Tram #2 was the direct route from the apartment to the StaatsOper (Vienna Opera). The outside of the building was nice, but did not tell about the beauty that was to be found inside. I saw the place where you line up to by the standing room only tickets, which are quite a deal at 3 euro. You can go for one act, or as long as you want to stay. As luck would have it, there was a tour in English in 15 minutes. Tours (6.50 euros) are the only way that you can get in the building further than the lobby. The tour was a great idea, very informative, moved at a great pace to be able to take photos and hear all of the details. I sometimes came up to the back of the group after lagging behind to take pictures. There was another American woman in the same boat…we agreed that we would take the photos now and look up the details on the internet. Great plan!
The interior was absolutely fantastic. The layout was very similar to the Paris Opera House and I wondered if there is a standard layout for an opera. Center area for the performance with all of the spectacular boxes, large reception rooms for snacks and drinks during intermission, and the grand staircase. I would have to find low dress shoes to go here; I cannot see myself walking up the stairs gracefully in high heels.
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| Rub the toe for good luck |
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| Statue outside of the Opera House. |
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| Advertisement for tonight's performance |
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| Ceiling in the walkway |
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| The tour is the only way that you can enter the Opera House and see the building. The price is a great value for the length of the tour. |
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| Ceiling inside the lobby |
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| Statues in the corner sections of the lobby |
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| Gold detail on the columns around the lobby |
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| The walls in the lobby are very ornate. |
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| Ceiling in one of the refreshment rooms. |
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| Detail of the floor |
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| Wooden floor detail in the hallway |
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| Detail of the floor and walls in a refreshment room. |
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| Tour group in front of one of the large wall tapestries. |
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| Detail of the tapestry artwork |
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| Upper floor, the doors leading to the box seats. |
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| Ceiling in the central lobby |
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| Close up of the ceiling detail |
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| Ceiling detail using a different camera setting. |
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| Fancy shell door handle. Notice that the door is covered in woven fabric. |
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| Fancy chandeliers. |
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| Detail of the wooden floor. |
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| Detail of one of the tapestries. |
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| The ceiling of the main auditorium from the main seating area. |
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| The box seats in the performance area. |
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| The stage. Workers were preparing for tonight's performance. |
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| Detail of the stage area. |
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| The grand staircase area from the first level, bottom of the stairs. |
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| The interior is very ornate. |
Click here to see my posting on the Paris - Opera Garnier
Click for wikipedia of Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera website
Click here to see great building photos and view from the stage
Books and Vintage Photos (affiliate links)
2 comments:
What a beautiful building! I agree that the tour was the way to go. Even if it would be wonderful to attend a performance, you wouldn't get to see all of the building because of the other patrons milling around.
Thanks for sharing these photos. What's your favorite opera house between this and the one in Paris?
I spoke with a man at the Lime Tree Hotel in London later in the trip. I mentioned that I thought that one opera house had copied off of the other, but I didn't know which came first. He told me that there was a standard for Opera houses and that if a city wanted to build one, it followed the standard. Baroque was the fancy style to follow, and follow it they did.
So, to answer your question, I liked the style equally because style and design wise they were the same.
Available in the Vienna Opera is a last minute standing room only ticket for about 5 euros. The line forms early but you can take a chance and go after it starts to see if a ticket remains. You can also stand around the exit door because people often buy the tickets to see if for a while (as opposed to a four hour event) and then leave. You can use the same ticket, ask them about their "spot" and go in. Many thanks to Rick Steves for this info.
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