![]() ![]() The facade, entrance hall and the "Schwind" foyer were restored and remain in their original style. In addition, the number of seats in the parterre (stalls) was reduced, and the fourth gallery, which had been fitted with columns, was restructured so as not to need columns. In order to achieve a good acoustic, wood was the favoured building material, at the advice of, among others, Arturo Toscanini. The submissions had ranged from a complete restructuring of the auditorium to a replica of the original design Boltenstern decided on a design similar to the original with some modernisation in keeping with the design of the 1950s. An architectural competition was announced, which was won by Erich Boltenstern. The Austrian Federal Chancellor Leopold Figl made the decision in 1946 to have a functioning opera house again by 1949. Eventually the decision was made to rebuild the opera house as it had been, and the main restoration experts involved were Ernst Kolb (1948–1952) and Udo Illig (1953–1956). Lengthy discussions took place about whether the opera house should be restored to its original state on its original site, or whether it should be completely demolished and rebuilt, either on the same location or on a different site. The State Opera was temporarily housed at the Theater an der Wien and at the Vienna Volksoper. The auditorium and stage were, however, destroyed by flames as well as almost the entire décor and props for more than 120 operas with around 150,000 costumes. Towards the end of World War II, on March 12, 1945, the opera was set alight by an American bombardment.The front section, which had been walled off as a precaution, remained intact including the foyer, with frescoes by Moritz von Schwind, the main stairways, the vestibule and the tea room. Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth (Sissi) were present. The opening premiere was Don Giovanni, by Mozart, on May 25, 1869. Eduard van der Nüll committed suicide, and barely ten weeks later Sicardsburg died from tuberculosis so neither architect saw the completion of the building. Moreover because the level of Ringstraße was raised by a metre in front of the opera house after its construction had begun, the latter was likened to "a sunken treasure chest" and, in analogy to the military disaster of 1866 (the Battle of Königgrätz), was deprecatingly referred to as "the 'Königgrätz' of architecture". On the one hand, it did not seem as grand as the Heinrichshof, a private residence which was destroyed in World War II (and replaced in 1955 by the Opernringhof). The building was, however, not very popular with the public. Three Viennese masonry companies were employed to supply enough masonry labour: Eduard Hauser (still in existence today), Anton Wasserburger and Moritz Pranter. Due to the monumental demand for stone, stone from Sóskút, widely used in Budapest, was also used. The decision was made to use dimension stone for the exterior of the building. The staircases were constructed from polished Kaiserstein, while most of the rest of the interior was decorated with varieties of marble. Breitenbrunner stone was suggested as a substitute for the Kelheimer stone, and stone from Jois was used as a cheaper alternative to the Kaiserstein. The somewhat coarser-grained Kelheimerstein (also known as Solnhof Plattenstein) was intended as the main stone to be used in the building of the opera house, but the necessary quantity was not deliverable. The Ministry of the Interior had commissioned a number of reports into the availability of certain building materials, with the result that stones long not seen in Vienna were used, such as Wöllersdorfer Stein, for plinths and free-standing, simply-divided buttresses, the famously hard stone from Kaisersteinbruch, whose colour was more appropriate than that of Kelheimerstein, for more lushly decorated parts. It was built in the Neo-Renaissance style by the renowned Czech architect and contractor Josef Hlavka. Work commenced on the house in 1861 and was completed in 1869, following plans drawn up by architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll. The opera house was the first major building on the Vienna Ringstraße commissioned by the Viennese "city expansion fund". The members of the Vienna Philharmonic are recruited from its orchestra. In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Republic of Austria, it was renamed the Vienna State Opera. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera (Wiener Hofoper). It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. The Vienna State Opera (German: Wiener Staatsoper) is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century.
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