Monster deals in classical music

FREE Holiday music at St. Thomas Church is the best thing about Fifth Avenue in December. Arrive about an hour early to nab a pew for prime gratis concerts such as Britten’s “Ceremony of Carols” or Messiaen’s organ masterwork “La Nativité du Seigneur” (both Dec 20).

Cheryl Evans

$2–$15 Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel host a “Concerts at One” series in which, for a $2 donation, you can spend lunchtime with, say, the Proteus Ensemble (Nov 1). At The Stone, John Zorn’s experimental sound lab on Avenue C, all shows are a lowly ten-spot; even laptop masters Ikue Mori and Christian Pincock (Nov 14). Hit Caffè Taci’s Opera Fridays and Saturdays and the food-and-drink minimum is just $15 at the bar, $30 at a table. You’ll hear the likes of Cheryl Evans, whose exquisite voice is unforgettable. So what do you need tickets for? Well…

$15–$25 Rossini’s Le Comte Ory at the Juilliard Opera Center (Nov 14–18) is deliciously risqué; tickets cost $20 and are easy to come by. The $20 rush tickets at The Met are not; only 200 are available per night, but for $15 on weeknights, you can bag seats in the nosebleed section and enjoy the house’s sweetest sound.

$25–$50 Front orchestra seats at New York City Opera can be had for $25, as part of its Opera-for-All program (on sale at nycopera.com on Mondays at 10am; they sell out in 24 hours-ish).

$50–$100 Spring for a first-tier seat at Carnegie Hall when the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, conducted by up-and-coming superstar Gustavo Dudamel, reminds New Yorkers that Beethoven and Bartók can be visceral, booty-shaking fun (Nov 11 and 12).

$100+ If you simply must see Juan Diego Flórez at the Met, then become a patron. For $2,000 you get a special number to call for tickets, and you can make friends with the lucky concertgoers who paid $20 for the rush seats next to yours.

Share your secrets! We've told you everything we know about getting great deals on classical music tickets, but we know you have your own schemes. Leave your own tips in the Comments box below.