🇦🇹 Vienna State Opera

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The Vienna State Opera

The world-famous Vienna State Opera is located on the capital's Ringstraße. On the land where the magnificent boulevard encompasses the city's First District today, Vienna was surrounded by medieval city fortifications until the mid-nineteenth century. The pulsating city was experiencing rapid growth at the time, and it was becoming clear more space would be required. On 20 December 1857, Emperor “Kaiser Franz-Josef” sent a letter to the Interior Minister at the time, Alexander von Bach, ordering that the city be demolished. Magnificent palaces immediately began to be commissioned on the newly-created thoroughfare by aristocrats and the moneyed bourgeoisie alike. These were soon followed by the such Napoleonic and Romanesque beauties as the Austrian Parliament, the Rathaus or City Hall, Burgtheater, the University of Vienna, the Museums of Art History and Natural History - and the list goes on. (Insider tip: take the Vienna Ring Tram, and you can admire all these architectural masterpieces at once from the comfort of your seat on the tram.)

With its neo-Renaissance styling, the Vienna State Opera remains one of the most imposing architectural spaces along the Ringstraße to this day - which is saying something. The plans for the monumental building were originally designed by Viennese architect August Sicard von Sicardsburg, while Eduard van der Nüll was responsible for the suitably lavish interior. The foundation stone was laid on 20 May 1863, and the beautiful new space was eventually topped out six years later, in 1869. The opening was celebrated on 25 May of that year, with the première of Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, attended by no lesser individuals than Kaiser Franz-Josef and Kaiserin Elisabeth (Sisi) themselves. With their high artistic standards, directors including Franz von Dingelstedt and Franz von Jauner ensured a level of quality never before seen in the field. Most notably, however, it was Gustav Mahler who helped mould the State Opera in his own image, during his years as director from 1897 to 1907, by instigating bottom-up modernisation of the performances and staging at the institution.

Vienna State Opera has also seen life imitate art in its time, however, and borne witness to genuine tragedy as well as high operatic drama. When the National Socialists seized power in 1938, the revered institution became a major cultural target within a matter of months. Vast numbers of its company members were persecuted, hounded out of the country and murdered, and a string of works - newly defined as 'degenerate’ - were officially banned, and could no longer be performed. The cultural temple finally came to an abrupt (if temporary) end when the auditorium and stage were destroyed in a bombing attack on 12 March 1945.

While the State Opera company moved to the Volksoper and Theater an der Wien in the years immediately following the war, the institution began to rise like a phoenix from the flames, real and social. New life eventually returned to the Opera on the Ring on 5 November 1955 with a performance of Beethoven's Fidelio conducted by Karl Böhm – complete with redesigned auditorium and new stagecraft. The influence of such cultural institutions cannot be overstated in Austria. Backed up by such concrete realities as democracy, a stable economy and neutrality, it provided a way for the people of the country to differentiate themselves from neighbouring countries in Central and Eastern Europe in preparation for the post-war era. And it worked.

The Vienna State Opera is not just associated with opera and ballet performances, however. Far from it, in fact. One very special event continues to spark lively interest amongst the public to this day: the famed Vienna Opera Ball. This is held every year - on the last Thursday in Fasching, February's carnival season - and broadcast live around the world. The tradition of the Opera Ball has its roots in the raucous celebrations accompanying the Congress of Vienna in the early nineteenth century, and has been held in such auspicious spaces as the Redoutensäle halls at the Hofburg, and the Theater an der Wien. When the new Opera House was first acquired in 1869, Kaiser Franz-Josef would not allow parties involving dancing to be held here. It was not until a few years later, in 1877, that the Kaiser gave his consent to a soirée - even though the new event was still not permitted to include dancing. As one newspaper reported after one such ball, however, those in attendance clearly couldn't stand merely sitting as the captivating music washed over them: “... After midnight, the first proper dancing came to be seen in the ballroom of our Opera House.” The first event to actually bear the name “Vienna Opera Ball” took place in January of 1935, and the auditorium and stage have been glittering in the magnificent decoration of the Opera Ball since 9 February 1956.

Vienna Opera House is an enduring symbol of glamorous staging, great singers and major conductors. It is one of the best-known buildings of its type anywhere in the world, and offers the greatest repertoire. The image of the Vienna State Opera has also been shaped by a series of household names over the years. Such greats as Verdi and Wagner both came to Vienna to conduct their works personally, and audiences have been inspired by performers including Maria Callas, Edita Gruberova, Agnes Baltsa, Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca, Placido Domingo, Theo Adam, Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras and Jonas Kaufmann. Conductors such as Igor Stravinsky, Robert Stolz, Herbert von Karajan, Karl Böhm, Leonard Bernstein, Carlos Kleiber, Lorin Maazel, Claudio Abbado, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Riccardo Muti and Zubin Mehta have spurred the State Opera Orchestra on to ever-greater heights.

In a world overflowing with throw-away music (and new ways of throwing it away), the Vienna State Opera has succeeded in remaining culturally relevant. It is one of the most sought-after venues for artists on the opera and ballet scene to this day. The younger generation of new performers also uses the historic institution to forge an exciting new role for itself; these include the young British composer, pianist and violinist Alma Deutscher. Her second opera, Cinderella, was performed here in 2016 under the direction of Zubin Mehta.

With its State Opera Orchestra and the choir of the Vienna State Opera, the 'House on the Ring' successfully completes more than 360 opera and ballet performances, concerts and recitals every year, both in the main building and on its side-stages. You should definitely try and to catch one of these performances on your Vienna trip - it's an experience you'll never forget. And just before we end, here's another great insider tip: the best views and acoustics at the Vienna State Opera can be enjoyed from seat nos. 36 and 37 in the Central Gallery (Galerie Mitte), second row. It may not be the tram, but it's pretty good…

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