I will be in Amsterdam for three days and two nights May 17-19. (The earlier post is mine.) I would like to attend a concert at the iconic concert hall, but at last check there were very few seats left for the May 17 performance and the May 18 date is sold out. My wife is undecided if she will feel up to attending (we will have flown from the US the night before arriving in Amsterdam around 1100), so I may wait until the evening of the performance and check at the box office to see if there are any unclaimed tickets available. If I do this what are my chances of getting a ticket (or two)? Another option may be to attend a noontime "mini-performance/rehearsal" on May 17 and follow this with a tour of the facility. The issue here is the matter of time if we arrive at Schiphol around 1100 we'd only have an hour and a half to drop our luggage and get to the 1230 event (our hotel is near the Concertgebouw). I want to experience the acoustics of the place as well as see it; what's the best option?
Forget the matinee 12:30 event. Too much of a rush. Since it is almost sold out 2 months in advance your chances or low of getting ticket for the evening but check.
Your best option is to buy a ticket for yourself and go and let the wife rest.
Both evening 17 and 18 are showing sold out.
Yes, I've done it. Go to the box office the afternoon of the performance and express your interest, name, phone number, hotel etc. That will show you are serious. Come back an hour before the performance and let them know you are there. That way scored tickets for my wife and I a few years back, although we would have to sit apart. One ticket came from a return to the box office, and the other from a lady who had an extra ticket. The lady at the box office pointed her out to me and said "Go talk to her". She offered me a 60 EUR ticket for 50 EUR. "My friend couldn't make it, so she'll be happy with 50."