I plan to go to the opera house while I%26#39;m in Vienna but frankly am a huge ballet fan, not much of an opera fan. Is seeing an opera a %26quot;must%26quot; or is it more about going to the venue? Also, are the mid-priced seats decent or is it necessary to get the top-priced tickets for a good view? Thanks!
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The Staatsoper in Vienna is one of the world%26#39;s best opera houses. The ballet company, however, can%26#39;t quite match those in Paris or London, but it%26#39;s still very good.
Mid priced tickets should be fine, they%26#39;ll just be further away from the stage (higher up).
Operas are on on many more evenings than ballet, so you might not have a choice in the end, depending on when you%26#39;ll be in Vienna.
www.staatsoper.at/Content.Node2/en/index.php
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Also look at the schedule for the Volksoper for your time in Vienna.
www.volksoper.at
They have ballet offerings several times each month.
Several years ago the ballet companies of each were combined. Thus one company performs at both venues.
Volksoper tickets are less expensive also.
The Marinsky Ballet just visited for several performances of %26quot; Schwansee %26quot; there.
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Thanks very much to both of you. I definitely want to go to the Staatsopera, and I will have a choice between opera and ballet while I%26#39;m in town; really the question is, is it the opera company that%26#39;s spectacular, or the venue? Sounds like the ballet company isn%26#39;t considered all that great (though personally I don%26#39;t think the Paris company is among the best, but that may be a minority opinion).
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When are you coming? I could have a look into the season schedule to see if any of the operas are of particular interest. The orchestra at the Staatsoper is mainly composed of members of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra (for both, opera and ballet). The opera house itself has been bombed during WW II, but the facade and some of the rooms are in their original condition (not the auditorium, however).
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That%26#39;s very kind of you, nemorino79. Actually, I have taken a look (I%26#39;ll be there in late September), but neither the ballets nor the operas are well known to me. I didn%26#39;t realize that the orchestras were the same for both. Is it the acoustics that are really superior?
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You are right, in late September there are none of the very well known operas on the schedule. However, I think Romeo et Juliette should be a very memorable performance even for someone who isn%26#39;t too much into opera. The cast is good and I like the production very much. Unfortunately, I cannot give you any details about the ballet Onegin.
What%26#39;s special about the opera in Vienna is the acoustics, the orchestra and that the conductors and singers are top-end. You%26#39;ll find similar quality opera performances at a regular basis only at the Met in New York, Scala in Milan, Covent Garden in London and Paris opera.
As for the ballet, I am not too much into that but when people say that the quality of the ballet company (dancers) doesn%26#39;t quite match that of the opera casts, that doesn%26#39;t mean they are bad. They are still at an international level, maybe just not amongst the top 5 ballet companies.
If you are a huge ballet fan, you probably shouldn%26#39;t miss the ballet, but I can also recommend Romeo et Juliette very much.
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That%26#39;s very helpful, nemorino79 -- thank you! I was thinking of Romeo et Juliette, since even though I won%26#39;t know the language, at least I know the story! And it sounds like the mid-priced seats will be fine, which is important given the exchange rate!
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Romeo et Juliette will be sung in French, but every seat has a little display with German and English translations, which I find very practical.
The mid-priced tickets usually sell out well before the most expensive ones, and even within one category, there are always slightly better seats which sell first. Therefore, I suggest to buy the tickets as soon as you%26#39;re sure which performance you want to attend. Ballet usually doesn%26#39;t sell out as quickly as opera does.
You can check the current availability of seats online: there are %26quot;ticket%26quot; links next to each performance in the calendar section.
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