I'm in the process of crafting a long post about the concert I went to last night, but in the meantime I just want to say....
Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!
This morning, tense as a tense person, having arranged to go into work late, I logged onto the Royal Opera House website. For weeks, the tension had been rising, Ticket Acquisition Stress Syndrome. Will I or won't I? Isn't it a cheek for them to want our money upfront a year in advance, there's no way there will be any seats for Cycle 3.
I log on, I find the page that provides the link. I press the link. Page unavailable I see. I refresh, and refresh. Page unavailable. I walk around Gert Cottage, I try to ignore Katherine "Warbling Barbie" Jenkins on Woman's Hour (I really really can't stand that woman), I keep pressing refresh.
Then I get the page, I can choose the production. Cycle Three I click on. It opens. Amphitheatre I click on. It opens. Oh god, I think, something is going horribly wrong. £240 I click on, and a little message pops up "Sold out sod off".
Panicking I click on £210 and it says "Are you sure?" Oh yes I'm sure, I'm very sure, I'm surer than a sure person. I press to continue with my purchase. I enter the card details, a little window pops up saying "At this very minute we are sending your bits and bites deep into the pipes to be translated into real cash money..." Baloney, I think, it's going to reject the card, server overload not lack of funds.
To my horror the little window disappears and the main page changes. It says you have successfully purchased your ticket for Cycle 3 and any moment now a little ping will land in your inbox but just in case save this page.
No ping in the inbox, they're going to send a heavy round saying "There's being a dreadful mistake, the likes of you aren't going to Cycle 3." No email. Get email. Oh my god, an email's coming. Yes, I have tickets for Cycle 3...
Pretty damn fine casting, I have to say:
Wotan/Wanderer: Bryn Terfel
Brünnhilde: Lisa Gasteen
Siegfried: John Treleaven (sadly, he's in all three cycles)
Alberich: Peter Sidhom
Sieglinde: Eva-Maria Westbroek
Hagen: John Tomlinson
Loge: Philip Langridge
Fricka: Rosalind Plowright
Oops, there seems to be a character I have omitted. Hmm, who can that be. Let me just check the website
Ah, yes, I remember now...Siegmund: Plácido Domingo....
Die Walküre is Sunday 28 October. It's a very long time to wait.
