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By Vivien Schweitzer
05 Oct 2006
Scottish Opera has devised an unusual fundraising plan to support its current revival of David McVicar's production of Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, which opened last night at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow: Audience members have been invited to sponsor a character in the opera. Leading roles such as the Marschallin cost £1,000, while servants can be snapped up for a bargain £25.
Scottish Opera's website offers a complete price list: £50 will buy you Three Noble Orphans or Four Waiters; for £500 you can sponsor Sophie, Faninal’s daughter or the Police Commissar; while deep pocketed patrons can sponsor any of the leading characters for £1,000 or enjoy "exclusive sponsorship" for £5,000.
Scottish Opera also graciously points out that there are no minimum limits for the indecisive. "If you can’t make up your mind which role to support, Scottish Opera would be delighted to receive support at any level towards the production."
In return, all patrons will receive accreditation in SO programs. Depending on the amount of their sponsorship, donors may also receive tickets to parties with the cast, drinks receptions and signed photographs.
According to The Independent of London, SO was "inundated with requests" and each character had multiple sponsors.
"We started out looking for £10,000 or £11,000 and ended up raising £44,000, which is absolutely amazing," Jane Nicolson, a spokeswoman for Scottish Opera, told the paper. "As far as we know we are the only opera company who has ever done anything like this. The thinking behind the idea was that as it is increasingly difficult to raise funds we thought we had to be a little more creative, but we didn't expect it to be so successful."
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