Theme Week Vienna – The Vienna State Opera
Wednesday, 12 December 2012 - 01:14 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union Category/Kategorie: General , Opera Houses, Theaters, Libraries
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Vienna State Opera around 1900 © Library of Congress
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The Vienna State Opera (
Wiener Staatsoper ) is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of
Vienna . It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera (
Wiener Hofoper ). In 1920, with the replacement of the
Habsburg Monarchy by the
First Republic of Austria , it was renamed the Vienna State Opera. The members of the
Vienna Philharmonic are recruited from its orchestra.
The building was the first major building on the Vienna Ringstraße commissioned by the controversial Viennese “city expansion fund”. Work commenced on the building in 1861 and was completed in 1869, following plans drawn up by architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll , who lived together in the 6. District. It was built in the Neo-Renaissance style .
Vienna State Opera - Inside © Jason7825/cc-by-sa-3.0
The building was, however, not very popular with the public. On the one hand, it did not seem as grand as the
Heinrichshof , a private residence which was destroyed in World War II (and replaced in 1955 by the
Opernringhof ). Moreover because the level of
Ringstraße was raised by a metre in front of the opera house after its construction had begun, the latter was likened to “a sunken treasure chest” and, in analogy to the military disaster of 1866 (the
Battle of Königgrätz ), was deprecatingly referred to as “the ‘Königgrätz’ of architecture”. Eduard van der Nüll committed suicide, and barely ten weeks later Sicardsburg suffered a fatal heart attack so neither architect saw the completion of the building. The opening premiere was
Don Giovanni , by
Mozart , on May 25, 1869.
Emperor Franz Josef and
Empress Elisabeth (Sissi) were present.
Here you can find the complete
Overview of all Theme Weeks .
Read more on
Vienna State Opera ,
Vienna Philharmonic and
Wikipedia Vienna State Opera . Photos by Wikipedia Commons.
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