Royal Opera House Season 2024/2025

Parsifal is by some way the No 1 on my desire list. I feel I will have to be patient, because I can't see it happening until after the new Ring is fully in place?

Tosca was in this season, surely a break before a new production?

Surprise from left field would be La Ciociara. Revised and given at last years Wexford Festival. Should be better known.

Will the priority booking dates be updated when the 2024/2025 season is announced?

Of course.

Right now, the 'Friend' level is showing priority booking for the summer season from 6th March.

Priority booking for summer ended on 26 March. Public booking opened the next day.

The whole 24-25 season will be announced soon and will inc all priority booking dates for each period. It's good that the ROH doesn't demand money a year in advance which is happening now in the west end.

and still deciding whether to become a member or not.

It's largely philanthropic (feel good) but gives access to dress rehearsals (the nearest opera gets to a preview in the theatre) and events. There's no Domingo or Pavarotti anymore so it's not so hard to get tickets. It's surely easier to get stalls standing if you are a friend, but there's a lot of competition from people experienced at whizzing round the site when they go on sale. You need to know exactly what you want and if they're not available, good alternatives. I now go off-topic a bit. The cheapest best "seats" in the house I reckon are D32/3 balcony standing. I say this now as I'll never go for them again. It's a dazzling full-on position for ballet in partic. Beautiful perspective and distance from the stage to take in everything or focus on what you like. In this way a live performance bears no relation to a video recording of the same thing where some director imposes his inflexible will and chops around irritatingly, inevitably missing lots you'll never know or see. You get the depth and patterns from above which are obv much flatter from the stalls/stalls circle. No big heads in front of you which is a risk in the stalls where the rake isn't great. Clear air above you, unlike in the stalls circle which is a bit claustrophobic. The legroom is so good, if you can cope. No stage cut off whatsoever which you get moving round to D23 or C64-7 etc on the other side. Not all tickets are released during priority booking periods: it's a condition of receiving ACE funding (no matter how inadequate that has become) that some have to be retained for public booking dates. You'll gradually learn if you need to be a friend to get what you want, and have the money.