Can anyone please explain Glyndebourne to me?

[whataboutbob]

I was lucky enough to be invited to glyndebourne this year by a friend who is a member,it was as idyllic as people say. I like opera but am by no means a serious connoisseur. I would like to go next year and bring along a French friend who will be over for the summer. Looking at the G website, it seems you have to be a member and that costs £500, then tickets are £ 100 each. So £700 for 2 tickets! Am I right ? Any GLyndebourne aficionados out there?

No, you don't need to be a member -- the full members get first crack at the tickets, then the tickets that are left get offered to the associate members, then everything left gets offered up to the general public. There are always tickets left for the general public once the two rounds of ballots are done, although occasionally one of the productions might sell out.

Also there are tickets at a range of prices from low double digits up to £200 or so (again prices vary according to production). It's an interesting feature, though, that most of the cheapest tickets get snapped up by the members and so the tickets that go on sale to the general public tend to be at the higher end of the range but if you are reasonably flexible on dates and production then there should be something available that doesn't require you to sell off your internal organs. And if you live close and could take tickets at short notice then all sorts of price band tickets come up through the Returns Club via email but that's less likely to apply given that you want to take your friend.

Thanks tortoise that is really useful., you have explained the system really well. Sounds like it is a bit swings and roundabouts with membership and sales to the general public. I guess the trick is to keep a close eye n the website?