New York City: Classical music and opera
New Yorkers take serious music seriously. Long lines form for anything popular, many concerts sell out, and summer evenings can see a quarter of a million people turning up in Central Park for free performances by the New York Philharmonic. The range of what's available is wide - but it's big names at big venues that pull in the crowds.OPERA VENUES
Amato Opera Theater
319 Bowery (at 2nd St) tel 212/228-8200,
www.amato.org
.
This Bowery venue presents an ambitious and varied repertory of classics performed by up-and-coming young singers and conductors. Performances at weekends only, closed in the summer.
Juilliard School
60 Lincoln Center Plaza (at Broadway and 65th St) tel 212/799-5000,
www.juilliard.edu
.
Right next door to the Met, Julliard students often perform under the control of a famous conductor, usually for low ticket prices.
Metropolitan Opera House
Columbus Ave (at 64th St), Lincoln Center tel 212/362-6000,
www.metopera.org
.
New York's premier opera venue is home to the Metropolitan Opera Company from Sept to late April. Tickets are expensive and can be quite difficult to obtain, though 175 standing-room tickets for $12-16 go on sale every Sat morning at 10am (the line has been known to form at dawn).
The New York State Theater
at 64th St, Lincoln Center tel 212/870-5570.
Playing David to the Met's Goliath, the City Opera's wide and adventurous program varies wildly in quality - sometimes startlingly innovative, occasionally mediocre, but seats go for less than half the Met's prices.
CONCERT HALLS
The Alice Tully Hall
at 64th St, Lincoln Center tel 212/721-6500
A smaller venue for chamber orchestras, string quartets and instrumentalists. Prices similar to those in Avery Fisher.
The Avery Fisher Hall
at 64th St, Lincoln Center tel 212/875-5030,
www.Lincolncenter.org
.
Home of the New York Philharmonic, and temporary one to visiting orchestras and soloists. Ticket prices for the Philharmonic are in the range of $12-50. An often fascinating bargain are the NYP open rehearsals at 9.45am on concert days, which cost just $14. Avery Fisher also hosts the very popular annual Mostly Mozart Festival (tel 212/875-5103) in Aug.
Bargemusic
Fulton Ferry Landing, Brooklyn tel 718/624-4061 or tel 624-2803,
www.bargemusic.org
.
Chamber music in a wonderful river setting below the Brooklyn Bridge on Thurs and Fri at 7.30pm, and Sun at 4pm. Tickets are $30, $25 for senior citizens, $15 for students.
Brooklyn Academy of Music 30 Lafayette Ave (near Flatbush Ave), Brooklyn tel 718/636-4100, www.bam.org .
Carnegie Hall
154 W 57th St (at 7th Ave) tel 212/247-7800,
www.carnegiehall.org
.
The greatest names from all schools of music performed here in the past, from Tchaikovsky and Toscanini to Gershwin and Billie Holiday. Labeled "one of the finest orchestral showplaces on the planet" by Alex Ross in the
New Yorker
.
Merkin Concert Hall
129 W 67th St (between Broadway and Amsterdam Ave) tel 212/501-3330,
www.merkinconcerthall.org
.
In the Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center, this intimate and adventurous venue is a great place to hear music of any kind. Plays host to the New York Guitar Festival in Sept.
More about Classical music and opera:
Free summer concerts
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