Please tell me about the outdoor opera screen in Vienna

It's just a bunch of chairs set out on the wide area to the side of the opera house. The big screen is mounted on the building.People tend to come and go.We just happened to wander by and stopped for a while so I can't comment on how early you need to get there. If you want to bring food,then I think it would be ok. We passed by the spot on 2 separate evenings and the performances shown were different.

I went just a bit early (maybe 15 minutes?) and got a seat, and then I was also one of the people who left early, opening up my seat. I think they also put out some mats for sitting on the ground. The outdoor schedule for May, June, and September is at http://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/Content.Node/home/aktuelles/oper_live/liste.en.php.

Lola,

I was there last September and stayed just half a block from the Opera House. I only stopped for a short time to watch, but the seating appeared to be quite informal and as someone else mentioned, the audience seemed to be coming and going. There's a Starbucks right across the street if you want some refreshments, and the Hotel Sacher is not far so you could indulge in the decadent Sachertorte.

Thanks! It sounds like we should not plan to watch a whole opera, but it should be fun to see an opera we already know in this venue.

For tickets to see a performance in the opera house, how far ahead do tickets go on sale? We don't have firm dates for our visit yet, so we may be able to adjust to accommodate a particular opera.

They are on sale now. Go to the site Laura posted and click on "online ticket sales", switch to English and it will show all the September performances and how many tickets in each price tranche are available for sale on-line. You will need to register. Precious few "cheap" seats available.

There is also the notorious Bitzinger sausage stand near the opera if you need food. Probably the world's only hotdog stall that also sells bottles of name brand champagne.

There are not very many seats. A lot of people were just sitting on the sidewalk. There's a lot of foot traffic in general, so people are constantly walking around, many stop for a few minutes. As far as I know, they show whatever is being performed at the time (it's live). There's very little traffic noise in central Vienna, so you can hear pretty well. I was there last year at the beginning of June, wasn't crowded but I never saw an empty seat.

Thanks, Sam--- we are going next year (2017) and I cannot find a schedule or tickets for that. I do like to but opera tickets the moment they go on sale so we have a choice of good seats.

If you register at Wiener Staatsoper, they will email you the schedule as soon as it is determined, and the dates that nonsubscribers can purchase tickets.

OK, I will do that. Looking forward to seeing what next season will offer.