The Hungarian State Opera House ( hu, Magyar Állami Operaház) is a neo-Renaissance

opera house An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...

located in central

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, on

Andrássy út Andrássy Avenue ( hu, Andrássy út) is a boulevard in Budapest, Hungary, dating back to 1872. It links Erzsébet Square with the Városliget. Lined with spectacular Neo-renaissance mansions and townhouses featuring fine facades and interiors, it ...

. Originally known as the Hungarian Royal Opera House, it was designed by

Miklós Ybl Miklós Ybl (6 April 1814 in Székesfehérvár – 22 January 1891 in Budapest) was one of Europe's leading architects in the mid to late nineteenth century as well as Hungary's most influential architect during his career. His most well-known wo ...

, a major figure of 19th-century Hungarian architecture. Construction began in 1875, funded by the city of Budapest and by Emperor

Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

, and the new house opened to the public on the 27 September 1884. Before the closure of the "Népszínház" in Budapest, it was the third largest opera building in the city; today it is the second largest opera house in Budapest and in Hungary. Touring groups had performed operas in the city from the early 19th century, but as Legány notes, "a new epoch began after 1835 when part of the Kasa National Opera and Theatrical Troupe arrived in Buda". Legány, p. 630 They took over the Castle Theatre and, in 1835, were joined by another part of the troupe, after which performances of operas were given under conductor

Ferenc Erkel Ferenc Erkel ( hu, Erkel Ferenc , german: link=no, Franz Erkel; November 7, 1810June 15, 1893) was a Hungarian composer, conductor and pianist. He was the father of Hungarian grand opera, written mainly on historical themes, which are still o ...

. By 1837 they had established themselves at the Magyar Színház (Hungarian Theatre) and by 1840, it had become the "Nemzeti Színház" (National Theatre). Upon its completion, the opera section moved into the Hungarian Royal Opera House, with performances quickly gaining a reputation for excellence in a repertory of about 45 to 50 operas and about 130 annual performances. Today, the opera house is home to the

Budapest Opera Ball The Budapest Opera Ball (''Budapesti Operabál'' in Hungarian, ''Budapester Opernball'' in German) is an annual Hungarian society event taking place in the building of the Budapest Opera (''Operaház'') on the last Saturday of the carnival season ...

, a society event dating back to 1886.

History

Many important artists were guests here including the composer

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

, who was director in Budapest from 1888 to 1891 and

Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (14 May 18856 July 1973) was a 20th-century conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the US, Hungary and finally Britain. His early career was in opera houses, but he was later better known as a concer ...

, who was music director for three years from 1947 to 1950. In the 1970s the state of the building prompted the Hungarian State to order a major renovation which eventually began in 1980 and lasted till 1984. The reopening was held exactly 100 years after the original opening, on the 27 September 1984.

Overview

It is a richly decorated building and is considered one of the architect's masterpieces. It was built in

neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

style, with elements of Baroque. Ornamentation includes paintings and sculptures by leading figures of Hungarian art including

Bertalan Székely Bertalan Székely (8 May 1835, Kolozsvár, Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary (Now Cluj-Napoca after annexation by Romania following the Treaty of Trianon – 21 August 1910, Budapest) was a Hungarian history and portrait painter who worked in t ...

Mór Than Mór Than (; 19 June 1828 – 11 March 1899) was a Hungarian painter. He painted in the Realist school and worked with several high-profile Hungarian and Austrian painters of his time. He travelled around Italy, in France and his native Hu ...

and

Károly Lotz Lotz Károly Antal Pál, or Karl Anton Paul Lotz (16 December 1833 – 13 October 1904) was a German- Hungarian painter. Career Karl Lotz was born in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany, the 7th and youngest surviving child of Wilhelm Chr ...

. Although in size and capacity it is not among the greatest, in beauty and the quality of acoustics the Budapest Opera House is considered to be amongst the finest opera houses in the world. The auditorium holds 1,261 people. It is horseshoe-shaped and – according to measurements done in the 1970s by a group of international engineers – has the third best acoustics in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

after

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

in Milan and the

Palais Garnier The Palais Garnier (, Garnier Palace), also known as Opéra Garnier (, Garnier Opera), is a 1,979-seatBeauvert 1996, p. 102. opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from ...

in Paris. Although many opera houses have been built since, the Budapest Opera House is still among the best in terms of the acoustics. In front of the building are statues of

and

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

. Liszt is the best known Hungarian composer. Erkel composed the Hungarian national anthem, and was the first music director of the Opera House; he was also founder of the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra. Each year the season lasts from September to the end of June and, in addition to opera performances, the House is home to the

Hungarian National Ballet The Hungarian National Ballet ( hu, Magyar Nemzeti Balett) is a classical ballet dance company based in Budapest, Hungary. The ballet company is attached to the Hungarian State Opera House, which is also home to the Hungarian State Opera company ...

. There are guided tours of the building in six languages (English, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Hungarian) almost every day.

Architecture

The decoration of the symmetrical façade follows a musical theme. In niches on either side of the main entrance there are figures of two of Hungary's most prominent composers,

and

. Both were sculpted by

Alajos Stróbl Alajos Stróbl (21 June 1856 – 13 December 1926) was a Hungarian sculptor and artist. His work is characterised by sensitive realistic modelling and he became one of the most renowned sculptors of memorials in Hungary at the turn of the ...

. The foyer has marble columns. The vaulted ceiling is covered in murals by

and

. They depict the nine Muses. Wrought-iron lamps illuminate the wide stone staircase and the main entrance. Going to the opera was a great social occasion in the 19th century. A vast, sweeping staircase was an important element of the opera house as it allowed ladies to show off their new gowns. Interior, Hungarian State Opera House

Painted Ceiling, Hungarian State Opera House

The main hall is decorated with a bronze chandelier weighing 3050 kg. It illuminates a fresco by

, depicting the Greek gods on Olympus. The central stage proscenium arch employed the most modern technology of the time. It featured a revolving stage and metal hydraulic machinery. The royal box is located centrally in the three-storey circle. It is decorated with sculptures symbolizing the four operatic voices -

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

and bass. Olszanska and Olszanski, p. ??

The company's second theatre

Today, a secondary building, which has been part of the

Hungarian State Opera The Hungarian State Opera is the national opera company of Hungary. Located in Budapest, it is a busy institution, with over 200 operas each calendar year, on top of extensive educational programs, ballet, and musical theatre. The company employs ...

company since 1951, is the

Erkel Theatre The Erkel Theatre is a theatre in Budapest, Hungary. Being the largest public building in the city for decades (and the largest theatre in the city), it was made part of the Hungarian State Opera House in 1951. History With the idea of brin ...

(renamed as such in 1953), which originally opened in 1911 as the "Népopera" (The People's Opera). It was closed in 1915, modernized with seating capacity reduced to 2,400, and reopened in 1917 as the "Városi Színház" (City Theatre). It fulfilled many functions over the years, including being a cinema, until it came under the control of the State Opera House. Significantly renovated in 1961, it functioned as a second venue for the company until 2007 when once again, closure and renovations took place until its reopening in 2013.

References

Notes Sources
Information on guided tours of the opera house
*Legány, Dezsó (1998), "Budapest", in

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...

, (Ed.), ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

'', Vol. One, pp. 630–632. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. 1998 *Olszanska, Barbara; Tadeusz Olszanski, ''DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Budapest'', Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd, 2007.

External links

Hungarian State Opera's website (in English)Failoni Chamber Orchestra of the Hungarian State OperaThe interior of the Opera House

Hungarian State Opera at Google Cultural Institute
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Budapest Opera houses in Hungary

Opera House An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...