Vienna Staatsoper Preorder/Seating

My only Vienna Staatsoper experience was in November 2015. The performance of Don Giovanni was fantastic. I still regret not spending more money for better seats. Our seats were slightly better than nosebleeds, but we could only see 3/4 of the stage. This is not the time or place to economize.

The best seats would be in the Stehparterre front rows and as close to the center as possible. Which operas are you seeing ?

Hi, I’ve been to a ballet at the Vienna Staatsoper and had a wonderful time! I paid for the front row of one of the side boxes and agree that the seats behind are harder to see. I think the orchestra seating was on a flat floor - trying to remember that one, and I don’t remember the floor sloping towards the stage. If it were me, I would buy great seats over quantity, so I might see three instead of four with so-so views. There’s also the option to watch it outdoors on a screen, but when I was walking by during one of them, if you’re an opera buff, you would be disappointed.

If you go to this site, it will give you a good idea of each of the choices:
https://pianotohikouki.com/en/viennastaatsorer-seatmap

The picture of this one is almost exactly where I was sitting in the front row of the box “Right Box Bottom Parterre-rehts3”. I was probably in the adjacent 4th one. And I do see that I was incorrect. The floor does slope.

We were just there for Barber of Seville, and splurged for third-row seats when the current season's performances went on sale last May. Like yourself, we wanted to get good seats for a particular night on our itinerary so we stayed up for Staatsoper box office to open at 10:00 Vienna time (1:00am in CA). It was amazing how fast the first few rows were selected. Our session hit a technical glitch which required us to log back on and restart order, by which time our originally selected (second row) seats were taken in those few moments. So if you have a specific performance in mind and want good seats, I would recommend being ready and online when the box office opens. We loved being so close to the performers, those on stage and the wonderful Philharmonic musicians in pit. Worth every penny, which were afforded by taking a couple meals at Würstelstands instead of fancy restaurants. :)

I had a seat for the ballet in the 2nd row of Box 12, stage left. The row of chairs in front of me was at the same level. Due to the angle of the box, and by positioning my chair, I could see the entire stage between the two people in front of me. My pre- and post-show photos show an unobstructed view of the stage, with 2 heads on either side.

ETA: you can notice in the seat map how the boxes have 3 seats in the front row and only 2 in the second row. So, in Box 12 Row 2 Seat 4, I was able to position myself between the people in Row 1 Seats 2 and 3. (And there may have only been 2 people in the front row that night, but the positions were the same.) I don't know that the same thing would work in Boxes 1-6 or 7; the angles wouldn't be as advantageous.

Have a look at the official floor plan of the Staatsoper:
https://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/fileadmin/Spielzeit_2022_23/WSO_Saisonvorschau_2022-23_preise_und_Saalplan.pdf

Price category 8 and 9 seats are marked with "reduced visibility". It depends on the position and the layout of a box how good seats in the second or third row are.

I have been in the Staatsoper only very few times, so I cannot say anything about the acoustics.

I encourage you to post your question on the Trip Advisor forum where there a several experts with deep experience in this area as opposed to one-time visitors here.

Thanks for all the responses!

Estimated Prophet - Yes, I agree--I was planning to get good tickets. I usually see multiple operas on my trips so I get splurge tickets for shows that I'm really excited about and cheaper ones (but usually not the cheapest possible) tickets for the others. Unfortunately, I'm pretty excited about all of the operas.

Steven - I'm planning to see Lohengrin, Parsifal, Salome and Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria.

Jean - Thanks, that site was helpful. Some of the German opera houses have views like that on their websites, which is always nice. I thought the floor was flat also--good to know that it is sloped.

Matt - Yeah, I wouldn't have a problem with staying up late to get tickets--was hoping that a preorder would be easier.

CWsocial, wmt - It sounds like the 2nd/3rd rows of the boxes might be a gamble, especially since I'm not familiar with the house.

Emily - Thanks--I'll do that. I do use Trip Advisor but mainly to look up restaurants and hotels.