Vienna State Opera Audio Guide

Vienna State Opera: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Wiener Staatsoper

   Welcome to the Vienna State Opera, which stands along the Opernring, one stretch of the great boulevard that circles Vienna's historic center. Take a moment to look at the building in front of you. It is both an opera house and the home of an opera company, and it counts among the busiest opera houses in the world. The house seats 1,709 people, and its style is Renaissance Revival. It was the first major building to rise on the Ring Road, so in a sense it set the tone for everything that followed along this avenue. Over the next few minutes we will look at how the boulevard came to exist, who designed the house, how its name changed with the fall of an empire, and how it was wrecked and brought back after the Second World War. There is a lot to hear, so settle in. This is a building that still works hard every single evening, and it carries layers of history in its walls.

2. 02

   An Emperor's Decree and a New Boulevard

   The story starts with a newspaper announcement. In December 1857, an imperial decree appeared in the Wiener Zeitung announcing that Vienna's city walls would be demolished and that a grand boulevard, the Ringstrasse, would take their place. The new avenue was meant to be lined with important buildings, and it changed the look of the city for good. The opera house was the first of those major buildings. Emperor Franz Joseph chose the site on the new Ringstrasse, and the Emperor footed the bill. Construction ran from 1861 to 1869, so this was a project of nearly a decade, rising where the old fortifications had once held the city in. When you stand on the Opernring, imagine the boulevard as a stage set that was still being built. This house arrived first, a bold promise of what the rest of the Ring would become.

3. 03

   The Architects and the Opening Night

   The design came from two Viennese architects, August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll. They won the architectural competition, and their plans gave the house its Neo-Renaissance character. Designs by Josef Hlávka also played a part in the building's creation. If you look at the façade, you are seeing the work of this team. The opera house officially opened on 25 May 1869, with Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth, known to many as Sisi, in attendance. The opening performance was Mozart's Don Giovanni. It is a fitting choice for a city that has long treated Mozart as a local hero. Inside, the auditorium is celebrated for its magnificent architecture and its unique acoustics. That combination of looks and sound is what has drawn audiences here for more than a century and a half.

4. 04

   A New Name, a Wartime Silence and a Rebirth

   The house was built as the court opera of an empire, and its name changed when that empire ended. After the fall of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in 1918 and the founding of the First Republic, there was no court, and so no court opera. The house was first renamed the Operntheater, and then it took the name it carries today, Wiener Staatsoper. The Second World War brought the darkest chapter. Many people believed that Wagner's Götterdämmerung was the final performance in the old house. In fact, individual performances continued in the following months. The definitive last performance before the building was destroyed was Martha by Friedrich von Flotow on 5 January 1945, a symbolic act at the end of a century of artistic flourishing. The music did not stop for long. On 1 May 1945, the State Opera reopened at the Volksoper with Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. On 6 October 1945, the hastily restored Theater an der Wien reopened with Beethoven's Fidelio. Rebuilding of the Ringstrasse house began quickly, with the goal of returning to performances by 1949.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   Today the Vienna State Opera remains a symbol of Viennese culture and an opera house with a truly international reputation. It produces between 50 and 60 operas a year in a repertory system, plus 10 ballet productions, across more than 350 performances. That means the program keeps changing, and a different story may be unfolding inside on any given night. There are some lovely threads to follow from here. The house is closely linked to the Vienna Philharmonic, whose members are recruited from the opera's orchestra. Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss are among the famous names who directed here, and the conductor Josef Krips was regarded as one of its most important figures until his death in 1974. The house has also become well known for its children's productions, which have been staged in a tent on the roof. Before you move on, step back and take in the façade one more time. Then see if you can picture it on a crisp evening, with the doors open and the first notes still to come.