“Hungarian State Opera” of Budapest is known as one of the most beautiful opera houses in Europe. This time, I participated in this inside tour! I would like to tell you in detail from the ticket purchase to the beautiful inside.
※This article was written before the virus scandal. This will be updated.
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Tour inside the Opera House
The Hungarian State Opera House is a historic opera house built in 1884. During the season (September to June of the following year), opera and ballet performances are held every day, but during the off-season, there is an inside tour, so anyone can participate.
Beautiful opera theater in Neo Renaissance style! It should be …, but unfortunately, as of October 2019, it is under repair work and scaffolding has been set up, so I cannot see the whole picture.
It was originally scheduled to be completed in 2018, but the construction period seems to have been significantly delayed …。
Apply locally, ticket 2,500 Ft.
Regarding the opera house under construction, there is a temporary entrance on the left side when you look at the front facade, and you can enter from here.
Once inside, you can see the gorgeous entrance hall! There aren’t many opera houses with such a splendid entrance, with lustrous marble pillars and golden arches.
If you go to the back of this entrance hall, there is a ticket counter where you can apply for a guided tour. Note that tickets are not sold on the official website.
The guided tour is available in Russian and Hungarian depending on the day of the week, but unfortunately there is no Japanese. I applied for the English tour at 14: 00 this time because it was vacant.
The tour costs 2,500 ft. (875 yen). I bought it at 10 AM because I thought it would be a problem if it was sold out even though the tour started at 14 o’clock, and this was the right choice! It was already sold out before the tour started, so it’s better to buy it early.
There is also a gift shop and a toilet.
If you go further to the ticket counter, there is a gift shop and a toilet.
The gift shop is full of opera theater related goods and miscellaneous goods. Programs and DVDs of past performances are also on sale, but I wonder if they have been left unsold for a long time or dusty …。
Start from the beautiful grand staircase!
By the way, 5 minutes before 14 o’clock, the staff told me and the tour started! First, we will gather at the big staircase and receive an explanation, then we will visit the foyer around this big staircase.
A large staircase covered with a red carpet, which can be said to be a synonym of the Opera House. Compared to Viennese and Paris, it is smaller, but the thick structure with plenty of marble is splendid!
About 10 people participated in this English tour. You can’t visit freely, but there is no limit to taking pictures.
The bar wrapped in gold is amazing!
The first thing I was shown was this foyer. There is a bar counter in the center, and I think it is a place to socialize during a break, but the gorgeous space surrounded by gold decorations is very gorgeous!
There are many religious paintings on the ceiling and surrounding walls. As the repair work has just finished, this area is shiny without any darkening.
There is a corridor around the room with the bar counter, and this is a smoking area called “smoking corridor”. There are dents all over the wall where ashtrays are placed.
Gorgeous foyer, auditorium, mini concert
After that, they go around gorgeous foyers around the big stairs one by one. This is the staircase leading to the lower floor, and the large mirror, multiple chandeliers, and the arch of the ceiling are amazing!
There are many bronze statues of famous people on this floor. However, they are not Beethoven or Mozart but Hungarian opera directors and ballet conductors.
At the end of the tour, you will see the auditorium with seats. However, the auditorium is still under construction, so you can’t go inside and just look at it from the window.
The auditorium with its gorgeous chandelier, … is a place where you can see opera and ballet.
At the end of the tour, they watched a mini concert held at the big staircase. Two performers will perform opera works on the theme of love disputes between men and women.
Although it was a mini concert, the singer’s ability was good, and the reverberation on this floor was just right, so I could listen to it very comfortably!
A guided tour that you can easily join
The tour ends in just 45 minutes. The route of the tour was surprisingly short and I could not go around the opera house, but I think the tour was very fulfilling as I could join at a reasonable price of 2,500 ft.
You can visit many beautiful foyers, and if you have a chance, please join!
Tour of Magyar Állami Operaház
- Address: Budapest, Andrássy út 22, 1061
- Ticket Office Hours: 10: 00 ~ 17: 00
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