Opera in Prague or Vienna
Jul 6th, 2001, 03:21 PM
#1
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Opera in Prague or Vienna
I will be seeing my first Opera in either Prague or Vienna in September. The choices are La Traviata, Rigoletto, Nabucco, or Don Carlos. I am not familiar with any of these, which would you recommend? Are any more famous than the other? Thanks, Vicki
Jul 6th, 2001, 03:32 PM
#2
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Really the first opera? All are famous; in fact very famous. As a first timer my suggestion for you would be Traviata or Rigoletto. I suspect that you will recognize some music from either of these. Nabucco and Don Carlos are great operas and you could not go wrong with either of them. You will enjoy either of the Opera Houses in Prague or Vienna. Make sure you dress as befits the event.
Jul 6th, 2001, 07:49 PM
#6
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Of the operas you name, I think La Traviata is the one with the most memorable music, particularly the first act which ends with two very well known soprano arias: Ah, fors'è lui and Sempre libera, which is one of the most dazzling soprano arias in all of opera. <BR> <BR>If you are going to be in Vienna, don't forget that the city has two opera houses. The Staatsoper is the larger one with massive productions. The Volksoper, on the other hand, performs light operas, or operettas, like Die Fledermaus and Die Lustige Witwe (the Merry Widow) as well as "grand" operas like Carmen and La Traviata. Tickets at Die Volksoper are much cheaper than at the Staatsoper and the performances are usually first rate. <BR> <BR>You did not say when you would be in Vienna, but Carmen, La Traviata, Die Fledermaus and Die Lustige Witwe are all on the program for the month, along with Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and a couple of others. <BR> <BR>On the 8th and 15th of September, Althea-Maria Papoulias is singing the role of Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus. I heard/saw her last year and she is tremendous. <BR>
Jul 7th, 2001, 08:00 AM
#8
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Hi Vicki, <BR>here you have the URLs for the opera houses in Vienna (you can buy the tickets on-line): <BR>http://www.bundestheater.at/ <BR> <BR>On the 2nd, 3rd and 4th you could see : <BR>2nd - Don Carlo at the Staatsoper and Die Fledermaus at the Volksoper <BR>3rd - Roberto Devereux at the Staatsoper <BR>4th - Nabucco at the Staatsoper <BR> <BR>As much as I love "Don Carlo" (specially the duet of Don Carlo and the Marquis de Posa), seeing that you are going to your first opera, I would choose "La Traviata" or "Tosca" in Prague. The singing level is much better in Vienna, but the opera houses are lovely in Prague (try the National Theatre, the State Opera or the Estates). Have a glass of champagne and enjoy it. <BR> <BR>If you are interested in ballet, on the 2nd of September you could watch "Onegin" at the Estates Theatre. Great dancers and great music. <BR> <BR>You can check the program for Prague (and buy the tickets) at : <BR>http://www.ticketsbti.cz/ <BR> <BR>Good luck. <BR>
Jul 7th, 2001, 08:17 AM
#9
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I checked the Spielplan at Die Volksoper and found out that Die Fledermaus is scheduled for September 2, at 6 PM. <BR>You could attend the performance and then have dinner. <BR> <BR>You can see the website at this address: <BR> <BR>http://www.volksoper.at/ <BR>The box office can be reached via email at [email protected] <BR> <BR>I wrote to the box office in English and the response came as an English form letter. There is a 5% charge for the tickets bought over the net. The top ticket price is 900 AS and second price is 600 AS. There is still good ticket availability. I emailed the box office and ordered my tickets that way by sending in my credit card number. <BR>You may fax it or send it over email. <BR> <BR>The text of the web site is in German, but you can recognize the dates shown on the Spielplan because September is the same. And I think Oktober is easy enough to guess. <BR> <BR>The two lead singers in the September 2 production of Die Fldermaus are Althea-Maria Papoulias as Rosalinde and Morton Frank-Larsen as Gabriel. They are both good actors and singers. <BR> <BR>At the Staatsoper, Nabucco, Roberto Deveraux, and Don Carlo are scheduled on September 2, 3, and 4 respectively. <BR> <BR>If I had a choice, I would attend Die Fledermaus. The dialog in a Vienna production moves very quickly, so even if you understand some German you probably will not follow all of it. It takes a high level of fluency to follow the whole thing. <BR> <BR>But, if you go to a production of a Verdi opera, it is all in a foreign language also. <BR> My understanding is that the productions are sung in the original language at the Staatsoper. <BR> <BR>My wife, who speaks only English, went with me last year and enjoyed the music. I have the recording with the text, and had listened to it repeatedly, so I knew what they were singing. The spoken dialog is not standard and the Vienna production did not match what I had studied. Even so, by knowing the plot I could follow everything. Besides, there are a lot of sight gags in the production that are funny even if you don't fully understand the dialog. <BR> <BR>I will be happy to try and answer any other questions.
