Vienna Opera

[Guest chibil]

Never been there, but here are the sites, which include schedules and ordering info over the internet:

 

Volksoper: http://www.volksoper.at

 

Wiener Staatsoper: http://www.wiener-staatsoper.at

 

Hope you can go, and enjoy!!

 

Bill

[Guest 7Zach]

Anyone been, and how did you get your tickets? tks.

[chrismac]

I've been. Got tickets from the U.S. Ambassador.

 

Guess that doesn't help much. :+

[Guest alanm]

I have never been to the Vienna opera, but was able to get access to the Paris Bastille Opera website by doing a search on google. Once I found the website, it was easy to order tickets. It all depend on how popular the star(s) and production(s) are and if you are ordering at the last minute, but I found it very simple.

[Guest Ringleader]

i have been, but it's been awhile ... it is really hard to get tickets because it's a season sell-out every year ... however, there are about 100 tickets or so that are kept open for purchase by the staatsoper and are sold, as i remember, three days before a performance. you have to go in person to the place where they are sold, and you have to be there when it opens at, like, 8:00 AM because people line up and they're sold out again in no time. i forget the address where these tickets are sold, but you can find out and if you are there when it opens, you can get some decent tickets. when i was there, if i remember correctly, the box office is somewhere not far from the opera in the first district, the "old" city ... but i cannot remember the street address.

 

hope this helps.

 

ringleader

[Guest DickHo]

About 10 years ago, I got tickets thru the hotel's concierge. However, the tickets for about $500 each.

[+ Charlie]

The Wiener Staatsoper site is the standard opera house on the Ringstrasse that most people think of when they mention the Vienna Opera. The Volksoper is a different company in a different part of the city, and offers lighter fare, such as comic operas and operettas. It's easier to get tickets for the Volksoper, but the quality of the performances is almost as good.

 

If you are operating on a tight schedule, it is best to order tickets before you leave the US, but you will probably pay more, and there's always the possibility of getting cheaper returns at the box office on the day of the performance; whichever way, they won't be cheap, but I have obtained them for a lot less than $500!

[Will]

When I was too young to know what a privilege it was, I spent a summer in Vienna learning German. We went to the Staatsoper a lot, and I particularly remember a performance of DER ROSENKAVALIER with Elizabeth Schwartzkopf as the Marschallin and Christa Ludwig as Octavian. Even I wasn't so coarse as to forget that. I've also been back since, but that evening was unforgettable. As someone who will pay whatever it costs to sit in the orchestra at the Met, I'd probably do the same for the Staatsoper. This season is fabulous.

 

But Charlie (I think) is right also about the Volksoper. We saw a performance of THE MERRY WIDOW that I've not forgotten.

 

European opera houses sometimes reserve seats for patrons who live out of town or, especially, out of the country. I'll bet you could find seats on some shopping website, maybe even eBay, if the regular channels don't come through. I seem to remember that I've used something called charter.net in Europe for tickets.

 

The Staatsoper is not to be missed, if you can possibly manage to get there.

[Guest bayreuth]

If you really just want to see the interior, you

can get standing room tickets on the day of the peformance.

You have to queue though early in the morning and it's

rather disorganized (unlike the Met). And the reason

tickets are expensive: it's such a small house, fewer

seats than most Broadway theatres, in fact the stalls

have only 17 rows. To experience opera with such intimacy

is such a luxury compared to the huge auditorioums found

in most US opera houses!

[+ deej]

I'm envious, Will.

 

I've experienced Elizabeth Schwartzkopf live and in person exactly once, in a rather intimate recital setting, late in her career. I was utterly awestruck. Truly one of the great talents in our lifetime.

 

As an encore, she sang the Habanera from Carmen (I think), complete with dialog lead-in, including the coquettish flirt/laugh/giggle that had every man (me included) in the audience melting in our chairs. ALL of us would have followed her anywhere.

 

Truly deserving of diva status, but never assumed it. I met her during a couple of White House performances and she was always all about the work.

 

What a great lady!