Volksoper Wien — Attraction in Vienna

We went to see the Nutcracker Ballet at the Volksoper on Saturday 4th January, expecting to be enthralled by what we thought would be a traditional interpretation of the mythical work with magic, starstruck children, gorgeous costumes and magnificent dancers.

This was the main reason for our trip to Vienna, home, as we thought, to the great musical and cultural tradition linking the two sides of Europe, the West and the East. Vienna was, and still is in some respects, an anchor-point linking the Austro-Hungarian Empire with, amongst others, the great cultural nerve centres of Berlin, Paris and London.

Great was our disappointment. We ought to have been more discerning. The presence of Iolanta in the show's title gave it away - this wasn't just Tchaikowsky's ballet but a sewing together of the work with the opera Iolanta, the work that was premiered the same day in December 1892 in Saint Petersburg. The result was a disappointing crossover whose main virtues seem to have been an effort to be « inclusive » and politically correct.

In this new (2022) version, Clara becomes the blind princess Iolanta (handicap box ticked), Drosselmeyer becomes Ibn-Hakia, a Moorish physician (Islam box ticked) and the Christmas is completely left out (no religion please box ticked). We did wonder what the brethren made ot the moment when the Moslem doctor gets into bed (lies down - see photo) with Iolanta towards the end of the show at the moment she recovers her sight.

As for the set, gone were the tinsel, toys and childish joys, the subtext drowning out any possibility for children, old (like us) or young (not many) to rejoice for once in the magical atmosphere of a non-commercial fantasy. The piece was served, from beginning to end, on a DIY square wooden platter with school chairs for sole props.

In fact, for us, this was not a ballet but a moralizing operatic mish-mash. And since the music was principally that of the opera (and not of the Nutcracker), we wondered what the children made of it. To their credit, the singers sang well, accompanied competently by the orchestra under the neatly choregraphed direction of the young conductress who managed to keep them together in the fast bits.

But for us it was like being served a Sachertorte with sausages or a Spanische Windtorte filled with soup. I don’t know what the composer would bave thought of it, but just then, Vienna seemed, we hope temporarily, to have lost its...

Volksoper was originally built in 1898 as the Kaiser’s Jubilee Civi Theatre, showing only plays. Unfortunately, the original owner had to declare bankruptcy 5 years after construction due to insurmountable debts. The building was taken over by Rainer Simons in 1903, renamed the Kaiser-Jubilaums-Stradttheater – Volksoper (People’s Opera), where he continued to produce plays and eventually established a series of opera performances.

During the early part of the 20th century, Volksoper gained status as Vienna’s second prestigious opera house, behind the Vienna State Opera. However, due to heavy damage sustained to the Vienna State Opera house during WWII, it became the primary venue in the city for opera performances until 1955 and the reopening of the Vienna State Opera House on Ringstrasse. Then it returned to its role as the second opera house in the city, a status, which has remained until this day.

Today, there are supposedly around 300 performances a year at the Volksoper. The interior seating area includes three levels, 1260 seats and standing space for another 70 visitors. You can book tickets online, which is recommended particularly for more popular performances. Both opera performances we have managed to watch here in recent years have been before a full house, so we suggest reserving your tickets prior to arriving in Vienna if you want to make sure you are able to attend an opera...

The location is perfect, easily accessible and the main hall is sublime. In my opinion, the repertory of VO has been notably outstanding for couple of decades. It is possible to purchase tickets through multiple channels. Please check the program and availability regularly. Even if there would not be any place available, at times cancellations occur. I highly recommend VO esp. for Mozart interpretations. Over the years, I also would like to remark that the orchestra elevated its standards higher so you may expect more from any VO event. There are of course slight structural problems, and most of the times events are overcrowded etc. However I am also of the opinion that these also form part and parcel of the "art-show". Overall, in my humble opinion, VO is and remains one of the standard-setting though things seem to change as quickly as ever and it is hard to adapt for most companies. I believe that VO is not one...