The pearl of European culture, especially musical, is the Vienna State Opera, which is one of the three best opera houses in the world along with La Scala (Milan) and Covent Garden (London).
The focus of musical geniuses
The current capital of Austria was the center for the development of the musical direction, known as the Vienna Classical School, whose main representatives were Josef Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Vienna, no doubt, 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 mid-17th century was the center of opera, and from the 16th century the courtyard of the multinational state of Habsburg has been located here.
The urgent need for a special building
The Court Opera that arose here was originally located in various buildings, for example, in 1748 - at the Burgtheater, and from 1763 - at the Kernntnertortheater. But the need for opera among residents was so immense, and the importance attached is so great that in the second half of the 19th century the authorities decided to erect a special building in which the Court Opera could be housed on an ongoing basis. And in 1861, construction begins. The opera house is being designed by the famous Viennese architects Eduard van der Null (he participated in the construction of the Vienna Arsenal) and August Sikard von Sikardsburg. The work was completed in 1869, and the current Vienna State Opera (until 1819, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire - the Court) was opened with the production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera Don Juan.
Symbol of the magnificence of the era
The Staatsoper was destroyed in 1945 by a bombardment. It was restored in 1955. A year later, the tradition of holding the famous Vienna Opera Balls resumed.
This is a tribute to the Ere Ringstrasse, or the brilliant time of the Habsburg reign, which
Franz Joseph himself described as the “era of brilliance and splendor” that began from the moment of the marriage of Maria Louise, daughter of Emperor Franz I, to Napoleon in 1810, right up to the fall of the Great Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. These balls are UNESCO listed as intangible cultural heritage. The first of them took place on December 11, 1877. The younger brother of the famous Johann Strauss Edward conducted the orchestra. The most brilliant period of the Habsburg reign dates back to the time of the radical restructuring of the center of Vienna, when the central Ringstrasse was laid in two years, the grand opening of which took place on May 1, 1865, and then the huge Staatsoper building was built.
Building parameters
The Vienna State Opera, whose history resumed after a ten-year hiatus and long restoration on May 11, 1955, began its new creative life with the production of Beethoven's opera Fidelio. 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 Staatsoper is Austria's largest opera house.
Main attraction
It is difficult to overestimate its significance for the inhabitants of Vienna - they are even sure that you can only feel the true spirit of Vienna by visiting the opera building. Everything has been done for this - for people who do not like this type of art, daily 45-minute excursions to the opera building are provided, they begin at 13-00, the cost of tickets varies from 2 to 5 euros.
The tapestry foyer and the main staircase, the tea salon of Emperor Franz Joseph and the marble hall are offered to tourists. Of course, visitors visiting the huge magnificent auditorium and the hall of G. Mahler and the lobby of Moritz von Schwind.
The most famous director
The names of composers are associated with Vienna, not only the above. The names of Schubert and Brahms, Gluck and Mahler, as well as the Strauss musical dynasty, are inextricable with this city. Many musical geniuses of the past and present related to the Vienna Opera. I especially want to mention Gustav Mahler, who for 10 years (1898–1908) was the director of Staatsoper and, surrendering in this field to the whole work, was forced to forget that he is also a brilliant composer and talented singer. It was during his leadership on the famous stage that the operas of PI Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades, Iolanta and Eugene Onegin were first staged.
In addition to him, throughout the existence of the Vienna Opera, its directors were Bruno Walter and
Richard Strauss, Clement Kraus and Wilhelm Furtwengler, Karl Böhm and Lorin Matsel. The Vienna State Opera along with
St. Stephen's Cathedral, the building of the Austrian parliament and the monuments of 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? Five bronze statues stand out on the ornate facade, personifying muses, patronizing the art of opera - these are Heroism and Love, Drama, Comedy and Fantasy. The author of these five sculptures is Ernst Henel.
The magnificent statues of muses are clearly visible from the windows of the foyer of Moritz Schwind on the second floor. On the walls of this ceremonial foyer fragments of the famous opera-singspiel (musical-dramatic genre, or “play with singing”) by Mozart “The Magic Flute” are imprinted.
Sad pages of the erection of the opera building
The Vienna State Opera (the building photo is attached) was admired so strongly by the Kaiser in the second half of the 19th century, including the Kaiser, that one of the authors of the project, architect Van 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 this was not criticism, but bullying. The massive building, which at first insulted the idea of ​​the inhabitants of the city about the "elegant" excess of stucco and sculptures, is the Vienna State Opera, the history of which was marked by such tragic events.
Great collaborators
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 the artist Moritz von Schwind. The author of the sculptures framing the famous marble staircase is Joseph Gasser. There are seven of them, all of them are allegories of fine art. On the highest platform are beautiful frescoes created by Johann Preleitner.
Brilliantly selected repertoire
Of course, the Vienna State Opera is then and then a world-wide phenomenon. Her repertoire has more than 50 productions, which allows the famous theater to carry out daily productions throughout the season, which lasts 10 months a year. It should be noted that the repertoire is very diverse, there are modern productions, but Staatsoper is the keeper of the traditions of the Vienna School of Music - a classic is always present (for example, in February of this year, the performances of Manon Massenet and Rossini’s Barber of Seville), and his Mozart's masterpieces are the hallmark. Comprehensive data on the repertoire with detailed daily placement of performances for all 10 months, with instructions from performers and conductors, are widely available.
Ticket price and address
Ticket prices range from 11 to 240 euros. However, there are lodges in which places are valued in thousands of euros. For any performance, standing places (there are more than 100) 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 use listening to the productions of category “B” (everyday performances with sparing prices). The Vienna State Opera, whose address (Opernring, 2) is known to every musician of the world, is located in the center, and you can get to it either by metro (lines U1, U2, U3, Karlsplatz stop), trams (Nos. 1, 2, 62, 65 and D) and bus 59A.