Vienna State Opera

The Vienna State Opera is a Vienna-based opera theatre and opera company. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival theatre was the first significant structure on the Vienna Ring Road. It was constructed between 1861 and 1869, with plans by August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll and designs by Josef Hlávka. In the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria, the opera building was dedicated as the “Vienna Court Opera” (Wiener Hofoper). After the foundation of the First Austrian Republic in 1921, it was given its current name. The Vienna State Opera is the successor of the original Vienna Court Opera, which was erected inside the Hofburg in 1636. Emperor Franz Joseph picked the new location and paid for its construction in 1861.

Members of the Vienna Philharmonic are drawn from the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera. The structure also houses the Vienna State Ballet and holds the annual Vienna Opera Ball during the carnival season.

In the auditorium, there are 1,709 seats and 567 standing places, 4 wheelchair and attendant seats in the stalls/ground floor, and 18 wheelchair spots in the gallery.

Standing room tickets, which are popular with audiences of all ages, are available for purchase straight before the performances.These standing areas have a renowned clientele who express their disapproval particularly loudly and firmly during performances, but who are also the most outspoken in applauding what they deem to be a successful performance.

The best seats in terms of vision and acoustics, according to the opera house, are in the gallery, center, row 2, seats 36 and 37.

Vienna State Opera Orchestra

The Vienna State Opera Orchestra is the only world-class orchestra that must perform every evening, with a large portion of the repertoire also performed by temporary employees.The Vienna Philharmonic is the orchestra’s most well-known separate form.Members of the State Opera Orchestra play classical orchestra concerts in Vienna and at guest appearances across the world.Furthermore, the Vienna State Opera has its own stage orchestra.

Chorus of the Vienna State Opera

The Vienna State Opera chorus employs 92 professional singers on a permanent basis.In addition to the in-house singers, orchestra, and ballet, it is the foundation of the opera and presents up to 50 different works on around 250 evenings each year.Since 1927, the Vienna State Opera Chorus has also performed outside the Vienna State Opera under the name Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus.

Vienna State Ballet

Renato Zanella was the State Opera’s ballet director and lead choreographer from 1995 until 2005.Gyula Harangozó took over as joint director of the State Opera and Volksoper ballet companies at the start of the 2005/06 season.Former Paris Opera danseur Etoile Manuel Legris headed the group from 2010 to 2020, during which time it changed its name until Wiener Staatsballett.Martin Schläpfer has been with us since September 1, 2020. He previously served as the Vienna State Ballet’s director and chief choreographer, as well as the ballet academy’s artistic director.Schläpfer declared in April 2023 that he will not renew his contract beyond the 2025/26 season.

Active or former dancers include Riki Raab , Edeltraud Brexner , Jolantha Seyfried , Simona Noja , Eva Petters , Karina Sarkissova , Olga Esina , Lyudmila Lvovna Konowalova , Michael Birkmeyer , Willy Dirtl , Davide Dato , Rudolf Chametowitsch Nureyev , Gregor Hatala , Franz Wilhelm , Karl Musil , Ludwig Musil , Christl Zimmerl , Boris Nebyla , Rebecca Horner, Natascha Mair and Jakob Feyferlik .

The Vienna State Opera Ballet School is a classical dance teaching facility.The name was changed to “Ballet Academy of the Vienna State Opera” in 2013.

Opera House and Children

The State Opera has been noted for its numerous presentations of children’s works since director Holender (who is also a father of three children).For youngsters, consider the operas Peter Pan, The Dream Eater, The 35th of May, Aladdin, Bastien and Bastienne, or Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelungs.Until the spring of 2015, they were performed as a children’s opera on the roof of the porch (above the loggia, vestibule, and Schwind foyer) in a specially made tent structure.This tent was demolished in the summer of 2015, and the old Stadttheater Walfischgasse is currently the location for children’s shows.

Furthermore, every year on the day following the Opera Ball, there is a performance of The Magic Flute for youngsters aged nine to ten, while the auditorium and stage are still being changed into a ballroom.

Furthermore, the opera house has its own opera school for youngsters aged 8 to 14, which must be completed in the afternoons in addition to normal education.The youngsters are pedagogically competently exposed to music theater and sensitized to a prospective career goal as a vocalist.This opera school provides performers for children’s roles for the State Opera’s shows.Furthermore, the opera school hosts its own matinée twice a year.Marco Ozbic was the opera singing school’s creative director and co-founder until 2005, Peter Rille was its administrative director, Elisabeth Lampl worked as a vocal coach, and Ernst Dunshirn (choir director at the Vienna State Opera) taught.In the Mozart year of 2006, Janko Kastelic and Claudia Toman performed Little Friedrich, a twenty-minute collage of Mozart songs.

Opera “Live am Platz”

In the 2010s, there was also the project “Opera live on the square,” in which performances were broadcast to Karajanplatz (the square-like bulge of Kärntner Straße near the opera) through a monitor.During the summer season, roughly 300 chairs were placed up on the plaza and removed after the performance, usually every other day.It was free for spectators, and most house regulations (such as dress code) did not apply.

Opera Ball

The Opera Ball, which takes place every year on the last Thursday of Carnival, is a well-known international event.It is Austria’s largest gathering place for artists, businesspeople, and politicians from home and abroad, with roughly 5,000 attendees.On the evening of the ball, around 7,000 people, including participants and house personnel, fill the State Opera.Visitors to the ball and the advertising effect for Austrian tourism have also become an economic force in Vienna.The event is opened by 180 couples from across the world.

The opera ball tradition dates back to the Congress of Vienna in 1814/1815.The first State Opera ball was held in 1935, and the first of today’s annual opera balls was hosted on February 9, 1956, to commemorate the reopening of the State Opera building in 1955.Since 1987, there have been several rallies in support of or against the Opera Ball, the latest recent in 2010.

Organ

The Vienna State Opera’s organ was built in 1988.The sliding chest instrument features 33 registers spread over two manuals and a pedal.The playing and registration activities are automated.The organ is positioned on the 6th level of the opera house in the organ hall.During performances, loudspeakers convey sound to the auditorium.

Vienna, Austria