This is What We Remember

If you ever have the opportunity to visit the Hungarian State Opera, do it. Even if you are not an opera fan, put in your ear plugs and buy a ticket. They are not expensive and it is pleasure to simply sit for 2-3 hours in this beautiful space.

Moving on Toward the Theater

Above is the view looking in the direction the Emperor would walk up the stairs. Behind the woman is the mirror placed for them to see behind themselves.

Moving from the Masses to the Emperor's Entrance

The food concession area is on the front of the building and if you walk through it toward the front of the building, you pass through a beautifully panelled smoking area and onto the balcony overlooking Andrassy Street. Looking up and back toward the opera house we see a series of small balconies on floor up (I presume that they are useable by someone, just not me) and the intricately designed ceilings over them.

Heading Upstairs

Because there is a slope of the main floor of the opera house and there are practice and storage rooms below the stage, we need to go upstairs to get to the main portion of the building.

Back for the Tour

Our last outing in Budapest was a visit back to the Opera House for a tour. You've already seen some of this from our visit to see an performance, but I believe that the photos with the iPhone were limited both by where we could go during a public performance and by my ability to compose using the small camera. Today we start a series to correct those limitations.

Opera House Lobby

And so, I bring these evening at the opera to a close with a few more images of the lobby area. The combination of gold and marble everywhere along with the brightly colored designs makes a lasting impression.

More Views from the Opera House

This really is a most marvelous place. And, in spite of its opulence, a very affordable place to spend the evening. Tickets start (for standing room admission) at about $10. While our seats in the orchestra near the front were more, they were still only about 1/10 the price you'd pay at the Royal Opera House in London or the Met  in New York.

The orchestra pit is pretty large and very little of it sits under the overhanging stage. This both fills the space with music and moves the audience back from the stage a bit more than in some other venues.

On this particular evening, this was a mixed blessing. The orchestra often overwhelmed the singers in this performance of "The Girl of the Golden West" (Puccini). There is some much to say about this performance that I'll save it for sometime when we can sit and talk about it (assuming you are actually interested). I'll just say that this performance was not one of our favorites. However, another opera we attended,"The Masked Ball" (Verdi), was much more to our taste. This opera company is capable of excellent work.

The lobby by the entrance of the opera house is very church-like in its appearance with columns and arches abounding. 

The barrel vault over the main portion of the lobby displays another extravagant usage of gold.

A really remarkable place to visit.

 

A Night at the Opera

The time tested method for a start to an evening at the opera is by visiting the restaurant next door for a slice of dobos torte. This delightful Hungarian cake is quite addictive.

A Taste of Things to Come - Andrassy Avenue, Budapest

On out first outing in Budapest, we stopped at the Opera station of the M1 subway to get a nice breakfast cake at the restaurant in the hotel next door. However, it was only serving the hotel residents at the time so we had to continue on down the street.