The curtain will soon close until 2018 at Budapest’s Opera House

A visit to Budapest’s monumental Opera House ranks high on many visitors’ bucket lists, both for the building’s stunning design and for the high-quality performances that are held amid its stately settings. However, as part of an ongoing modernization process, this venerable venue’s auditorium will be closed for restoration works lasting almost a year; during most of the 2017/2018 season, Hungarian State Opera shows will be hosted by the city’s Erkel Theater – but tickets are still available for many Opera House performances scheduled to occur before this temporary shutdown begins in June.

Since it first opened to the public in 1884, the Hungarian State Opera on the city’s august has been home to many sold-out performances, and it regularly hosts outstanding local and international artists on stage. Renovation works on the building started five years ago, and during this ongoing process some of the building’s design elements were already restored, while the opened in 2015, accessible through a separate entrance from Hajós Street.

However, the recently announced reconstructions – which focus on refurbishing the building’s auditorium and storage area, along with modernizing the stage technology – will cause the Opera House’s ornate auditorium to be closed for nearly a year, so most performances of the 2017/2018 season will be staged in the city’s . Nonetheless, tickets are still available for many performances happening at the Opera House during the upcoming weeks, including a new run of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto in June, Gaetano Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux concert performance on June 24th, and the Night of Stars gala concert that closes the current season on June 25th, which will also be screened live in front of . For complete information about which May and June Opera House performances still have seats available, visit the Opera’s official website.

Despite the long-term stoppage of performances here, there is some good news about the Opera House – throughout the renovation works, the Opera Shop and the Opera Café will remain open, while English-language guided tours around the building will continue to be available according to the original schedule, every day at 2pm, at 3pm, and at 4pm. Guided tours are also available in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Japanese – for the detailed schedule, log onto the Opera Visit website. Furthermore, the upstairs Feszty Bar – ordinarily only accessible to audience members during performance intermissions – will remain available for special events, including its spacious balcony overlooking Andrássy Avenue.

Looking ahead, after the renovations are completed, the Opera House is set to reopen for performances on May 24th of 2018 with a new productions of Bluebird’s Castle, a one-act opera by renowned Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, which visitors can enjoy with the enhancement of contemporary stagecraft amenities.