Vienna State Opera

The Vienna State Opera (German: Wiener Staatsoper) is an Austrian opera house and opera company based in Vienna. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera (Wiener Hofoper). In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian Republic, it was renamed the Vienna State Opera. The members of the Vienna Philharmonic are recruited from its orchestra. Probably the most-beloved symbol of Viennese arts, and one of the first buildings to be rebuilt in the postwar era. The first performance was Don Giovanni, an opera by Austrian native Mozart, on 25 May 1869. The architecture of the opera was barely tolerated by the picky Viennese when it opened. Van der Nüll did not take these criticisms of his work lightly and committed suicide. A few weeks later, von Siccardsburg died of a heart attack. Doubly cursed, the opera building succumbed to bombs less than 100 years later, during World War II. After ten years of Allied control after the end of the war, many cultural institutions reopened to celebrate the birth of the new Austrian state. This time the opera opened with an adopted son of Vienna's work: Beethoven's Fidelio. The lush curtains and overall elegance contribute to the atmosphere. Inexpensive standing room tickets are made available for every performance and sold the day of the performance. The line forms about two hours prior to the performance. Guided tours in a number of languages are offered. The line at the front side door forms about 1/2 hour before the tour.