Hello,

I'm starting to look at performance schedules and ticket availability for concerts, operas, and ballets in Prague, Vienna, and Budapest in October. We are a group of four females in our late 20s/early 30s who are moderately familiar with opera and classical music. I've done a fair amount of reading on this forum and scoured various websites, so now I'm just looking for people to weigh in on the various venues and performances, best websites to purchase tickets through, other venues I may not have considered, etc.
Here's what I'm looking at:

Prague
10/13 - Prague Philharmonic at Rudolfium or Prague Symphony Orchestra at Municipal House (I think we'd be equally happy with either program and the prices are similar. Is one or the other venue more of a must see?)
10/14 Don Giovanni at National Marionette Theater
10/15 Ruskala at Prague State Opera

Vienna (will choose one of these options)
10/18 La Traviata at Vienna State Opera or Salome at Volksoper Vienna - both only have standby tickets available. How does this work? What is the likelihood of getting tickets?
10/18 Serse at Theater an der Wien

Are there any specific cafes we should be sure to check out for good casual concerts?

Budapest
10/19 The Karamazovs at Hungarian State Opera*
10/22 Tosca at Hungarian State Opera*
10/22 Anna Bolena at Uránia National Film Theatre broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera
* According to the State Opera website, it looks like tickets for these won't go on sale until a month before the performance. Is that correct?

Thanks in advance for your help!

FOR VIENNA:

La Traviata at Vienna Staatsoper has already gone on sale a few days ago, and is SOLD OUT. I doubt you'll be able to get tickets without paying a huge premium - Natalie Dessay is singing the title role. I would NOT even consider trying for standing room - you'll have to line up VERY EARLY. The Viennese are very serious about operas, esp when there's a big star singing.

As for Volksopera, Salome has NOT gone on sale yet. According to this:
http://www.volksoper.at/Content.Node...erkauf1.en.php

"From the first of each month tickets can be purchased for performances both for the current month and also the complete month following. In other words you may book tickets for October performances already from September 1st. Tickets for September may be purchased from June 1st since July and August are holiday months."

So, in your case, tickets for Salome go on sale on Sept 1st.

Salome and Serse are very different - not sure which period of opera you're interested in. Serse is pretty long, while Salome is about 1/2 its length.

FOR BUDAPEST:
The Karamazovs is a ballet
TOSCA is on 10/20, not 10/22
From this:
http://www.opera.hu/en/jegyinformacio

"Advance booking: from the first weekday of the month prior to the month of the performance.
For season ticket performances tickets are available in limited number."

My interpretation of that would be, you can purchase the Hungarian State Opera tickets on Sept 1 (thursday)

I would not bother going to see the Met HD broadcast of Anna Bolena. It will no doubt be shown in the US as an encore a few weeks later, and it will be shown on PBS some time in 2012.

Hope this helps.

On Prague: which performance to see on October 13 would depend entirely on who's performing, whose music is being performed, which piece of music is being performed, and who the conductor is. It's your likes and dislikes.

Prague opera has no English subtitles and Rusalka isn't that easy an opera to understand. Concert performances in Prague are better than the opera there.

On Vienna: Theater an der Wein puts on a limited number of some wonderful operas and is really for the serious opera goer. It's near the Naschmarkt where you can get a bite to eat if the weather permits. If you like the earlier operas, then this may be a very enjoyable evening for you. Personally, I'm not a fan of Handel's.

If you want to change to something else on your days in Vienna, have you checked the schedule for the Vienna Philharmonic, one of the greatest orchestras in the world?

I'd suggest a night at the Volksoper, if you can fit that in.

On Budapest:

Have you already gotten tickets for Anna Bolena, because I see from the NY Met Opera website that the tickets are already sold out in Budapest.

http://mupa.hu/en/program/classical-...theatre?page=4

Also the theater listed in Budapest is the Palace of Arts, and not the Urania. Were you able to find tickets at the Urania?

At this late stage, it's very difficult to get tickets to the NY Met HD Series in many cities in Europe. These are very formal affairs with wine and hor d'oeuvres served during intermission and people are dressed as if for a regular opera attendance. This is not a blue jeans and popcorn affair.

If you really want to see this in Europe, Berlin might be a possibility, just MIGHT.