Summer silence
Tourist friendly it is not.
Hordes of foreign visitors may crowd the shores of Gdansk and Sopot and shop furiously in Krakow's market hall in summer months, but few of those free-spending tourists will be able to see an opera at a national theater or listen to Chopin performed by a state orchestra. Many of the nation's state-run theaters, opera houses and symphonic halls shut their doors during the peak tourist season, regardless of how many people they would have been able to pack in if the venues abandoned the practice of summer recess.
"It's really a shame that the opera is closed in summer. Our program is based on musical events," said Andrzej Bartkowski, a representative at Mazurkas Travel who is responsible for designing programs for tourists visiting Warsaw. "But it's hard to change a 50-year-old custom. Theaters have always closed down in summer."
To fill the silence, travel agencies have resorted to putting together their own summer concerts as part of their package tours. Mazurkas Travel, which in summer has 25,000 customers for its package tours, organizes private Chopin concerts that attract 40-80 people every night, Bartkowski said. "There are usually 6,000 tourists in the summer season who come to our concerts. We do our best to make Warsaw's cultural offer more attractive."
The theaters and halls contend that they must close in the summer if they want to make their state subsidies stretch through the year. Travel agents, however, argue that the venues could sell more expensive tickets and actually turn a profit - something that is usually elusive with normally low ticket prices - if they were willing to keep performing June through September.
Other European capitals sell as many tickets as possible during the tourist season, pushing back their recess until the end of September. While Warsaw's National Philharmonic shuts from June until the end of September, London's Royal Albert Hall performs its Promenade Concerts all the way through the end of September.
Warsaw's Grand Theater, which seats 2,000 and has earned the prestige of playing some of the finest operas in this part of Europe, also breaks from June 28 until mid-September. At the same time, however, London's more than 30 theaters, galleries and other concert halls pack in shows during peak tourist season.
Tourism may not be Warsaw's economic bread and butter, but it is Krakow's. Despite that, many cultural events come to a halt there as well in the summer.
"All theaters are closed and we don't like that," said Grzegorz Slacz, director of the Krakow's Culture Information Center. "Fortunately, we have garden theaters which perform at cafeterias and the annual Summer Festival of Ancient Music is to start soon."
But empty theaters are not Slacz's only concern. "It's a scandal that most (state-run) museums in Krakow close at 3 p.m.," he said. "Take Italy. I heard about places where museums are open until midnight in the summer season."
But officials at the theaters and in the Culture Ministry said that there just isn't enough money to support staying open in the summer. The Culture Ministry together with municipal and provincial authorities, subsidizes all state-run theaters, halls and opera houses with the idea of keeping ticket prices affordable for Poles and maintaining a diversity of productions - not just commercially successful performances.
"Theaters in London's West End are designed to make money. Their productions are typically commercial," said Malgorzata Szum, director of the theater division at the Culture Ministry. "As long as we don't have enough money, the extension of the season will always be a problem. For strictly economic reasons."
In 1991, Warsaw's municipal authorities carried on with the communist tradition of funding the arts and took over the financial patronage of more than 12 of the capital's theaters. In 1999, those theaters will receive zl. 27 million ($6.92 million) to cover basic costs, such as building maintenance, wages and production costs.
"Regardless of that annual budget, they can also apply for extra funding for one premiere every year," said Ewa Wronska, director of the theater division in the Warsaw municipality.
The municipality can only afford to finance one premier per theater annually, though. During the first six months of 1999, the city paid zl. 300,000 for the premiere of "Wesola wdowka" ("Happy Widow") at the Roma theater.
"So, to make three premieres a year, which is Warsaw's average, directors of theaters have to look for private sponsors," Wronska said. "And sponsors prefer sports."
Adding a summer season would only add another expensive premiere, said Justyna Duriasz, marketing and promotion specialist at the National Theater.
"Economically speaking, theaters are cheaper to run when closed and empty," she said. "Why? You don't need to pay for new productions, costumes. Even if a theater is full, you can't make money on tickets. Right now tickets are far too cheap anyway."
According to Duriasz, tickets that cost more than the average of zl. 30 are too expensive for most theatergoers. "Look who goes to the theater, he's definitely not somebody well off," she said.
But while the opera or theater is expensive for Poles, it is dirt-cheap for most foreigners. Mazurkas Travel said that many of its clients come specifically for Warsaw's Mozart Festival at the Chamber Opera House in June or for the summer opera festival in Krakow.
"I really don't think that the Grand Theater couldn't sell tickets during the summer season when musical events could be a real tourist attraction," Bartkowski said. "This year, we had 15 groups of 30 people each which came to Warsaw for the Mozart Festival."
Krakow-based travel agency Point said that the ministry needs to rethink its policy on closing theaters. "Although there are less Poles in summer who need a cultural offering, there are foreigners," said Aneta Szymczuch, an agent with Point. "It would be good if the theater and philharmonic season didn't end in summer."
Krakow's opera house has been one of the few to respond. At Mazurkas Travel's urging, the opera house broke tradition, flung open its doors and launched a summer festival in July.
"The risk they took turned out to be worth it," Bartkowski said. "We are their regular customers. Every year, all the tickets are sold."
Hordes of foreign visitors may crowd the shores of Gdansk and Sopot and shop furiously in Krakow's market hall in summer months, but few of those free-spending tourists will be able to see an opera at a national theater or listen to Chopin performed by a state orchestra. Many of the nation's state-run theaters, opera houses and symphonic halls shut their doors during the peak tourist season, regardless of how many people they would have been able to pack in if the venues abandoned the practice of summer recess.
"It's really a shame that the opera is closed in summer. Our program is based on musical events," said Andrzej Bartkowski, a representative at Mazurkas Travel who is responsible for designing programs for tourists visiting Warsaw. "But it's hard to change a 50-year-old custom. Theaters have always closed down in summer."
To fill the silence, travel agencies have resorted to putting together their own summer concerts as part of their package tours. Mazurkas Travel, which in summer has 25,000 customers for its package tours, organizes private Chopin concerts that attract 40-80 people every night, Bartkowski said. "There are usually 6,000 tourists in the summer season who come to our concerts. We do our best to make Warsaw's cultural offer more attractive."
The theaters and halls contend that they must close in the summer if they want to make their state subsidies stretch through the year. Travel agents, however, argue that the venues could sell more expensive tickets and actually turn a profit - something that is usually elusive with normally low ticket prices - if they were willing to keep performing June through September.
Other European capitals sell as many tickets as possible during the tourist season, pushing back their recess until the end of September. While Warsaw's National Philharmonic shuts from June until the end of September, London's Royal Albert Hall performs its Promenade Concerts all the way through the end of September.
Warsaw's Grand Theater, which seats 2,000 and has earned the prestige of playing some of the finest operas in this part of Europe, also breaks from June 28 until mid-September. At the same time, however, London's more than 30 theaters, galleries and other concert halls pack in shows during peak tourist season.
Tourism may not be Warsaw's economic bread and butter, but it is Krakow's. Despite that, many cultural events come to a halt there as well in the summer.
"All theaters are closed and we don't like that," said Grzegorz Slacz, director of the Krakow's Culture Information Center. "Fortunately, we have garden theaters which perform at cafeterias and the annual Summer Festival of Ancient Music is to start soon."
But empty theaters are not Slacz's only concern. "It's a scandal that most (state-run) museums in Krakow close at 3 p.m.," he said. "Take Italy. I heard about places where museums are open until midnight in the summer season."
But officials at the theaters and in the Culture Ministry said that there just isn't enough money to support staying open in the summer. The Culture Ministry together with municipal and provincial authorities, subsidizes all state-run theaters, halls and opera houses with the idea of keeping ticket prices affordable for Poles and maintaining a diversity of productions - not just commercially successful performances.
"Theaters in London's West End are designed to make money. Their productions are typically commercial," said Malgorzata Szum, director of the theater division at the Culture Ministry. "As long as we don't have enough money, the extension of the season will always be a problem. For strictly economic reasons."
In 1991, Warsaw's municipal authorities carried on with the communist tradition of funding the arts and took over the financial patronage of more than 12 of the capital's theaters. In 1999, those theaters will receive zl. 27 million ($6.92 million) to cover basic costs, such as building maintenance, wages and production costs.
"Regardless of that annual budget, they can also apply for extra funding for one premiere every year," said Ewa Wronska, director of the theater division in the Warsaw municipality.
The municipality can only afford to finance one premier per theater annually, though. During the first six months of 1999, the city paid zl. 300,000 for the premiere of "Wesola wdowka" ("Happy Widow") at the Roma theater.
"So, to make three premieres a year, which is Warsaw's average, directors of theaters have to look for private sponsors," Wronska said. "And sponsors prefer sports."
Adding a summer season would only add another expensive premiere, said Justyna Duriasz, marketing and promotion specialist at the National Theater.
"Economically speaking, theaters are cheaper to run when closed and empty," she said. "Why? You don't need to pay for new productions, costumes. Even if a theater is full, you can't make money on tickets. Right now tickets are far too cheap anyway."
According to Duriasz, tickets that cost more than the average of zl. 30 are too expensive for most theatergoers. "Look who goes to the theater, he's definitely not somebody well off," she said.
But while the opera or theater is expensive for Poles, it is dirt-cheap for most foreigners. Mazurkas Travel said that many of its clients come specifically for Warsaw's Mozart Festival at the Chamber Opera House in June or for the summer opera festival in Krakow.
"I really don't think that the Grand Theater couldn't sell tickets during the summer season when musical events could be a real tourist attraction," Bartkowski said. "This year, we had 15 groups of 30 people each which came to Warsaw for the Mozart Festival."
Krakow-based travel agency Point said that the ministry needs to rethink its policy on closing theaters. "Although there are less Poles in summer who need a cultural offering, there are foreigners," said Aneta Szymczuch, an agent with Point. "It would be good if the theater and philharmonic season didn't end in summer."
Krakow's opera house has been one of the few to respond. At Mazurkas Travel's urging, the opera house broke tradition, flung open its doors and launched a summer festival in July.
"The risk they took turned out to be worth it," Bartkowski said. "We are their regular customers. Every year, all the tickets are sold."
