Top 10 Intriguing Facts about Vienna State Opera

Vienna State Opera at the blue hour photo by Granada – Wikimedia commons

Top 10 Intriguing Facts about Vienna State Opera

Opera music is distinguished by a blend of theatrical sensationalism and dramatic emotion. It is one of the most flamboyant types of musical performance, combining singing, music, poetry, dance, lavish costumes, and technical effects.

Originally, the stories were based on classical mythology, examining the parallels between mythical heroes or gods and the monarch. Passion and profound human feeling, on the other hand, are now prominent motifs in scripts based on stories of war, vengeance, and forbidden love.

The genre can be experienced in different places in the world and Vienna, Austria is one of them. It is among the top most things visitors do during their stay in Vienna.

Vienna is known as The City of Music because it is home to some of classical music’s greatest composers, and The City of Dreams. After all, it is home to the world’s first psychiatrist, Sigmund Freud. It is known as the City of Dreams due to its amazing opera. One of the most remarkable buildings in Vienna is an opera house that dates back to the 1860s and was formerly known by a different name.

The Vienna State Opera is one of the top opera companies in the world. The Vienna Opera House, located in the heart of Austria’s capital city, Vienna, is regarded as one of the country’s most spectacular structures. The Vienna State Opera is brimming with intriguing facts. Here are just a few of them.

1. Vienna State Opera was built from 1861 to 1869

The exterior of Vienna State Opera House photo by Yair Haklai – Wikimedia commons

The Vienna State Opera is one of the world’s most prestigious opera houses. The State Opera House was founded on December 20, 1857, when Emperor Franz Josef announced his ambition to enhance Vienna’s public buildings.

The building was constructed as one of the area’s first magnificent structures between 1861 and 1869.

2. The building was inaugurated by Emperor Franz Joseph I

Franz Joseph I of Austria – Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary (1830-1916) photo by Wenzl Weis – Wikimedia commons

Between 1861 and 1869, the building was built using money from the city expansion fund of which the main part included the construction of the Ringstrasse. The building’s design was based on those of the Renaissance-era buildings in Italy.

On May 25, 1869, the opera theatre was officially opened, and Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria were present. The facility also had a fairly amazing room where the Emperor and his wife could unwind during their stay there.

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3. It was designed by architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll

Work on the building began in 1861 and was finished in 1869, according to plans set up by architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll. Josef Hlávka, a well-known Czech architect, constructed it in the Neo-Renaissance style.

Despite its exquisite architecture, the edifice did not immediately become popular with the people of Vienna. The building was dubbed a “sunken treasure chest,” and one of the architects, Eduard van der Nüll, committed suicide as a result of the criticism before it was completed.

4. Vienna State Opera was built in a grandiose Neo-Renaissance style

Vienna State Opera House under construction (image from the exhibition Vienna’s Ringstrasse photo by Andreas Groll – Wikimedia commons

Construction began in 1861 and was completed in 1869 in a grandiose Neo-Renaissance style to symbolize the origins of its art. They designed the State Opera House in the controversial Renaissance style at the time.

The structure itself is reminiscent of the Italian Renaissance (the first operas were written and performed in Italy during the 16th century). The main façade of the loggia is adorned with two horse riders.

They were designed by Ernst Julius Hähnel in 1876 and depict Harmony and the Muse of Poetry (Erato). Hähnel also sculpted the five bronze statues that stand on pedestals inside the arching loggia arcade: Heroism, the Songstress, Fantasy, Thalia, and Love.

5. The opera house was formerly known as the “Vienna Court Opera”

Initially, the opera house was known as the “Vienna Court Opera.” After the foundation of the First Austrian Republic in 1921, it was given its current name. The Vienna State Opera is the successor to the Vienna Court Opera, which was chosen and funded by Emperor Franz Joseph in 1861.

6. Vienna State Opera is the home of the Vienna State Ballet

Vienna State Ballet dancers Maria Yakovleva and Kirill Kourlaev minutes before the general rehearsal for the New Year´s Concert photo by Alfred Weidinger – Wikimedia commons

The Vienna State Ballet is headquartered in this building. The Vienna State Ballet is regarded as one of the world’s best ballet companies. Because it is situated in the Vienna State Opera building, it was once known as the Vienna State Opera Ballet.

The ballets of the Vienna State Opera and the Vienna Volksoper combined in 2005 under the name Das Ballett der Wiener Staatsoper und Volksoper, and Gyula Harangozo was appointed artistic director.

On September 1, 2010, a new name was introduced, along with a change in leadership. Former Paris Opera Ballet lead dancer Manuel Legris took over as creative director.

7. Vienna State Opera produces about 70 operas a year

The Vienna Opera produces 70 productions every year and never repeats a performance two nights in a row. The Vienna Opera boasts the world’s most opera productions each year, with around 70 different productions each year and because of the wonderful acoustics of the house, they are famed for giving outstanding performances.

Even more impressively, they never play the same show twice in a succession. With one exception: it is customary to perform Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, a story about a New Year’s Eve party in Vienna, on both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day – the only occasion the performance is repeated two nights in a row.

8. It can accommodate more than 2,200 people

Interior of the Vienna State Opera Austria photo by Joseolgon – Wikimedia commons

The Vienna Opera House has approximately 1,709 seats and has standing room for an extra 567 people, making a total seating capacity of 2,284. That’s a rather sizable audience, indeed!

9. It hosts the annual Vienna Opera Ball during the carnival season

The Vienna Opera Ball is held in the building once a year, and it begins with a waltz danced by a large number of young couples and is attended by the Austrian President.

The ball has a lengthy history and is held annually (except for two years) since 1877. The Vienna Opera Ball is an annual Austrian society event held on the Thursday preceding Ash Wednesday (a religious holiday) in the Vienna State Opera building in Vienna, Austria.

The ball, along with the New Year’s Concert, is one of the spectacles of the Viennese carnival season.

10. Vienna State Opera houses the world-famous Vienna Philharmonic

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra photo by Steven Pisano – Wikimedia commons

Today, the State Opera House houses the world-famous Vienna Philharmonic. The Vienna Philharmonic is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world.

The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera.

Before you go, check out the top facts about the Royal Opera in London.