Vienna State Opera: history, photo, repertoire

The pearl of European culture, especially musical, is the Vienna State Opera, which is one of the three best opera houses in the world, together with La Scala (Milan) and Covent Garden (London).

The center of musical geniuses

The current capital of Austria was the center of development of the musical direction known as the "Vienna Classical School", whose main representatives were Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Vienna, undoubtedly, is the most important center of world culture in general, but especially musical. And the embodiment of this statement, like nothing else, is the Vienna State Opera. The capital of Austria from the middle of the XVII century was the focus of operatic art, and from the 16th century there is the courtyard of the multinational state of the Habsburgs.

The urgent need for a special building

The court opera that was created here was originally located in various buildings, for example, in 1748 - in Burgtheater, from 1763 - in Kertntnertoreatre. But the need for opera among the residents was so immense, and the importance attached so great that in the second half of the XIX century the authorities decided to erect a special building in which the Court Opera could permanently be located. And in 1861 construction begins. The Opera House is built according to the project of the famous Viennese architects Eduard van der Nüll (who participated in the construction of the Vienna Arsenal) and August Sicard von Sikarsburg. Works were completed in 1869, and the present Vienna State Opera (until 1819, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire - the Court) opened with the production of the opera "Don Giovanni" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The symbol of the splendor of the era

The "Wiener Staatsoper" was destroyed in 1945 as a result of the bombing. It was restored in 1955. A year later the tradition of holding the famous Vienna opera balls resumed. This is a tribute to the memory of the "Ere Ringstrasse", or the brilliant time of the Habsburgs, which Franz Joseph himself described as "the era of brilliance and splendor", which began with the wedding of Maria-Louise, the daughter of Emperor Franz I, with Napoleon, held in 1810, The fall of the Great Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. These balls are entered by UNESCO in the list of intangible cultural heritage. The first of them took place on December 11, 1877. The younger brother of the famous Johann Strauss Eduard conducted the orchestra. The most brilliant period of the Habsburg rule dates back to the time of the radical reorganization of the center of Vienna, when in two years the central street Ringstraße was laid, the solemn opening of which took place on May 1, 1865, and then the huge building "Shtatsoper" was built.

Building parameters

The Vienna State Opera, whose history was resumed after a ten-year break and a lengthy restoration on May 11, 1955, began its new creative life with the production of the opera "Fidelio" by Beethoven. Herbert von Karajan became the artistic director of the theater. The height of the restored building, made in the Neo-Renaissance style, is 65 meters, the hall is designed for 1709 seats. All the above data indicate that the "Staatsoper" - the largest opera theater in Austria.

Main attraction

Its significance for the people of Vienna is hard to overestimate - they are even sure that one can feel the real spirit of Vienna only by visiting the opera house. For this, everything is done - for people who do not like this art, there are daily 45-minute excursions to the opera house, they start at 13-00, the cost of tickets varies from 2 to 5 euros. Attention tourists are offered a tapestry foyer and a grand staircase, a tea salon of Emperor Franz Joseph and a marble hall. Of course, visitors visiting the huge magnificent auditorium and the hall of G. Mahler and the foyer of Moritz von Schwind.

The most famous director

With Vienna are associated the names of composers, not only those quoted above. Inseparable from this city are the names of Schubert and Brahms, Gluck and Mahler, as well as the musical dynasty of Strauss. Many musical geniuses of the past and modern times had to do with the Vienna Opera. Particularly noteworthy is Gustav Mahler, who for ten years (1898-1908) was the director of the "Staatsoper" and, giving himself up to this work entirely, was forced to forget that he was also a genius composer and a talented singer. It was during his tenure at the famous stage that the operas of PI Tchaikovsky, "The Queen of Spades", "Iolanta" and "Eugene Onegin" were staged for the first time. In addition to him, during the existence of the Vienna Opera, its directors were Bruno Walter and Richard Strauss, Clement Kraus and Wilhelm Furtwängler, Karl Böhm and Lorin Maccel. The Vienna State Opera along with the St. Stephen's Cathedral, the building of the Austrian Parliament and monuments to Mozart and Strauss is one of the main attractions of the capital of this state.

External and internal decoration

What does this great building look like? On the richly decorated facade are five bronze statues, embodying the muses that patronize the art of the opera - Heroism and Love, Drama, Comedy and Fantasy. The author of these five sculptures is Ernst Henel. Magnificent sculptures of muses are clearly visible from the windows of the foyer of Moritz Schwind on the second floor. On the walls of this grand foyer are depicted fragments of the famous opera-singspiel (musical-dramatic genre, or "play with singing") by Mozart "The Magic Flute".

The sad pages of the building of the opera house

The object of admiration of the inhabitants and guests of the Austrian capital - the Vienna State Opera (photo of the building attached) in the second half of the XIX century was subjected to such harsh criticism, including from the Kaiser, that one of the authors of the project, the architect Vann der Noll, could not stand it, Hanged himself. And two months later, another co-author of the project, August Sikkardsburg, died of a heart attack. It seems that it was not a criticism, but an act of persecution. A massive building that offended at first the idea of the inhabitants of the city about the "exquisite" excess of stucco and sculpture is the Vienna State Opera, the history of its creation was marked by such tragic events.

Great Contributors

But the acoustic properties of the building were originally magnificent and perfect! The interior of the opera is admirable. The foyer of the second floor is decorated with paintings by Moritz von Schwind. The author of the sculptures framing the famous marble staircase is Josef Gasser. They are seven, all of them are allegories of graceful art forms. At the top of the site are the beautiful frescoes created by Johann Preleutner.

Brilliantly selected repertoire

Of course, even then, and now the phenomenon of the world scale is the Vienna State Opera. Its repertoire includes more than 50 productions, which makes it possible for the famous theater to perform daily productions throughout the entire season, which lasts 10 months a year. It should be noted that the repertoire is very diverse, there are also modern productions, but the "Staatsoper" is the custodian of the traditions of the Vienna Music School - the classics are always present (for example, in February of this year there were performances of "Manon" Massenet and "The Barber of Seville" Rossini), and his The visiting card is Mozart's operatic masterpieces. Exhaustive data on the repertoire with detailed daily placement of performances for all 10 months, with the instructions of performers and conductors, are widely available.

Ticket price and address

The cost of tickets varies from 11 to 240 euros. However, there are lodges, the places in which are estimated in thousands of euros. For any performance, standing places (there are more than 100 of them) are offered, tickets for which are sold an hour before the performance, and they cost from 2.5 euros. To attend the performance of the legendary Vienna Opera, but not to pay a lot of money for the admission ticket, you can listen to the performances of category "B" (everyday performances with sparing prices). The Vienna State Opera, whose address (Opernring, 2) is known to every musician in the world, is located in the center, and can be reached by metro (lines U1, U2, U3, Karlsplatz stop), trams (Nos. 1, 2, 62, 65 and D) and bus 59A.