Has anyone else noticed this is becoming almost universal?

When you go to a concert now,  you can't just "buy a program"...  you have to buy the program for the entire "festival" of which your single concert is just one part.   This might set you back anything from £7 to nearly £15...  just for the program!

I've experienced this twice in the past fortnight, in concert-halls in Moscow and Paris (and I know very well it happens in London also)...  in fact except for operas,  it seems almost every program I buy (or decline to buy) is now a "festival" program?

How can ordinary concert-goers revolt against this iniquitous practice?  At least in theatres, a cast-list is almost always provided free of charge for those unwilling to shell-out 5 quid for a load of ads for other theatrical performances...

It has long been commonplace at actual "festivals" and similar linked events: a Glyndebourne programme book is £15 covering six shows; the Royal Opera Ring was £15 covering the whole cycle.

I was at a Philharmonia concert last night and was caught out by this; I needed the programme as I wasn't familiar with the piano concerto, otherwise I would have been quite content with a free "cast" sheet.  Still, if you go to any more than one concert, a £5 outlay becomes decent value; I'd expect to pay a minimum of £2.50 for a single concert programme.  As it happens, I'm rarely persuaded to go to the Philharmonia more than once every six months

Opera Holland Park now have it right: you CAN buy the season brochure (can't remember the cost: £6?) which then gets you free updates on the six individual productions, but now it is at least possible to pay a lower price and get a cast booklet for an individual opera.  It still works out that for two or more shows it is worth buying the full festival magazine.

The Barbican is best of all: most of its concert series (Great Performers, LSO, Mostly Mozart) now issue free programmes.

Must go now, or I'll sleep through Gergiev's Mahler 6 tomorrow!

That's one way of looking at it Ruth.  Alternatively, you could say Holland Park give you the choice of paying for the whole season even though you're only attending one opera or paying (£1.50 iirc, but I'm not at all sure) for a cast list that most houses (ROH included) give you for free!

I have combined programmes for both Philharmonia & LPO series from when I used to be a subscriber in the mid-90s so that's been going on for some time.  I had mixed feelings about them even then.  I would quite often be going to all the concerts in a series and saved a few pence on the regular price of multiple porogrammes; but if I wasn't I rather resented not being able to get a single-concert programme and often didn't buy one at all.

The strangest of all is De Munt/La Monnaie which has (or had when I went there) huge publications the size of a wallpaper sample book!  You have the option of buying a French or a Flemish version and the price is considerably more than the cheapest seats in the house.  Judging by the one I bought they're not bad vfm, but I only ever bought one because if I'm flying home I'd never get through on 'hand luggage only' if I had to take such a tome with me!  The cast list is free but it struck me as quite odd that there was nothing between 'basic & free' and 'sumptuous and expensive'.

To be fair, ENO programmes (now £4.50) were £3 for a very long time, and then £4 for a couple of seasons before going up to their current rate.  I think ENO programmes contain really interesting articles.

I'm more annoyed with ENO over their ticketing policies - you used to be able to get a gods seat (row B or K) very cheaply on the day.  It used to be £5 but then they dropped it to £2.50 for a couple of seasons, and £3 for a couple of seasons after that, before returning it to £5.  Now, row K seats (which used to be great seats - the only ones in the gods with legroom and under-seat space for stashing belongings) are no longer day seats, and they've ruined them by abolishing the policy of not letting latecomers in until the interval, so if you sit up there all you get is noise and disturbance.  And the prices are upper-band balcony - £16 on weekdays, £21 on Fridays and Saturdays.  I moved to London in time for the 1999/2000 season when they were £2.50 (cheaper than a programme!) so I make that an increase of over 700% at weekends    At the time it was the only thing I could afford to do in the evenings, and for four seasons or so I went to multiple performances of almost everything (especially the rarities, so as to get to know them) and made loads of friends in the company and audience.  It makes me sad and angry that other young people won't have the same opportunity.

HtoHe, as I mentioned in my previous message, there is regrettably no longer such a thing as a ridiculously cheap day seat at ENO

(Balcony Row B is still day seats, but they're in line with the lower price for the rest of the Balcony).

Ironically, it's now the Royal Opera House which still has tickets cheaper than its programmes for many productions (standing tickets and "listening seats").

ENO also used to have day seats in the front "wings" of the dress circle, in front of the boxes, which were great if you wanted to treat yourself - these were priced in line with the rear section of the dress circle (about £33 at the time) but were fantastic seats - slightly restricted view, and the occasional acoustic oddity (I remember seeing Tosca from there and finding that Cheryl Barker's top notes bounced right off the ceiling and came back for a second visit!), but fantastic for proximity to the stage.  These seats are now bookable in advance and priced at top or second price

Anyway, off topic.  Sorry.