3. The Vienna state opera or (wiener Staatsoper) is an opera house and opera company It is located in the centre of vienna, Austria It was originally called the Vienna court house in 1920,it was renamed the Vienna state opera
4. The Architects August Sicard Von Sicardsburg and Eduard Van Der Null built the Vienna state opera The building was the first major building on the Vienna It was built in 1861 and was completed in 1869 (8 years)
5. Materials used, stones long not seen in Vienna were used The staircases were constructed from polished kaiserstein Most of the rest of the interior was decorated with varieties of marble The stage area covers a gigantic space 1,500m2
6. It had a tragic beginning as the construction of monumental building Became a calamity for its two architects Such criticisms finally made Eduard Van Der Null commit suicide and two mounts later August died of heart attack Unfortunately they did not live to see the big opening
7. During the 2 nd world war, the stage was destroyed and the building gutted by fire on march 12 of 1945 The main stairways, the vestibule and the tea room were spared Almost the entire décor and props for more than 120 operas with around 150,000 costumes were destroyed
8. It was rebuilt in 1949 and reopened on November 5 of 1955 The new auditorium had a reduced capacity of about 1,709 seats including 567 standing room places It is without one of leading opera house of the world
9. It has a world wide reputation for its first-class opera performances It is one of the busiest opera houses in the world producing 50 to 60 operas per year in approximately 200 performances It employs over 1000 people
10. (The Orchesta from which the Vienna philharmonic recruits its members),notable personalities like Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss and Lorin Maazel who have shaped the destiny of this house 2009 marked the 140 th anniversary of the Vienna opera house Those in attendance often include visitors from around the world especially prominent names in business and politics
