The stage is one of the largest in Europe.įor many decades, the opera house has been the venue of the Vienna Opera Ball. The traditional colors of red, gold, and ivory were used for the auditorium, and the large central chandelier was replaced for safety by ring of built-in ceiling lights made of crystal glass. It offers 1,709 seats, 567 standing spaces, 4 wheelchair spaces, and 4 wheelchair companion seats. The horseshoe-shaped auditorium has capacity of 2,284 spectators. In the center of the middle loggia, Maria Theresa and a young Mozart are depicted in a mother and child fashion. Visitors see the protagonist Papageno, disguised as an elderly woman, meeting Papagena and Papageno saved by three boys after he tries to commit suicide. Busts of Franz Schubert, Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven make appearances, too.įrescoes from The Magic Flute decorate the loggia. The foyer shows off 14 busts of composers and lunettes depicting scenes from legendary operas, including The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. On the ceiling the allegorical figure of Music, perched on an eagle and holding a lyre, ascends toward Heaven. Austrian coats-of-arms also make up the pattern. Roped off from the public, the tea room is decorated with the golden silk embroidered wall panels boasting the emperor’s monogram. In the tea room Emperor Franz Joseph used to sip tea. The staircase shows off seven allegorical statues made of Carrara marble, representing arts such as music, dance and sculpture. Marble interior with ornate decoration welcomes the visitors inside the Opera.Ī superb marble staircase sweeps up from the main entrance to the first floor. The narrower front part contains the auditorium and the adjoining rooms that are open to the public. The rear part of the two-piece building is clearly broader, and includes the stage and the surrounding rooms. On the right and left sides of the opera house are two fountains by Josef Gasser, representing two different worlds: on the left, music, dance, joy, and levity, and on the right, seduction, sorrow, love, and revenge. On the arches above the veranda are Hähnel’s five bronze statues representing, from left to right: heroism, tragedy, fantasy, comedy, and love. They were created by Ernst Julius Hähnel, and represent Erato’s two winged horses that are led by “Harmony and the Muse of Poetry”. The statues of the two riders on horseback were placed on the main facade of the loggia in 1876. Looking at the front of the building from the Ring Road, one can see the original structure that has been preserved since 1869. Under the direction of Karl Böhm, Beethoven’s Fidelio was brilliantly performed, and the opening ceremonies were broadcast by Austrian television. On November 5, 1955, the Vienna State Opera reopened with a new auditorium and modernized technology. The Secretary of State for Public Works, Julius Raab, announced on May 24, 1945, that reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera would begin immediately. The stage and the auditorium, however, were completely destroyed. Only the front section and the main stairways remained intact. In the last year of World War II, the Vienna State Opera was nearly destroyed during an allied bombing raid intended for another target. On May 25, 1869, the opera house solemnly opened with Mozart’s Don Giovanni in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth. It was built by the renowned Czech architect and contractor Josef Hlávka.īuilt in a grandiose Neo-Renaissance style to reflect the origins of its art, construction began in 1861 and finished in 1869. The structure of the opera house was planned by the Viennese architect August Sicard von Sicardsburg, while the inside was designed by interior decorator Eduard van der Nüll.
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