Opened the Vienna State Opera

The project of the former Imperial and Royal Court Opera was created by architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll.  The Opera was opened with Mozart's Don Giovanni.

The notorious building holds trophy for the best acoustics and is one of the most sumptuous buildings in the world. However, besides the high artistic standards, this Melpomene temple is famous for its incredible intrigues: the greatest conductors kept leaving this place with scandal since they were unable to withstand the pressure of mass media and fastidious Viennese public. Immediately after opening, whimsical Vienna residents treated the new theatre with hostility. Van der Nüll could not stand this criticism and committed suicide, and his co-author Sicardsburg died of a heart attack a few months later.

Time passed, and today the opera house is a pride and joy of the Austrians. Once a year the auditorium of the Vienna State Opera is turned into a large ballroom which hosts the world-famous Vienna Opera Ball. The President of Austria also visits the event where over hundred pairs of debutants are waltzing dressed up in floor-length gowns and elegant tuxedos. It is quite difficult to get to this magical event – tickets are usually sold out in autumn and the demand for them is growing from year to year.