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Hungarian State Opera Pricing...

Posted by on

Is this for real? I'm looking at a few items on the calendar at the Opera House in Budapest, and seeing, for example, 2900 FT for center orchestra/box seats for CR/Pagliacci on 4/13. That's ~$10. Can that possibly be right??

Is there a missing factor of 10? For example Indonesian Rupiah or Cambodian Riel are not always fully written out because they are worth so little...

Just want to make sure I'm not going to accidentally drop $100 on a ticket. I'm ok with the nosebleed seats but I'll definitely take a box seat for $10!

Posted by
2602 posts

I attended the Opera last May and bought a ticket for the middle section, around row 15, for approximately $26 US. Does the ticket info say anything about restricted view? It's my understanding that Europe is far ahead of the US in promoting and subsidizing the performing arts, my opera ticket in Prague was also ridiculously cheap, about $60 US for a seat that would have been more than $200 at the SF opera.

Posted by
103 posts

Christa, thanks for your response. There's nothing about restricted view, actually looks to be the highest priced ticket on that day! I see other performances for ~3600 as well.

In your experience, are any zeroes ever left off in Forints or are prices as listed?

Posted by
4140 posts

No ,you're not hallucinating , that is the price , they have cultural support in Europe , unlike here , where PBS and The National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities , with the pittance that they get , are about to be eliminated .

Posted by
20025 posts

I've been perusing the Hungarian State Opera website, and I believe I see why the tickets are so cheap. It is not at the main Opera House, but at the Erkel Theatre. That is not say it is not a helluva deal. The cast is all Hungarian with no big International stars. I see even cheaper tickets at the matinee on the 17th. The supertitles will be in Hungarian only (sung in Italian of course)

As a comparison, Parsifal will be at the main Opera House and prime tickets going for 18000 FT (64 USD!). The supertitles will be in both Hungarian and English (sung in German). Again, all Hungarian cast, so they don't have to pay the big bucks for International stars.

About 10 years ago, I got to see Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre in Prague. All Czech singers, many teachers at the National Conservatory and recent top graduates. Great production and wonderful singing and music in the same theater where Mozart himself conducted the premier.

So I think you found a real gem!

At the Lyric Opera in Chicago, where prime tickets go for $200+, it seems that all of the top singers these days are coming from Russia, Poland, and elsewhere in Eastern Europe.

Posted by
2737 posts

Yes, the ticket prices for the big opera house are indeed correct! This is an amazing venue visually, acoustically, and for viewing. As Philadelphians, we are rightly proud of our Academy of Music, the Hungarian house blows it away. We have made it a point to get tickets in advance for here whenever we come to Budapest, whatever is playing.

Posted by
117 posts

Had the pleasure of attending a performance at the State Opera House a couple of weeks ago. A memory we will cherish indeed.

Posted by
103 posts

In case anyone is curious, the cheap tickets were for the dress rehearsal - ~$10 for front row! As far as I know, the only difference from the usual performance is that it's at 6pm rather than a bit later.

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