The building was designed by Miklos Ybl, who not only made it beautiful in what is called neo-Renaissance style, but put in a host of technical innovations, such as fire-safety aspects, heating and cooling systems, acoustics that still make it one of the finest places to hear music in all of Europe.Īnd oh, yes, Franz Josef was adamant about one thing in return for helping fund the music palace: don’t make it larger than the Vienna opera house.

Make sure you plan ahead in visiting the Budapest State Opera House. You can’t go there in the morning if you want a tour. It’s open in mid-afternoon for the equivalent of about $10. And you can also have a five-minute mini-performance at the end of the tour for an additional $15-a singer will entertain you accompanied by a recorded orchestra.Īlthough Vienna’s opera house has landmark status, the emperor and his cohorts kept a sort of distance between themselves and Budapest’s. Following the tremendous success of his opera Die Gezeichneten in 1918 the Austrian composer Franz Schreker (1878-1934) presented what was to become his most. The good burghers of Vienna had always considered themselves superior to the people of Budapest-too many gypsies, for example. It would be an embarrassment to the emperor’s home town if he paid too much attention to that building in Budapest.īut you can see for yourself what has brought admirers and esthetes to Budapest all these years.

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