Opening in 1884, it’s far from the largest opera house in Europe (capacity 1000-1200), but it ranks up near Milan’s La Scala in its acoustics, and renovations have maintained and enhanced its beauty.
We took it all in as we arrived via Bolt taxi (Bolt has worked well for us).
The expansive open areas and sweeping staircases were designed in part to allow the attendees to show off their finery, especially the ladies’ fancy gowns.
We didn’t forget to admire the ceilings and chandeliers.
Brian got a little disoriented in this corridor on his way back from the men’s room before the performance, stopping short of where he’d left Kathy, but managed to reunite with her in plenty of time to get seated before the overture.
The employees, including the ushers and cloakroom attendants, are all smartly attired.
The interior of the auditorium itself is magnificent.
There are numerous private boxes.
Naturally, we had to take a look at the orchestra pit.
The opera we attended was Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades. We were unfamiliar with it, but thoroughly enjoyed the lengthy production.
English surtitles displayed above the stage and on the seat backs in front of us told us all we needed to know about the plot.
We two were quite satisfied with our center orchestra seats, row 9 on the aisle.
No photography is allowed during the performance but we, like others, snapped a a quick photo of the large cast during the numerous curtain calls.
As we leave the opera house some 3 1/2 hours later, we felt quite pleased for treating ourselves to the performance, at a fraction of the price we would have paid in some European capitals.
What a magnificent venue….. U2do so spoil yourselves…. And you are unbelievably spoiled by your travel status… what an adventure, as always.
ReplyDeleteAnd it sounded as good as it looked.
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