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Oper / Staatsoper, Vienna

side view of Baroque style - Vienna
side view of Baroque style
by BruceDunning
Oper / Staatsoper tips and photos posted by real travelers and Vienna locals.

Vienna's Opera
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Oper / Staatsoper: A NIGHT AT THE OPERA
  • Tip Rating:
  • themajor
  • Updated By themajor on August 14, 2005
  • Vienna Page by themajor
  • HIGH C's AND HIGH CEILINGS! - Vienna
    HIGH C's AND HIGH
    CEILINGS!
    by themajor
    There's no doubt about it, Vienna will always be associated with some of the finest music in the world and although I do have a soft spot for Falco's 'Rock me Amadeus', I am of course mainly referring to classical music.

    For any music lover, a trip to see an opera or ballet performance at the Staatsoper is a must and it really needn't cost the earth. On the one hand you can go bonkers and splash out as I did by treating yourself to the best seats in the house. This might seem rather much when you learn that you will pay out £100 + per seat, but take into consideration that your accompanying children can sit anywhere in the House for about £10, and you're talking about a truly memorable experience. My children (Then aged 10 and 12) loved it but do choose your piece carefully. Something like Offenbach's 'Tales of Hoffman' is a splendid introduction to Grand Opera, and the Vienna State Opera have a superb production that's reappearing in 2005. Oh, and I should mention that on the back of each seat the person behind you can read a multilingual translation device...and it really does work well.

    If you aren't feeling flush - don't panic! Seats can still be had for as little as 9 euros but do try to book ahead irrespective of the price band you go for. Online and telephone booking is a doddle - the box office personnel's command of English when dealing with the wary foreigner puts us to shame! Do try to go dressed accordingly - you dont have to come adorned in evening dress (though some do) but jeans and t-shirts would obviously be frowned on. If you can't spare the time for a performance or don't like the music then you could of course bypass the lot and join one of the regular daily tours of the building. But be brave - you'll love it!

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  • Directions: In the centre of central Vienna - Karlsplatz underground station - travel around the inner ring and you can't miss it!
  • Website: www.wiener-staatsoper.at
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    Oper / Staatsoper: Opern-toilette & Toilet-Bar
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  • globetrott
  • Updated By globetrott on November 1, 2005
  • Vienna Page by globetrott
  • the entrance of Opern-toilette - Vienna
    the entrance of Opern-toilette
    by globetrott, 4 more photos
    Opern-Toilette is a funny place, right under the Opera. It was constructed some years ago and recently the so-called "Toilet-Bar" was added. It is a pissoir, designed by the artist Rudolf Scheffel and includes a Jazz-piano and 4 hungry lips, waiting untill you p*ss off....
    Just Imagine, you walk through the lovely centre of Vienna, and get the idea or need, you want to powder your nose or to talk to a man about a horse...
    There is a place, where you may do that in the apropriate way, you certainly expect to, in the metropole of classical music and good taste !
    Ladies go ahead, through the big stage' curtain !
    Gents go to the right please !
    There is a small entrance fee of 60 cents
    to be paid into a machine at the entrance.
    And believe me : It's worth every cent !
    I don't know much about the ladies tones,
    when they powder their noses,
    but at the men's department strange tones are not unusual
    while talking to a man about a horse or a dog !
    ...and therefore Opera-music is played there in order to
    get a more cultural "touch" into any discussion about horses...
    Just imagine - Luciano Pavarotti is singing TOSCA
    in the real Opera high above you,
    while you may talk to a man about a horse...
    and you may sit in one of these well-furnished boxes
    and may go to the John
    and nobody could blame you for that !!!
    Just try to do the same in the real Opera's boxes and you will see what happens ...

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  • Directions: Opern-Toilette is just below the Opera. You simply take the rolling-stairs from the opera under the Ringstrasse and will have Opern-Toilette to your right. It is open untill midnight !!
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    Oper / Staatsoper: Staatsoper. The magic world of culture
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  • Fam.Rauca
  • Updated By Fam.Rauca on September 8, 2005
  • Vienna Page by Fam.Rauca
  • State Opera House - Vienna
    State Opera House
    by Fam.Rauca, 4 more photos
    The Opera House was built in 1862 and was the first building constructed in the Ring.
    The architects, August von Siccardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll created the Opera House in the French Renaissance style but were bitterly criticised.
    When the Opera House was opened in 1869 with Mozart's "Don Giovanni,“ the two architects were already dead.
    Following a bombardment in 1945 the theatre was completely destroyed by flames.
    The reconstruction lasted ten years: Erich Boltenstern designed the stalls and the staircases whilst Zeno Kosak designed the hall.
    The iron curtain depicting Orpheus and Eurydice is the work of Rudolf Eisenmenger.
    On 5th November 1955 the Opera House was reopened, in a solemn ceremony, and a performance of Beethoven’s “Fiedelio” was given, conducted by Karl Böhm.
    The opera orchestra is made up of members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
    In addition it has its own State Opera House Corps de Ballet.
    A list of its orchestra conductors alone would be enough to attest to its worldwide reputation:
    Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Furtwängler, Böhm, Herbert von Karajan, Maazel and Abbado.

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  • Phone: 01 514 44 26 06
  • Directions: Seen from the Ringstrasse, the majestic stone building is dominated by the original loggia, which survived World War II. Station Karlsplatz/Oper Metro: U1, U2, U4 Tramways: 1, 2, D, J, 62, 65
  • Website: www.wiener-staatsoper.at
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    Oper / Staatsoper: Staatsoper / the opera
  • Tip Rating:
  • globetrott
  • Updated By globetrott on October 29, 2005
  • Vienna Page by globetrott
  • the foyer of Staatsoper in Wien - Vienna
    the foyer of Staatsoper
    in Wien
    by globetrott,
    4 more photos
    The Oper was the first building of the new Ringstrasse that was finished in 1869, and while not everybody was happy with the style of the building at that time it finally became one of the most popular buildings of Vienna. In case that you intend to see one of the performances in the Opera, just make sure to reserve as long in advance, as possible, otherwise you have to get your tickets at one of the several ticket-bureaus, adding high extra-charges to the ticket-prices.
    As soon as you arrive in Vienna, you may as well take a look at the side-entrance opposite of "Ringstrassen-Gallerien" - there you see a seperate entrance, where you may see, at what dates guided tours through the opera are offered. - it does NOT follow a regular schema, but the dates of the next few weeks are posted there. Be there in time, these tours are made by plenty of tourguides in various languages, rushing through thousands of tourists within a short time...

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  • Phone: +43(0)51444-2250
  • Directions: Oper is at Ringstrasse and you may get there by U1 and U4, exit Karlsplatz. Trams #1, #2, #65, #D, #J and many others will take you directely to the Opera.
  • Website: www.wiener-staatsoper.at
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    Oper / Staatsoper: THE OPERA HOUSE (Staatsoper)
  • Tip Rating:
  • Hosell
  • Updated By Hosell on October 9, 2004
  • Vienna Page by Hosell
  • Oper / Staatsoper - Vienna
    by Hosell
    If you'll walk by the ring the way I did,so you must to start in the Opera House.This impressive building was built in Reinassance style and is one of oldest buildings in the ring and the center of Vienna.It was completly destroyed during the second world war,and then reconstruction work took the opportunity to modernise the building.The Vienna Opera House was reopened in 1.955 and right now is one of most importants in the world.

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    Oper / Staatsoper: Sorry, Schoenberg
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  • TheWanderingCamel
  • Updated By TheWanderingCamel on October 13, 2006
  • Vienna Page by TheWanderingCamel
  • Vienna's Staatsoper - Vienna
    Vienna's Staatsoper
    by TheWanderingCamel
    Plan ahead! well ahead!!! if a visit to Vienna's Staatsoper is on your agenda. We didn't, and by the time we got around to it, the only opera tickets available for the nights we had free in Vienna were for Schoenerg's difficult and seldom-performed "Moses und Aron". We decided we'd give it a miss this time and planned to take a take a tour of the Opera House instead. We left that to our last day ... and then found there were no tours that day. Oops! Next time.....

    The tour is definitely worth it - I'd done it years ago on my first visit to Vienna and still have memories, though no photos any more, of the splendid interior. That tour included the backstage area, not all do, so check the website or the box office before you book if that area interests you.

    Even if a tour doesn't interest you, and a performance of opera isn't your idea of a good night out, do take a look at the building. Built in Renaissance Italianate style, it first opened its door in 1869 with a performance of Mozart's brilliant Don Giovanni. At this stage it was by no means as universally admired as it came to be. WWII saw it much of it destroyed, though the foyer, grand staicase and tea room did survive. By then, the building had become such a symbol of the city that it was rebuilt according to the original plans, albeit with the latest technology installed, and reopened on November 5, 1955, this time with Beethoven's incomparable Fidelio.

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  • Directions: Right at the southern end of Kartnerstrasse U station - Karlsplatz
  • Website: http://www.wiener-staatsoper.at
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    Oper / Staatsoper: Standing-room at the State-opera's performances
  • Tip Rating:
  • WStat
  • By WStat on April 20, 2008
  • Vienna Page by WStat
  • State-Opera Vienna - Vienna
    State-Opera Vienna
    by WStat
    Hi,

    nice to welcome you soon here in Vienna!
    As to your questions: the standing-room (for about 450 people) is generally situated behind the seats on the operas ground-floor ("Parterre"), called "Steh- (-standing-)parterre", some also at the "Balcony" as well as at the "Gallery".Tickets are sold only 80 minutes in advance at the State-Opera's box-office.
    There is a "community" of people, who try to go whenever possible,the more famous the singers, the earlier they line up, sometimes even at the evening before the performance. So "first come, first serve" is a common issue.
    If you would savor the performance as a music-lover, it is up to your personal abilities, if you are really able to "stand" the whole evening. On the other hand - opera seats are unfortunately very expensive.
    Whatever you decide, have a nice evening at the Vienna Opera and here in Vienna!
    Greetings!

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  • Phone: +43(1)514 44-7880
  • Website: http://www.wiener-staatsoper.at
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    Oper / Staatsoper: Staatsoper
  • Tip Rating:
  • Jmill42
  • Updated By Jmill42 on March 17, 2004
  • Vienna Page by Jmill42
  • The Staatsoper - Vienna
    The Staatsoper
    by Jmill42
    The Staatsoper is one of the most famous opera houses in the world. Operaists vie for positions here and once they obtain a spot, they rarely leave. The Viennese truly support their arts, and the reception that the opera singers receive is amazing.

    The first version of the Staatsoper, was completed in May of 1869, and was done under the order of Franz Josef. This survived until WWII, when the opera house was destroyed.

    After much bickering about what the new finished product should look like, the current version, as it stands today, was opened on the 5th of November 1955.

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    Oper / Staatsoper: City of Culture
  • Tip Rating:
  • Jmill42
  • By Jmill42 on March 17, 2004
  • Vienna Page by Jmill42
  • My Opera Flier! - Vienna
    My Opera Flier!
    by Jmill42
    With one of the best opera houses in the world, you must see an opera in Vienna! On my first day in Vienna, I happened to be walking back to my hostel, and passed by the Staatsoper. There was a line forming and I wandered over to see what was going on. With a little nosing around, I would out that the line was for standing room only tickets to see Le nozze di Figaro!! I, of course, jumped in line and waited the hour or so until seating occurred. For 3 Euro, I got to see Figaro!! Unbelievable!!

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    Oper / Staatsoper: Visit the State Opera House (Wiener Staatsoper)
  • Tip Rating:
  • longsanborn
  • Updated By longsanborn on April 18, 2007
  • Vienna Page by longsanborn
  • Vienna State Opera House at night - Vienna
    Vienna State Opera House at
    night
    by longsanborn, 4 more photos
    The Vienna Opera House is one of the famous opera houses in the world. The Vienna Opera House is well-known as having first-class opera performances and for its Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. For 300 days a year, the Vienna State Opera offers a program that changes daily: more than 60 operas and ballets during the year.

    The Vienna State Opera was built between 1863 and 1869 as one of the first great monuments of the new Ring Boulevard. The Royal-Imperial Court Opera Theater, as it was first called, was designed by the architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll. The building closely resembles Italian Renaissance, as this epoch was immensely important for art and music. Numerous statues at the inside and outside of Vienna opera underline the festive character of the house.

    Once a year, the stage and orchestra stalls of the Vienna State Opera turn into a giant dance floor for the Vienna Opera Ball. More than a 100 debutante couples in long evening dress and tailcoats open the ball in the presence of the Austrian Federal President.

    I've only been twice in the Opera House; the first time there, I joined a group tour to see the inside of the Opera House, and the 2nd time was to watch the Swan Lake Ballet performance.

  • Directions: Underground Train Lines U1/U2/U4 to Karlplatz stop. Take the exit towards Kartnerstrasse or the Opera House
  • Website: http://www.wiener-staatsoper.at
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