Staatsoper Vienna...?

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Jason H

All the 9-Euro seats at the Staatsoper are partially blocked, so you'll only be able to see half the stage. Most of these seats actually have a little lamp to read the score by, if that tells you anything. If you're not content to just hear the action onstage, you may not like it. If you get a 9-Euro "backseat" in a Loge (which is, essentially a "hi-chair"), it's possible that the person who has the seat in front of you wont show up and you can move up at curtain time, but that usually doesn't happen if it's a sold-out show.

The standing places, by contrast, have some of the best sightlines in the building -- especially the Parterrestehplatz -- and you still get your own subtitles. The downsides are that you have to stand, obviously, and you have to line up at least 2 hours before curtain to be secured a spot (and even earlier for a popular show). But unlike at the Musikverein, there are plenty of places to sit down at intermission, and Electra isn't such a long opera. (Try standing for Der Rosenkavalier sometime!) Plus a lot of tourists leave the Stehplatz after the first act, so your situation should get better as the evening progresses.

If you're not keen to line up for hours, and don't mind the lousy view, I actually recommend reserving a 9-Euro Loge seat. It allows you to show up just before curtain ( = more sightseeing time), plus you get the experience of sitting in a private box that may contain the cream of Viennese society -- or some tourists with lots of money. And you'll still hear every note, at least.

Petra M

Hello there! I don't think there is standing room at the Wien Staatsoper, at least I don't remember seeing any when I went there for La Boheme a number of years ago. The opera house was renovated in 1955 with a brand new auditorium and stage (it was bombed during WW2) so it was designed for pretty much every seat to have a view. But, having said that, some of the cheap seats do involve sitting at the back of side boxes, and way up high in "the nose bleed" section, you may have to crane your neck to get a decent view of the stage. What I highly recommend is bring opera glasses. I always do regardless where I sit.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g190454-d194164/Vienna:Austria:State.Opera.House.Staatsoper..html

I hope you enjoy the opera!

Cheers,

Petra M, Vancouver

Ingmar

Can I watch and enjoy the opera from there or I have to be on my feet in order to have a view of the stage?

Take a look at the floor plan:
http://www.staatsoper.at/Content.Node2/sitzplaene/stop_sitzplan_06.html and in particular
http://www.staatsoper.at/Content.Node2/sitzplaene/sitzplan800_stop_06.gif

Seats with a "backslash" do have limited view. By the way: Of course ther are standing room tickes, 567 of them.

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