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John Williams & the Vienna Philharmonic: January 18/19 2020


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20 minutes ago, Modest Expectations said:

Leave after the first act? Wow. That reminds me of how the French grand opera had a mandatory throwaway first act, because many would arrive late.

 

Well, at least it was quiet after they'd left. And there was more space, too. More annoying were those who left *during* the act, with lots of shoving and rumbling. Though at least they were gone while the intermission leavers were still talking during the music...

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7 minutes ago, Thor said:

Ha, ha....you're very welcome, JS. But I'm guessing the distance is a bit too great for a concert of this small size, relatively speaking. But I'll no doubt make a concert thread about it in January, as in "here's what I did while everybody was hanging out with the man himself in Vienna"-type thing.

 

I'm not planning to go to Vienna, so I'd go to the Oslo concert if I were in Oslo at the time. But that's probably not the case. Are you conducting as well? :)

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25 minutes ago, Thor said:

But I'll no doubt make a concert thread about it in January, as in "here's what I did while everybody was hanging out with the man himself in Vienna"-type thing.

 

If you're planning to do anything of that sort in the future, do notify in advance! I'd totally go if there was no Vienna.

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Still very sad and disappointed about this mornings experience... Not so much about ending without a ticket, but about the overall process watching a website doing nothing. How is this working? Is it just about fast internet speed? Does distance, geographically, makes a difference?

 

I would have prefered an email kind of "You bought tickets for 2018, so you are able to buy this time before the general public"...

 

Still thinking that there are still tickets there, that will be released.

 

Is there anyone who bought tickets right on Tuesday morning? Was it able to select tickets from the entire hall?

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3 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Which orchestra are we talking about? I assumed either the Oslo Phil. or KORK, but it's not on their programs.

 

Oh no, nothing as fancy as that. I talked a bit about it in an earlier post:

 

http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/28512-john-williams-to-conduct-the-vienna-philharmonic-november-3-4-2018-rescheduled-january-1819-2020/&do=findComment&comment=1656445

 

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11 minutes ago, alawill75 said:

Is there anyone who bought tickets right on Tuesday morning? Was it able to select tickets from the entire hall?

 

On Tuesday the website didn't crash, but there was an annoying error message that prevented you from buying anything, unless you disabled it in the website code. So the start of the morning was also unnecessarily stressful, and it was Musikverein's fault, too.

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Although I didn't succeed in 2018 with tickets for the RAH, as I recognized the whole thing too late, I very much liked their "queuing-mode".

One has at least the feeling, that everything is going a civilized way.

 

With Musikverein, it feels like a bunch of people trying to squeeze through a door at the same time. Survival of the fittest...

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7 minutes ago, alawill75 said:

Although I didn't succeed in 2018 with tickets for the RAH, as I recognized the whole thing too late, I very much liked their "queuing-mode".

One has at least the feeling, that everything is going a civilized way.

 

With Musikverein, it feels like a bunch of people trying to squeeze through a door at the same time. Survival of the fittest...

 

Last year that didn't happen for some reason. You went into their seating plan, chose a ticket, and everything was fine without any queueing. I don't think they foresaw this week's demand at all. I am pretty sure that that was a wakeup call for them, and they will think about implementing a better system in the future.

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4 hours ago, Biodome said:

I bet that you will see 300 tickets on Viagogo or some shit, being re-sold at €800 minimum. Those sites tend to summon their hordes of bots to buy out high-profile events like this.

 

That's so f"#¤/ng provocative when that happens. I know it's how capitalism works and all that, but I don't have to like it or condone it.

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30 minutes ago, alawill75 said:

Is there anyone who bought tickets right on Tuesday morning? Was it able to select tickets from the entire hall?

 

No, when finally the bug was resolved and the website started working properly (around 9.45am), some sectors were already completely sold out/unavailable, so it might well be as Marian said that there are sectors blocked at the present time for contingent seats, but it's hard to say how many. I think there was overload and multiple requests for the same seats at the same time on Tuesday as well, but in the end I managed to get my 4 tickets together in the same row. But it went much smoother than today, which looked like that once the website started working only standing tickets or obstructed/no stage view were actually available.

 

Last year was definitely smoother and no rush at all, even though the best seats were definitely already gone after the membership sale.

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9 minutes ago, Biodome said:

Last year that didn't happen for some reason. You went into their seating plan, chose a ticket, and everything was fine without any queueing. I don't think they foresaw this week's demand at all. I am pretty sure that that was a wakeup call for them, and they will think about implementing a better system in the future.

 

I wouldn't count on that. I imagine they rarely experience such an assault on their servers. It's "just" classical music, after all, and even a very in demand (e.g.) Thielemann concert, where you want to show up on time when the pre sale starts, will not cause enough load to crash their server.

 

The load last year was much less. As I said, one concert didn't sell out at all, and the other one just shortly before the planned date. There were plenty of tickets available for weeks.

 

I must say the people at the box office on Tuesday were VERY friendly, supportive, and patient. Once I got my tickets (I was third in line, and they opened 4 counters, so it was my turn straight away), I re-queued three times to hand them my phone with friends (different ones each time) on the other end so they could buy their tickets when the website was still acting up.

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Personally I think it's crap that whole sections are just blocked off for friends and family, of the orchestra or not. It's made it relentlessly difficult, if not impossible without exorbitant membership fees, for lifelong fans of Williams to get any tickets at all.

 

This whole ticketing situation has really soured me on an orchestra I know very little about in a country I've never visited.

 

Internet rant over. Perhaps I should redirect my disappointment to the fact that Williams has never performed even close to my country in my lifetime and clearly never will.

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1 minute ago, apples said:

So this just happened... Got an email from Musikverein and they sent me the tickets! :)
 

Although my seats are not next to each other anymore... However they said in the mail that these are better than my original seats. 
They are now Balcony Middle Left and Balcony Middle Right, both row 5, seat 12 for Sunday.

 

Perhaps those are from a backup contingent reserved for cases like this.

 

Interesting that they could also give you standing area tickets. If those are sold out, that must mean they've kept the number of available tickets slightly below the official limit.

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4 hours ago, Biodome said:

I bet that you will see 300 tickets on Viagogo or some shit, being re-sold at €800 minimum. Those sites tend to summon their hordes of bots to buy out high-profile events like this.

 

Usually tickets sold directly from the venue/orchestra/foundation, like in this case, should have a much more rigid and controlled protocol, so it should be harder for resellers to unleash their bots and collect hundreds of tickets at once like they do for event shows in big arenas, where the sale is generally controlled by third-party sellers.

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6 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Perhaps those are from a backup contingent reserved for cases like this.

 

Interesting that they could also give you standing area tickets. If those are sold out, that must mean they've kept the number of available tickets slightly below the official limit.

Hmmm indeed...

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23 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

That's so f"#¤/ng provocative when that happens. I know it's how capitalism works and all that, but I don't have to like it or condone it.

 

I consider myself supportive of capitalism, but that practice is fundamentally unjust. I think every country should have a law against reselling tickets for a higher price.

 

What I love about Musikverein, is that they have such a wide range of price categories. You could basically be a vagabond on the streets of Vienna, yet still afford basic access to a world-class hall, with a world-class orchestra. To take that opportunity away feels inhuman.

19 minutes ago, TownerFan said:

 

Usually tickets sold directly from the venue/orchestra/foundation, like in this case, should have a much more rigid and controlled protocol, so it should be harder for resellers to unleash their bots and collect hundreds of tickets at once like they do for event shows in big arenas, where the sale is generally controlled by third-party sellers.

 

I didn't mean bots literally, but more humans acting like bots, and just buying tickets only for their resale value. That's how Viagogo and StubHub profits, essentially.

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1 hour ago, alawill75 said:

 

I would have prefered an email kind of "You bought tickets for 2018, so you are able to buy this time before the general public"...

I joined as a member last year and they sent me an email this week saying 'even if your membership has elapsed for 2019/20 you can still buy tickets for the rescheduled event'. So they were half-way there.

 

 

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Just for my understanding please - how far away are seats:

-Balcony Middle Left  row 5, seat 12

-Balcony Middle Right  row 5, seat 12

....from each other? Anyone know? Thanks!
 

(sorry to ask this question, I understand it can be annoying for those without any tickets at all)

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9 minutes ago, alawill75 said:

musikverein.jpg

It's marked in red below, under the word "Balkon". So they are next to each other.

Super! Thanks! Was a bit worried they would be super far apart!

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I wrote to Musikverein complaining that I couldn't buy the tickets in my cart due to server error on their site. They have just answered offering two tickets on the Organbalkon on Sunday. However I am not sure I should buy them since everywhere I read that there's no view from there. Here are the places: Orgelbalkon Left, 4th row, Seat 5+6. 

 

Could anyone familiar with the concert hall  tell me about those places? I saw Williams live some years ago so I'm not desperate to go and I definitely don't want to go if all I could see is the audience in front of me.

 

 

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12 minutes ago, Kalman said:

I wrote to Musikverein complaining that I couldn't buy the tickets in my cart due to server error on their site. They have just answered offering two tickets on the Organbalkon on Sunday. However I am not sure I should buy them since everywhere I read that there's no view from there. Here are the places: Orgelbalkon Left, 4th row, Seat 5+6. 

 

Could anyone familiar with the concert hall  tell me about those places? I saw Williams live some years ago so I'm not desperate to go and I definitely don't want to go if all I could see is the audience in front of me.

 

 

Please see the seating picture  posted above! 
 

Btw, any ticket > no ticket 

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15 minutes ago, apples said:

Please see the seating picture  posted above! 
 

Btw, any ticket > no ticket 

 What I really need is a picture taken FROM the Organ balkon to see the view from there. ;)

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58 minutes ago, Kalman said:

 What I really need is a picture taken FROM the Organ balkon to see the view from there. ;)

According to the 3D view, most of the seats by the organ had no view of the stage at all, with the exception of a few front row seats near the side, which had a very limited view of the stage. I personally wouldn't touch that section, unless you're desperate. They are the cheapest seats though. I think €35 each or so.

 

Also, those seats are dashed, which according to the legend means no view.Screenshot_20191024-172316_Gallery.jpg

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4 minutes ago, Biodome said:

According to the 3D view, most of the seats by the organ had no view of the stage at all, with the exception of a few front row seats near the side, which had a very limited view of the stage. I personally wouldn't touch that section, unless you're desperate. They are the cheapest seats though. I think €35 each or so.

Thanks! That's what I was afraid of. (I tried to check it on the website but couldn't find the 3D view...)

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I gave it a try this morning (madness!) and got to snap one ticket for one of those Orgelbalkon seats. I chose not to place my order eventually. Not worth going all the way if there were no view on stage.

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1 hour ago, Kalman said:

I wrote to Musikverein complaining that I couldn't buy the tickets in my cart due to server error on their site. They have just answered offering two tickets on the Organbalkon on Sunday. However I am not sure I should buy them since everywhere I read that there's no view from there. Here are the places: Orgelbalkon Left, 4th row, Seat 5+6. 

 

It's the rear row, so you can stand up without bothering anyone. Unless your in the corner right next to the organ, you should at least get a view of Williams that way I suppose, although of course you won't be able to see the full orchestra (the basses will be just below you). And I expect the acoustics will be curious. But I've never had a seat their myself, so this is mostly conjecture.

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14 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

The load last year was much less. As I said, one concert didn't sell out at all, and the other one just shortly before the planned date. There were plenty of tickets available for weeks.

That's pretty strange indeed, picture this: I haven't been on this site for a year or more, then in the evening of June 27 (!) 2018 out of an unexplicable urge (?) I took a look, saw the incredible announcement from months (!!) ago, "immediately" got going and got us three seats in the 7th (!!!) row, centre. Can you imagine that?

 

That's why on Tuesday morning I wasn't online on 9am precisely but leisurely had coffee with the woman in my life instead. Little did I know that the whole site started working just minutes before I got online towards 10am, with only limited seats available.

 

Very strange indeed.

 

But hopefully we all will meet in Vienna and most importantly will find Maestro John Towner Williams in good health - and I wish anybody who's still looking for tickets the very best of luck!

 

Marian (funny, the first time I read from you, I thought you were a woman - too close to "Marion" I guess ;-D), since one of our seats is on the "Loge" right next to the orchestra and conductor (!), do you know if it is easy for two of us to switch seats during the interval at least?

 

I don't think that it's possible at all while the first or second half is in progress - the seats are on different sides of the hall and you are supposed to move in or out only while the audience is applauding. We'd risk missing a piece...

 

Bye,

ML

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10 hours ago, Martinland said:

Marian (funny, the first time I read from you, I thought you were a woman - too close to "Marion" I guess ;-D), since one of our seats is on the "Loge" right next to the orchestra and conductor (!), do you know if it is easy for two of us to switch seats during the interval at least?

 

If you both have tickets there's no reason why you can't swap them during the intermission. Swapping seats during the concert is out of the question; even if Williams tells stories for a few minutes, the seats and boxes will be too crowded to get up and move around without disturbing everyone around you. Plus you enter the boxes from the hallway, and if you leave the hall, they won't let you back in during a piece (thankfully).

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2 hours ago, Stefancos said:

when the Maestro speaks!

Ahm, in the holiest of holies conductors are allowed to speak? That's even worse than members of the audience swapping seats quietly... ;)

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