Vienna State Opera (Austria): history. Vienna State Opera: history, description, photos Opera program and tickets

The largest Austrian opera house, the center of the musical culture of Austria. Until 1918 - the Vienna Court Opera. The building that currently houses the Vienna State Opera was built in 1869 by the architect August Zikkard von Zikkardsburg; its interior was designed by Eduard van der Nüll. For a long time it was considered that this building is one of the best theater buildings in the world.

The theater was opened with a performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni. In 1875-1897, H. Richter, an outstanding interpreter of Wagner operas, was the musical director and chief conductor of the theater. Under him, productions of Wagner's tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen, a cycle of Mozart's operas, and Verdi's Otello were staged. In 1897, the outstanding composer and conductor Gustav Mahler became the head of the theater. During the ten years of his leadership of the Vienna Opera, this theater became one of the best in Europe. Mahler attracted to the work of such outstanding masters as Bruno Walter, Franz Schalk. It was during this period that “Eugene Onegin”, “The Queen of Spades” and “Iolanthe” by P. I. Tchaikovsky were first staged on the stage of the Vienna State Opera.

In 1945, the theater building was destroyed during the bombing of Vienna. For ten years, theater performances were staged on other stages. Only the new season of 1955/56 began in the restored building. From this season, the famous Herbert von Karajan becomes the artistic director of the theater.

The Vienna State Opera, although it offers its audience an extremely diverse repertoire, is rightfully considered the custodian of the best traditions of the Viennese classical school, and especially Mozart.

A. Maykapar

Opera history

The emergence of the Vienna Opera dates back to the middle of the 17th century, when the first operatic performances of the Italian troupe took place at the court of the Austrian emperor. From the 2nd half of the 17th century, opera performances performed by the Austrian court troupe were performed on the stages of various theaters (first at the Vienna Burgtheater, from 1763 - mainly at the Kärntnertorteater). The basis of the repertoire was the Italian opera. The performances were pompous.

Since the middle of the 18th century, the activities of the court opera troupe have been associated with the opera reform of K. V. Gluck (since 1754 - the court bandmaster), with the development of a national opera style based on the singspiel genre. Operas by J. Umlauf (The Miners, 1778, etc.), W. A. ​​Mozart (The Abduction from the Seraglio, 1782), K. Dittersdorf (The Doctor and the Apothecary, 1786) and others are staged.

Since the beginning of the 19th century, the Vienna Opera has been staging the best works of German, Austrian, Italian and later French composers: L. Cherubini (Medea), L. Beethoven (Fidelio), G. Rossini (Tancred, The Thieving Magpie ”, “William Tell”, etc.), K. M. Weber (“Free Shooter”), J. Meyerbeer (“Robert the Devil”, “Huguenots”), G. Donizetti (“Lucia di Lammermoor”, “Lucretia Borgia”), G. Verdi (“Nabucco”, “Rigoletto”, “Il trovatore”, etc.), R. Wagner (“Lohengrin”, “Tannhäuser”, etc.), C. Gounod (“Faust”), etc. During these years, many of the largest European singers, including Austrian and German ones, performed here: P. A. Milder-Hauptmann, V. Schroeder-Devrient, K. Unger, G. Sontag and others.

In 1869, the Vienna Court Opera received a new building, which for a long time was considered one of the best theatrical buildings in the world (designed by the architects E. van der Nüll and A. Zikkard von Zikkardsburg). The theater opened with the opera Don Giovanni by Mozart. In 1875-97, the musical director and chief conductor of the theater, Hans Richter, was an outstanding interpreter of Wagner's operas. Under him, performances were carried out: the tetralogy "Ring of the Nibelung" (1877-79), "Tristan and Isolde", the Mozart cycle, "Othello", as well as modern operas by P. Cornelius, J. Massenet, E. Humperdinck and others. At the end In the 19th century, interest in ballet increased, among others, J. Bayer's ballets "The Puppet Fairy" and "The Sun and the Earth" were often performed.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, thanks to the reform activities of G. Mahler (chief conductor of the theater in 1897-1907), the Vienna Court Opera became one of the best European opera houses. Mahler strove to subordinate all the components of the opera performance to a single concept (in accordance with the author's score), carefully prepared each production, making high demands on the orchestra, choir and singers, achieving special musical and dramatic expressiveness. He attracted the conductors B. Walter and F. Schalk, the decorator A. Roller to work in the theater.

During these years, along with brilliant productions of works by Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, Wagner, the following were performed for the first time: "La Boheme"; "Falstaff"; "Electra" by R. Strauss and others, as well as the operas by P. I. Tchaikovsky "Eugene Onegin", "The Queen of Spades" and "Iolanta". Singers P. Lucca, A. Materna, G. Winkelman, A. Bar-Mildenburg, L. Lehman, L. Slezak and others performed on the stage of the theater.

In 1918, after the formation of the Republic of Austria, the theater received its modern name. F. Schalk became the head of the theater (until 1929). In the 1920s and 1930s, along with works by Mozart (Idomeneo), Verdi (Don Carlos, Macbeth), R. Strauss (The Woman without a Shadow, Salome, Helena of Egypt), M Ravel (“The Spanish Hour”), M. de Falla (“A Short Life”) in the repertoire of the theater, a significant place is occupied by operas by contemporary composers (including Korngold's “The Miracle of Eliana”, Krenek's “Johnny Plays”, “The Lucky Hand” Schoenberg, Oedipus Rex by Stravinsky, etc.).

During the years of Nazi occupation (1938-45), the Vienna State Opera fell into decay. Immediately after the liberation of Austria (1945), the theater resumed its activities and soon regained its fame as the country's leading musical and theater center. The building of the theater was destroyed by bombing in 1945, the theater temporarily gave performances in the premises of the Theater an der Wien and the Volksoper.

The 1955-56 season opened in a restored building (an auditorium with 2,209 seats). Operas were staged: "Fidelio", "Don Giovanni", "Aida"; "Meistersingers" Wagner and others.

In 1956-64 the Vienna State Opera was directed by G. Karajan. Among the best performances of the 1950s and 1960s: Everyone Does It, Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Handel's Julius Caesar, Gluck's Orpheus, Rossini's Cinderella, Un ballo in maschera; the tetralogy "Ring of the Nibelung", "Tristan and Isolde" by Wagner, "The Bartered Bride", "Prince Igor"; "Ariadne on Naxos" and "Salome" by R. Strauss, "Lulu" by Berg, the triptych "Triumphs" and "Oedipus Rex" by Orff, "The Government Inspector" by Egk, "The Artist Mathis" by Hindemith, "Dialogues of the Carmelites" by Poulenc, etc.

In the 1930s and 60s, the best singers from Austria and other countries performed at the Vienna State Opera, including A. and X. Konecny, M. Cebotari, E. Schwarzkopf, I. Zefrid, X. Guden, L. Della Casa, S. Jurinac, A. Dermot, D. Fischer-Dieskau, J. Patzak, B. Nilsson, M. Del Monaco, P. Schöfler, M. Lorenz and others, the largest conductors worked - K. Kraus, R. Strauss, B. Walter, O. Klemperer, B. Furtwängler, J. Krips, V. De Sabata, K. Böhm, G. Karajan, D. Mitropoulos, L. Bernstein and others.

In the 70s, the theater troupe included singers V. Berry, O. Wiener, E. Kunz, K. Ludwig, V. Lipp, L. Rizanek, R. Holm and others; The permanent conductors of the theater were J. Krips and K. Böhm. In 1971 the Vienna State Opera toured the USSR.

S. M. Grishchenko

The Vienna State Opera (German: Wiener Staatsoper, until 1918 the Vienna Court Opera) is the largest opera house in Austria, one of the centers of musical culture in Europe. The court opera in Vienna arose in the middle of the 17th century, opera performances were staged in various theaters. In 1861, construction began on a special building for the Vienna Opera, designed by architects A. Z. von Sicardsburg and E. van der Nüll; the building was completed by 1869 and solemnly (in the presence of Franz-Josef and Sissi) opened on May 25 with Mozart's opera Don Giovanni. Until 1918, the theater was under the auspices of the Habsburgs and was called the Court Opera House (German: Wiener Hof-Operntheater). In the 1920s unofficially, they began to call it the state opera, but it received the official name of the Vienna State Opera (German: Wiener Staatsoper) only in 1938, with the beginning of the Anschluss.

During World War II, K. Kraus, W. Furtwängler, and K. Böhm led productions of works by Mozart, Beethoven, and Verdi. In 1938 the premiere of Strauss' opera The Day of Peace took place, and by 1944 all his operas had been staged.
In 1945, as a result of an American bombing, the theater building was partially destroyed. Restoration work continued until 1955, and, finally, on November 5, 1955, the theater was opened with a production of Beethoven's Fidelio (conducted by K. Boehm). At the same time, the tradition of annual balls at the Vienna Opera was renewed.
The directors of the Vienna State Opera were musicians, directors and, especially in the second half of the 20th century, professional administrators. According to historical tradition, in addition to administrative functions, they also performed the function of artistic leadership, in particular, they determined the repertoire of the theater. The director-musician also performed the duties of the chief conductor (music director). Since 1986, the positions of director-administrator and musical director (he is also chief conductor), as a rule, have not been combined in one person.
Among the outstanding musicians who headed the Vienna Opera were Gustav Mahler (1897-1907), Felix Weingartner (1908-1911 and 1935-1936), Franz Schalk (1919-1929, and until 1924 together with Richard Strauss), Clemens Kraus ( 1929-1934), Karl Böhm (1943-1945 and 1954-1956), Herbert von Karajan (1956-1964), Lorin Maazel (1982-1984).
In 1986-91. the director of the theater was K. H. Drese, the music director was Claudio Abbado. In 1991-1992 the famous singer Eberhard Wächter was the director. In 1992-2010 the director was Ioan Holender, the music director was Seiji Ozawa.
Since September 1, 2010, Dominique Meyer has been the director of the Vienna Opera, and Manuel Legris has been the choreographer.

Musical leadership in 2010-14 conducted by Franz Welser-Möst. Since September 2014, the position of music director has been vacant.

Information

• Founded: 1869
• City: Vienna
• Country: Austria
• Address: Opernring 2
• Architect: Zickardsburg, August Zickard von

Vienna State Opera one of the leading operas in Europe, and its history makes a significant contribution to Vienna's conquest of the honorary title of capital of music. The orchestra was created on the basis of the Vienna Philharmonic. Along with the state ballet, the Vienna Opera has its own ballet company.

The Vienna State Opera has a repertoire system: more than 50 productions are included in the game plan. Therefore, the Opera can give performances almost daily for 10 months a year.

How to get to the Vienna Opera
The Vienna State Opera is located in the center of Vienna at Opernring 2.
By metro U1, U2, U4 to Karlsplatz station.

How to dress for the Vienna Opera
The guests of the Vienna Opera are dressed very differently - there is no clear dress code.
Locals try to dress appropriately - in beautiful dresses or suits.
We recommend dressing smartly and elegantly, especially if you have good seats in the theater.

Guided tours of the Vienna State Opera
Guided tours of the Vienna State Opera (Wiener Staatsoper)
45 minutes long are held from Tuesday to Sunday (several times a day) and include a tour of the entrance foyer, main staircase, tea room, marble hall, Moritz Schwind foyer, Gustav Mahler hall and auditorium. During the tour, the guide tells interesting facts about the Vienna Opera, the history and architecture of the building.
Guided tours of the Vienna Opera are available in German, English, Italian, French, Spanish and Russian. The cost of the tour is 6.00 € without visiting the museum
Vienna Opera.
Tickets are purchased immediately before the tour.

Subtitles
Each seat at the Vienna Opera has a small screen (mounted on the chair in front of it) that shows subtitles of the performance (opera). They are broadcast in German and English.
The director of the Vienna State Opera announced that subtitles in Russian will appear in the theater in the 2014-15 season.

"Standing" tickets
Stand-up tickets can be purchased at all performances of the Vienna Opera.
They are sold directly at the opera house 80 minutes before the start of the performance.
For shows that are in high demand, you should get in line much earlier. One person can buy no more than 2 tickets.

At the Vienna State Opera, the standing places are very well located, almost opposite the stage, at the level of the underwear under the "imperial" box, and you can see better from them than from cheap seats, but you can't take empty seats.
Price: parterre - 4.50 euros, balconies - 3.50 euros

Recently went to Tosca! Great cast and production. Place was full. Truly iconic venue. This is a must see when you visit Vienna. Had great seats in Row 14. They were a bit pricey but worth it! Buy them early so you don't miss out.

Vienna State Opera, Austria: description, photo, location on the map, how to get

Vienna State Opera- one of the most revered centers of musical culture in the world.

The opera house is located in the heart of Vienna, the capital of Austria, and was built in the middle of the 17th century. This is one of the 1000 best places in the world according to our website.

Over 60 musical performances are prepared by the Vienna Opera during its theatrical season, which puts it in first place in terms of the density of operas and ballets. The repertoire of the opera is extremely diverse and covers not only modern genres, but also musical styles of different eras.

The opera house appeared not so long ago, but immediately became one of the most elegant buildings of the famous Ringstrasse.

The theater season lasts 285 days a year. One of these days is dedicated to the annual Vienna Ball, when the main stage magically turns into a ballroom and hundreds of debutants perform in front of the country's president himself.

For a long time, the famous Herbert von Karajan was the artistic director of the theater, and Hans Richter was once the chief conductor. Tchaikovsky's operas "The Queen of Spades", "Eugene Onegin", Verdi's opera "Otello" and many operas from the Mozart cycle were staged on this stage.

And today, in this theater, the world's best directors and directors from year to year demonstrate their skills to the Viennese public. You can get to the opera house on several subway lines leading to the Karlsplatz station.

Photo attraction: Vienna State Opera

Vienna State Opera on the map:

Here you can listen to the aria of the best opera singers, watch a ballet and a choir performance to the accompaniment of a symphony orchestra.

The Vienna Opera House is recognized as the musical center of Europe. Such outstanding musicians as Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert and many others worked in this city.

Mozart's Don Giovanni was the first piece staged at the Vienna Opera.
Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph spoke so unflatteringly about the interior and exterior decoration of the building that he brought the designer to a heart attack, and the architect to suicide. Meanwhile, the theater has unsurpassed acoustic properties.
Modern residents of Vienna treat the opera building much more reverently.

The theater is considered by many to be one of the most majestic buildings in Austria. The interior decoration is striking in spaciousness and luxury.

The facade of the opera is decorated with five muses patronizing the Vienna Opera: Love, Heroism, Comedy, Fantasy and Drama.
The theater has a seating capacity of 1,709, plus standing and disabled spaces.

On the back of each chair there are small screens with real-time translation of the libretto.

More than 120 performances are held on the square in front of the theater every year. All of them are completely free to the public.
The theater hosts guided tours lasting less than an hour, allowing you to look behind the scenes.
Balls are traditionally held in the theater every winter.

How to get there

The theater building is located at Opernring, 2. The nearest metro station is Karlsplatz.

Trams No. 1 and No. 2 run to the Vienna Opera. Buses No. 25, 26, 36, 38, as well as L, 59A and 360.

It is convenient to get here by car. An opera ticket entitles you to leave your car in the underground parking of the Ringstrassengalerien shopping center for 8 hours for only 7 euros. To do this, the parking ticket will need to be validated in a special machine in the theater lobby.

Tickets to the Vienna Opera

Tickets can be bought online or at the box office at Kertnerstrasse 40.

Tickets start selling 30 days before the performance, and the average price fluctuates around 140-200 euros. The cost of a box can exceed 2000 euros.

Vienna Opera poster

The repertoire of the theater includes more than fifty productions. The season lasts 10 months and performances are given daily. These are mainly classical works by Austrian and foreign composers, but there are also modern productions.

Mozart's operas are considered to be the visiting card of the Vienna Opera House, since it is with the work of this composer that the creative history of the building begins.

The schedule of productions can be found on the official website of the Vienna Opera.

The main theaters of Vienna: drama theater, musical, puppet, ballet, opera, satire. Phones, official sites, addresses of theaters in Vienna.

• Hot tours around the world

Wiener Staatsoper) takes pride of place in the list of the best opera houses in the world. Despite the fact that after the completion of construction, the architectural embodiment of the opera house was subjected to harsh criticism, very soon the building nevertheless received recognition.

opened its doors on May 25, 1869. The first production was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera "". The premiere was attended by the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, as well as Empress Elisabeth. Until 1918, the theater had the title Vienna Court Opera. Since its opening, every year the theater has attracted the attention of opera lovers more and more. During the First World War, the theater continued its work, however, its popularity declined sharply. At the end of World War II, the building was destroyed by bombing. The opera troupe continued to give performances, and at that time complex work began on the restoration of the opera house. Ten years later, the construction of the new building was completed. On November 5, 1955, a new Vienna State Opera.

Today, the Vienna Opera is considered one of the most beautiful theaters in the world. The Vienna Opera House has the widest repertoire in the world: during the 285 days of the opera season, at least 60 performances are staged at the theater. The ticket price varies from 12 to 212 euros. In past centuries, the opera house was a special gathering place for the nobility (aristocrats and other connoisseurs of luxury). Today the world has a much easier attitude to such "formalities" as one's own appearance when visiting cultural events. And yet, the Vienna Opera House is still that special place where you should come in a luxurious evening dress - after all, an exceptionally sophisticated and cultured audience gathers there. The inhabitants of Austria say that if a person has been to Vienna, but has not visited the Vienna Opera, then he has not really seen the city. After all, it is here, in the opera house, that temporal boundaries are erased, and the breath of old Austria is felt like that ...
In addition to opera performances, guests of the theater can visit 40-minute excursions, where they can hear a fascinating story about the history of the building and the specifics of the Vienna State Opera. The theater also has an opera museum, which constantly hosts various exhibitions related to premieres, the first performances of famous artists, major productions, beautiful costumes, scenery, programs and other documents from the theater's past. Not far from the museum, visitors can purchase photographs, videos, books and other souvenirs.

Interesting Facts:
- None of the architects of the Vienna Opera House lived to see the opening of his brainchild (Eduard van der Nüll committed suicide, and his friend August Sicard von Sicardsburg died soon after of a heart attack);
- The theater hosts the world-famous annual Viennese Ball (it is listed by UNESCO among the intangible cultural heritage of the world);
- In addition to the fact that the Vienna Opera has the largest repertoire among opera houses in the world, it also has the title of guardian of the best traditions of the Austrian classical school;

In a world whose history begins in the middle of the nineteenth century. Located in the center of Vienna, it was originally called the Vienna Court Opera and was renamed in 1920 with the establishment of the First Austrian Republic.

The building, built between 1861 and 1869 in neoclassical style by the architects Eduard Nüll and August Sicard von Sicardsburg, was the first major building on the Rigenstraße. Well-known artists worked on the interior decor, among them Moritz von Schwind, who painted frescoes in the box based on the opera The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and the foyer based on the works of other composers. The Vienna Opera was solemnly opened on May 25, 1869 with the creation of Mozart's Don Giovanni. The performance was attended by Emperor I and Empress Amalia Eugenia Elizaveta.

The opera building was initially not highly appreciated by the public. Firstly, it was located opposite the magnificent Heinrichshof mansion (destroyed during the Second World War) and did not produce the proper effect of monumentality. Secondly, the level of the ring road in front of the building was raised by one meter after the start of its construction, and it looked like a “settled box”.

The Vienna Opera reached its peak under the guidance of the outstanding composer and conductor Gustav Mahler. Under him, a new generation of world-famous vocalists grew up, such as Anna von Mildenburg and Selma Curz. Becoming director of the theater in 1897, he changed the outdated scenery, attracted the talent and experience of remarkable artists (among them - Alfred Roller) to form a new aesthetics of the stage, corresponding to modernist taste. Mahler introduced the practice of dimming stage lighting during performances. All his reforms were preserved by his successors.

During the American bombing at the end of World War II, the building was badly damaged. After much discussion, it was decided to restore it in the original style, and the refurbished Vienna Opera was reopened in 1955 with Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio.

Today, modern productions are performed in the theater, but they are never experimental. He is closely associated with which is officially listed as the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Vienna Opera. This is one of the busiest opera houses in the world. Every year 50-60 operas are staged, at least 200 performances are shown. The main repertoire of the Vienna Opera includes some works little known to the general public, such as Richard Strauss's The Rosenkavalier and Salome.

Tickets for performances are expensive. This is due to the large number of lodges. It should be taken into account that there is practically no slope in the stalls, so you can pay from 160 euros for a seat somewhere in the eighth row, but you can hardly see what is happening on the stage. The acoustics are excellent, especially on the upper levels of the building. There are still standing places (more than 500) located directly behind the stalls, but they are only available on the day of the performance, while tickets for the boxes and stalls go on sale thirty days before each performance, and the easiest way to order them is through the site, which owned by the Vienna Opera.

The dress code as such is not observed, since more than half of the seats are occupied by tourists, a diverse audience, although you can see that people are dressed more elegantly in the boxes.