Vienna State Opera
One of the world’s leading opera houses, staging hundreds of opera and ballet performances each season.
The Vienna State Opera stands on the Ringstrasse in the heart of Vienna's old town and was the first major public building erected along the new boulevard. Designed in a Neo-Renaissance style by August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll, the house opened as the Court Opera on 25 May 1869 with Mozart's Don Giovanni. It took on its present name after the end of the Habsburg monarchy.
The building's history is marked by both brilliance and loss. Gustav Mahler ran the company from 1897 to 1907 and modernised its staging and lighting, while later decades brought conductors such as Herbert von Karajan. In March 1945 an air raid gutted the auditorium and stage and destroyed most of the sets and costumes; the ensemble performed in other Viennese theatres until the rebuilt house reopened on 5 November 1955 with Beethoven's Fidelio.
Today the Staatsoper is one of the busiest opera houses anywhere, running a true repertory system with dozens of operas and ballet productions across more than 350 performances a season. Its orchestra supplies the members of the Vienna Philharmonic, its standing-room tickets keep performances accessible, and each carnival season the auditorium is transformed for the famous Vienna Opera Ball.
Highlights
- Opened in 1869 as the first grand building on the Vienna Ringstrasse
- Rebuilt after 1945 bomb damage and reopened in 1955 with Fidelio
- Repertory system with 350+ opera and ballet performances per season
- Orchestra whose members form the Vienna Philharmonic
- Home of the annual Vienna Opera Ball and affordable standing-room places
