Vienna: Wiener Staatsoper Tour

We arrived at the meeting point for the Vienna State Opera House [VSOH] tour to find a huge crowd waiting outside. Luckily, we had pre-booked the tour, so we were shown to a much shorter queue once the doors were opened. Within minutes, Agnes, our guide, was escorting us to the Grand Hall to begin our 40-minute tour.

Sitting in the “expensive seats,” we listened as she regaled us with all kinds of information about the opera house. From our vantage point, we watched the crew as they re-installed the special flooring for tonight’s ballet performance, and saw the hydraulically operated orchestra pit being lowered into place. One interesting tidbit we learned about the orchestra pit … it is situated below the stage level for both improved audience sightline and also for acoustics. No one on stage uses mikes or any devices to enhance sound … that’s how good the acoustics are.

The VSOH is one of the grand buildings that line the Ringstrasse, the boulevard that was constructed after the old city walls were demolished by an imperial decree. It was built as a venue suitable for both ballet and opera. Named the Wiener Hofoper [Court Opera] at the time, it was opened in 1869 with a performance of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” Following the end of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the Hofoper became the Staatsoper [State Opera] and continued its role as a symbol of Viennese culture. Until, that is, the Nazi’s seized power in 1938.

Unfortunately, the opera house did not survive WWII intact. Bombardment of the city by American forces towards the end of the war destroyed parts of it. The auditorium and stage went up in flames, but the front section of the building, including the foyer, the main stairways, the vestibule, and the tea room [aka the Imperial Salon] survived.

Following the end of WWII, the VSOH was rebuilt … though not decorated with the “imperial lavishness” of the original opera house. In 1955, the venue reopened, this time with a performance of Beethoven’s “Fidelio.”

From the Grand Hall, we went up to the second floor. I have to admit to some concern that the tour might be taking us only to the public spaces we had already seen when we attended the “Swan Lake” ballet a few days ago. Well, we did revisit those places. But there were a number of other places as well … including the “antracte” — intermission — halls that we had not seen. Each was interesting for a different reason — the Gustav Mahler Hall for its tapestry-covered doors and walls; the Marble Hall for its murals … made with marble from every European country to represent unity; the Schwindfoyer, which survived the WWII bombing, for its incredible ceiling.

The Tea Room — formerly the Imperial Salon — was also a space that we had not seen before. It’s another one of the few rooms that survived the bombing. Seeing its lavish decor — 22-karat gold leaf gilding; an allegorical ceiling painting; ivory door handles; wall coverings embroidered with the initials of Emperor Franz Joseph I — gave us a glimpse into what the Hofoper/Staartsoper must have looked like before WWII. Reserved for the exclusive use of the imperial court back in the day, today the room is used for press conferences, awards ceremonies, and the like.

Our tour concluded with a visit to what was once the Imperial Box. This vantage point was familiar to us since our seats for “Swan Lake” had been immediately above the gilded eagle that once identified the box as being reserved for the imperial family. Nonetheless, we marked our visit to the box with a selfie and a few other photos.

After being disappointed with the tour we took of the Sydney Opera House last December, I was a little leery about doing another opera house tour. So, glad we did this one … it was really well done.Read more