Vienna
Weiner Staatsoper - Many visitors to Vienna
might not put a visit to the Vienna State Opera House
down the list of their sightseeing before setting
out – but why not give it a whirl.
Just in the one month of October, the State Opera,
the Vienna Opera House included the
following performances in their repertoire: Don Carlos,
Tosca, The Magic Flute, The Barber of Seville, La
Boheme, Swan Lake, The Flying Dutchman, etc etc.
Tickets for premieres, Gala nights etc are difficult
to come by but can be booked well in advance over
the internet. Good seats for any of the major operas
can also be booked over the internet so once you know
when your visit is, get online and see what’s
on.
If you’re not the planning type you’ve
a number of options. Take a guided tour of the Vienna
State Opera House and they’ll tell
you how to get “standing” tickets, or
go to the ticket office in the National Theatre on
the morning of the performance and try for left over
tickets or restricted view tickets (costing about
10 euro).
Standing room tickets for the Opera in Vienna
are an amazing bargain – go to the Vienna State
Opera House about 4.30 (for a popular programme or
as late as 6.30 for a less popular programme) on the
day of the performance and join the “standing
room” queue. Have your money ready – the
tickets cost from €4 downwards, yes depending
on where you opt for, stalls, balcony etc the cost
in October 2004 was less than €4. Once you buy
your ticket go immediately for the area of your choice
and grab the best available space. From your standing
point you’ll have a perfect view of the stage,
the colour, the glamour, the music and you’ll
be stunned by the seductiveness of it all. There are
some rules – you can only buy one ticket for
yourself, so everyone wanting a ticket has to do the
queuing, you must put your coat, bags, anoraks, backpacks,
etc into the cloakroom, you can’t bring in food
or drink, etc.
The Vienna Opera House from the
outside is a great big block building and first opened
in 1869. During World War II, in 1945, it was almost
completely destroyed. Subsequently, it was rebuilt
in a similar fashion and reopened in 1955 in celebration
of the Treaty of Austria, making Austria a neutral
state once more.
The Vienna State Opera is one of
the leading opera houses in the world. It has over
2000 seats and is almost always filled to capacity.
The interior is splendid, with tiers of boxes all
round, including a Royal Box (by the way the stalls
“standing room” area is immediately under
the Royal Box with approximately the same excellent
viewpoint - but the standing room area does lack comfortable
seats!).
