Hungarian State Opera House
Magyar Állami Operaház
Interesting facts
- Gustav Mahler, then still in his twenties, directed the Budapest Opera in the late 1880s until 1891, building its international reputation.
- The stage machinery came from the Asphaleia company of Vienna and, with its hydraulic metal mechanisms and revolving stage, was considered cutting-edge in 1884.
- The great bronze chandelier was made in Mainz and weighs about 3,050 kilograms.
- Otto Klemperer served as the company's music director from 1947 to 1950, shortly after the Second World War.
- When it opened the Opera employed 475 people; today the company counts some 150 singers, a 200-strong orchestra and a 200-member chorus.
Why it is worth it
Andrássy út, Budapest's grand nineteenth-century boulevard, has one building that sets its tone: the Opera House. It was designed by Miklós Ybl, the leading Hungarian architect of his day, built between 1875 and 1884 and opened on 27 September 1884. The money came from the city of Budapest and from Emperor Franz Joseph, and the result is a neo-Renaissance palace with Baroque richness in its detail — compact and beautifully proportioned rather than colossal, an opera house that impresses by finesse more than by size.
Alajos Stróbl carved the statues of the two Hungarian composers who preside over the house, Ferenc Erkel and Franz Liszt. They set the building's mood — this was an opera house meant to show that Budapest had a musical culture of its own within the Habsburg monarchy.
The interior is the reason to come. The grand marble staircase leads up to a foyer whose walls and ceilings carry the nine Muses and other allegories painted by Bertalan Székely and Mór Than. The auditorium is a horseshoe of tiers holding about 1,260 people, and above it Károly Lotz painted the gods of Olympus across the ceiling, around a bronze chandelier that weighs over three tonnes. The hall is often counted among the best-sounding in Europe, ranked in some accounts just behind La Scala and the Palais Garnier. Seeing it during a performance is the obvious choice; guided tours take in the auditorium, the royal box and the staircase for those who come in daylight.
The building has twice been thoroughly restored: between 1980 and 1984, finishing in time for its hundredth birthday, and again in a campaign begun in 2017. Since 1886 it has also been the home of the Opera Ball, and it is the stage of the Hungarian National Ballet.
Getting there
The Opera House stands at Andrássy út 22 in Budapest's sixth district, near the centre of the city. Line M1 of the metro stops at Opera station right in front of it, and trams 4 and 6 stop at Oktogon, about five minutes' walk along the avenue. Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport (BUD) is about 17 km away.
Plan your visit
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Nearby places
- Dohány Street Synagogue 0.8 km · synagogue
- Hungarian Parliament Building 1.1 km · monument
- Széchenyi Chain Bridge 1.2 km · bridge
- Budapest Castle Hill Funicular 1.5 km · funicular
- Gellért Baths 2.2 km · thermal-bath
- Fisherman's Bastion 1.8 km · scenic-viewpoint
- Matthias Church 1.8 km · church
- Széchenyi thermal bath 2.5 km · public-bath
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
The Hungarian State Opera House is a historic opera house located in central Budapest, on Andrássy avenue. Originally known as the Hungarian Royal Opera House, it was designed by Miklós Ybl, a major figure of 19th-century Hungarian architecture. Construction began in 1875, funded by the city of Budapest and by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary, and the new house opened to the public on the 27 September 1884. Before the closure of the "Népszínház" in Budapest, it was the third largest opera building in the city; today it is the second largest opera house in Budapest and in Hungary.
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