st April, and the première of the opera Rinaldo, foreseen for 2nd April, are suspended owing to the strike called on 24th February and regarded all premières of operas and ballets in the present season."

Am I correct in thinking this says that strikes will be called for all opening nights this season, but that performances will pick up with the second night? Since our plans call for us to be in Milan for the second night performance, does this make the second night the "opening night?" (Meaning higher prices and black tie dress?) Ohhhh. Confusing.

Desert_Sue

I was in La Scala before the renovation. Sat in the last row of the upper balcony and had a great view of the orchestra. The only thing I didn't like was the upper balcony had a separate entrance from the rest of the theater so we couldn't see the lobby or mingle with the crowd in the good seats. That might have changed with the renovation. We bought our tickets on the street from a scalper and surely paid way too much for the tickets, but it was a sold-out performance and we wanted to go. Some of the seats were obscured by posts, but that may have changed also with the renovation.

Spygirl

Barbara-yes, of course it's there-I must have been too tired to see it last night-I clicked on the June calendar this morning, and note that ballet Carmen will be on in June as well.

As for the strike, I would be willing to wager that the performance will be on in June (it would be highly improbable to me that they should remain on strike for the season-Milan is not Paris). For myself, I would continue to proceed with plans to attend.

massagediva

I don't know if this is true for La Scala,but for every theatre I've visited, the most expensive seats were the box seats.I hope it all works out. I'd love to read about the experience when you get back!

barbara33

I haven't been able to find out much more through online research, except that the situation causing the strikes is still brewing but there are hopes of it resolving...(power issues, theater workers and musicians angry at conductor)

I think I will still plan on getting the tickets. Thanks for the encouragement, Spygirl. Turns out there is a 20% surcharge on online orders. If there is no surcharge on phone orders, I will definately go that route.

Desert Sue, good to know that even seats in the last row are good. Messagedive, best I can tell, the box seats at La Scala vary greatly in price depending on their location, from close to most expensive to close to least expensive.

Thanks again.

Gander

Did anyone manage to get tickets for La Boheme at La Scala in June? I tried via the internet and the site kept crashing. Does anyone have advice about where to get tickets? I've seen them on ticket websites but the price is very high.

SusanP

Gander, don't know if this will help, but I got my ticket for the opera in Rome on www.charta.it (found out about this site on SlowTrav). You choose English, then choose the venue. They had listings for everywhere in Italy. Hope this helps.

Lorac1127

Question for all opera lovers...has anyone been to Teatro San Carlo AND La Scala for the opera?

If you had to choose one opera house, which one would you choose?

Thanks,

Carol

Tanglefoot

Do you think that we are too late to get tickets to La Boheme in July. When I went on the www.teatroallascala.org web site there were zeros for all of the June performances. Any other ideas where we could get tickets.