vienna opera tickets
 

Helpful Fodorites,

I was wondering if anyone had experience with doing the waiting-list procedure on the Vienna State Opera website for opera tickets. I waited WAY too long to try and get tickets for my trip in a few weeks. Madame Butterfly is playing on Oct 10, and, of course, is sold out.
It appears I can get on a wait list on the official opera website.
I was wondering if anyone had experience with doing this in the past--do I have a chance of coming up lucky?
Also, it was a bit confusing. They wanted me to give a credit card number--I assume I'll be charged if the tickets come through and will be notified via email if that happens?
Finally, does anyone know of any other potentially successful routes to take besides the wait-list? Ticket brokers, etc?

Thanks...

We went to the State music hall (musokverein) last year and got tickets on the web. Would you try to contact your hotel and have them get you tickets? I would not trust the internet

topping for cp123 - as I'm interested in finding this out for myself.

wordsmith- what concert did you attend at the Musikverein?

topping again

The concierge at your hotel should be able to get you tickets for whatever you want. It's just a matter of how much you;re willing to pay. And don;t forget a nice tip for the concierge.

If you REALLY want to go, you can try for standing room tickets. Or returns. But, if you don't mind spending more, your concierge is a good choice.

It is a beautiful opera house, and there's a tour if you are interested.

I'd like to purchase tickets to a Dec. 21 performance as a gift to my parents. However, I'm a little unclear as to how the website works.

Am I actually purchasing tickets that will be sent to me? Or are tickets not sent out until 30 days before the performance date?

I just attended I vespri siciliani, a Verdi opera at the Vienna Opera House on Tuesday, September 26. I too waited too long to book tickets and made my request on the official wait list...never heard a thing. Arrived in Vienna Tuesday AM and asked the Concierge at our hotel, Hotel Sacher, if he would be able to help us. He was rather snippy about what an absurd request it was at such a late date, but he was actually able to come through.

I think what helped us out was that we were willing to be seated in single seats, as opposed to needing two side by side. We ended up with one box seat and one balcony seat. Face value for the tickets together was 148€ and we paid 185€, IMO well worth it.

The opera was five acts with intermissions after the second and third acts, so we were able to meet up for Chamapagne twice during the evening. Having the seats seperately was not a big deal for us, but might be for some others.

There is more standing room than I imagined there would be, but we did not want to wait in line for at least an hour, and then stand for three more.

Good Luck!

I want to report on my ticket-purchasing experience.

We want to attend The Magic Flute on Nov 24, 2006.

The website states that tickets go on sale at box office 1 month earlier - ie, Oct 24, 2006; but telephone sales begin <b>one day after</b> box office sales start.

I called 11am Central European time (4am CST) on Oct 24, and was told I have to call back the next day.

I decided to see if I can buy tickets online, and yes, I can! By the time I got on the website (around 4:30), there were only <b>3</b> &euro;25 and <b>9&lt;b/&gt; &euro; 9 tickets left. All the &euro;9 are restricted view.

I bought 2 of the 3 remaining &euro;25 seats.

I'm glad that I checked the online option, as I suspect that if I wait until the next day (tomorrow) to call for tickets, nothing will be available.</b>

Sorry for the bold font. I should have previewed before posting. Obviously I need to go back to sleep now... |-)

CP-I walked into the Opera House on the evening of the Opera this past May, to see Donizetti's La Favorite-and if NOTHING ELSE, you will be able to get what they call &quot;Stehplatz&quot; seats-standing spaces, but there is an actual section reserved for these spaces, with small opera translator boxes next to each space. When you come in and get there early, you tie your scarf around the post in front of you, to reserve that space for you, then you can go off and have a drink in the salon area or what not. The tickets are an amazing 3-5 Euros or so, and are on the floor with basically unimpeded visibility (other than the person standing in the next row in front).

That's as a last resort-but for the popular operas, you have to get there right when the box office opens that evening for those type of tickets, and for any same-day only tickets for actual seats, you will have to get there before the box office opens in the morning.

My point being, chances are very good that you can get same-day tickets for a seat, or standing, if you head to the box office early that day, to find out what the situation is for the performance that night. I've gotten amazing tickets at the Concert Verein for a Mozart concert by the Vienna Philharmonic basically by showing up 40 minutes before the concert, and got seats right next to the orchestra-so I think your chances are good for getting seats to the opera even if it shows that it's sold out, by going early to the box office on the same day of the performance.

eliztrav : &quot;It is a beautiful opera house&quot;. Depends on your taste ! I thought it was very ugly inside (1950s &amp; very brown).