The horseshoe auditorium
Three tiers of gilded boxes under a three-tonne bronze chandelier — with acoustics ranked among the world's best.
Jeremy Oakley — CC BY 2.0 · Mike is Michi — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Elekes Andor — CC BY 4.0 ·
The Hungarian State Opera is among the most beautiful opera houses in Europe and among the least known outside the continent — which works in a visitor's favour: tickets cost a fraction of Vienna or Milan although the auditorium stands comparison with both. It opened in 1884 to a neo-Renaissance design by Miklós Ybl, and the story goes that Emperor Franz Joseph funded it on condition it not exceed the Vienna opera in size — so the Hungarians built it smaller and more lavish. The horseshoe auditorium has three tiers of gilded boxes, an enormous ceiling fresco, and a bronze chandelier weighing around three tonnes. Its acoustics rank among the world's finest — usually cited third after Milan and Paris. The house closed for a thorough restoration and reopened after five years of work. Statues of Franz Liszt and Ferenc Erkel — composer of the Hungarian anthem and the house's first director — stand at the entrance. The best way to see the interior is to attend a performance: the cheapest upper-balcony seats are genuinely inexpensive and the sound from them is excellent. If the timing does not suit, guided tours run daily at published times.
Three tiers of gilded boxes under a three-tonne bronze chandelier — with acoustics ranked among the world's best.
Marble, gold and mirrors under a painted ceiling — where everyone gathers at the interval.
A small reception room reserved for the emperor — seen on the guided tour only, not by the performance audience.
A performance is far better and sometimes cheaper: you sit in the auditorium for two hours and see the place working. The tour is useful if you want the rooms closed to audiences, like the royal salon, or if no performance time suits. Ideal: a performance from the upper balcony.
No. Performances are in the original language with English surtitles above the stage, and the programme includes well-known works and ballet as well. Pick something familiar for a first visit — and the auditorium itself will be half the pleasure.
Through the opera's official site, weeks ahead if possible — popular productions sell out. Prices are steeply tiered, and the gap between the upper balcony and the stalls is large for a small difference in sound.
The opera sits midway along Andrássy Avenue: the House of Terror is five minutes north, St Stephen's Basilica seven minutes south, and the Liszt Academy is close too.
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Flanking the entrance: Hungary's two most famous musicians, one of them the composer of the anthem and the house's first director.
Andrássy út 22, Pest 1061