We saw Il Trittico, Italian with Hungarian Supertitles. The other short Opera was hungarian, but we didn't stay, I believe the supertitles were to be in English.

I wore a Blazer and shirt with tie. Many were dressed up, but some tourists were less so and they fit in just fine. I'd try to avoid jeans.

Try to also go on a tour of the opera house during the day while you are in Budapest. We had a wonderful guide who gave us some historical perspective and details about the architecture.

tomboy: in most places, the surtitles or supertitles are projected on to a strip above the stage, or sometimes at the sides. In a few places, including the New York Met, each person has their own scrolling strip embedded in the seat in front and this can be switched off if required. Usually surtitles are used if the opera is in a language different to the language of the country it's being performed in. I have heard of one place - maybe the New York Met, since I last went ? - which can now offer seatback titles with a choice of 4 languages.

jond: check out the national geographic travel magazine april 2005 issue.

Just saw it in Newport RI and, with permission from our inn (the excellent Francis Malbone House) took it home. Photos of our favourite place to eat, Cavehaz central (Central Cafe) and lots more.

Guess you can tell how often I go to the opera (never been). Budapest or Vienna may be a first, since the subtitling would eliminate my major objection. Thanks for patiently explaining it to me; goes to prove the only dumb question is the one not asked.

I love Budapest and wish I could spend much more time there than the week I was there in late October last year. It's a great city for classical music, we went to excellent free concerts there every day.

I asked a Hungarian friend exactly this question, what to wear to the Opera. I'm a traveler who definitely likes to blend in as much as possible. He is very familiar with the Opera since he has a relative who sings in the Opera chorus, and often goes. He's in his 20's, and wears dark pants and a dark jacket (and I think a tie). His answer: you don't want to look like someone who ended up there by mistake, just off the street. You want to look like it's more of a special experience than just going to the movies. He recommended at least dress slacks with a nice long-sleeve shirt, and indeed I felt quite comfortable dressed this way, even though we shared a booth with an older couple from Sweden in formal attire, who were very friendly with us.

You can also take a tour of the Opera House, but we had our friend take us around during intermission instead. Don't be shy about wandering around during the intermissions, there were some nice art exhibitions in some galleries on the upper floors when we were there.

Tomboy,
You will be happy to know that Vienna works much like the Met. The titles are on the back of the seat in front of you and you have a choice of languages, including English. It works great.

Thanks for the advice! I just got my tickets this morning. I'll be seeing Verdi's "Otello" on May 22. And I will try to dress appropriately. :-)

Verdi's Otello should be great. And for a big-name opera premiere, I would go with dressing up, (but, no tie!) (smile)

I'll have to look for that National Geo. article, since I too, favor the Central Cafe-went there twice this last Nov., actually-great local atmosphere, with a turn- of- the- last century ambience, very large windows so you can see the street scene outside, reasonably priced food and drink-and there was a poster store across the street with some GREAT antique Hungarian posters from the 30's it looked like-didn't get a chance to browse there, though!

Hey JonD,

Can you tell me how you accessed and booked your tickets ?

I will be in Budapest May 9 - 14 and since January I've been visiting various Budapest sites for music / theatre / Opera events in Budapest, but they all say that ALL the shows are sold out. I thought this sounded a bit fishy but I couldn't come up with any alternatives.

Last year while in BUD for a mere 2 days (hence the return now) I lucked out chatting up a gorgeous redhead who was in the theatre industry and who very kindly used her influence to obtain a same day industry seat at the Opera to see 'Vernasz', but this time I didn't want to leave things to chance, and also wanted see more of the varied Arts scene than the opera.

I'll be indebted for any info you can give me.

Thanks,

M.

Head's up: a friend just pointed out to me an article about Budapest in the April issue of National Geographic Traveler. I just read it and, (co)incidentally, on p. 102 it mentions how to dress at the Opera. If you don't want to buy it, peek at it in a newsstand-- the article itself, while enthusiastic, isn't that great or helpful, but it has some nice pictures.

I am going to Budapest in July for a couple of days, so please post a report upon return!

When we were in Budapest, our hotel conciege got us tickets for the same night. It wasn't very full.

here is the official opera website.
www.jegymester.hu

click on english and the buying of tickets is very simple. good info about seats, etc.