Operas - Rome / Venice?

I've not attended an Opera in Italy, but I'll give you a few answers to the rest of your questions. A "short" opera is one that's under three hours. If you find that too long you can always leave during the intermission. The State Opera House in Vienna is an Art Deco Masterpiece on the inside. It's beautiful. I attended a show there just to see it. Tickets can be purchased online, at the ticket window, or from various ticket vendors around the city. For popular shows, or to insure you can get a seat for a specific performance it is recommended you buy in advance.

Try this website https://www.music-opera.com/en/12-italy, you can make your search city and date specific. I know there are 2 hour operas in Venice but they are not at the famous opera house La Fenice.

If you have the time during your visit to Venice, and are there during the summer performance season (late June to early September) you're close enough to go to an opera in the Roman amphitheater, built in the 1st century, in Verona. Here is the performance schedule:

https://www.arena.it/files/arena/programmi/2019/MANIFESTO-2019-EN-13-02-2019.pdf

The performances are normal, full-length operas on a magnificent scale for the outdoor venue. This year: La Traviata, Carmen, Aida, Tosca and others. You can order tickets, in advance, from that site.

You don't have to stay for the entire opera. But I will say that we wanted to go back for a 2nd opera!! (And I'm no huge fan of opera - I just love the extraordinary, open-air venue and performances.)

We attended operas in both cities. The opera (La Traviata) in Rome was in a church on Via Nazionale and I think we bought tickets a day ahead. In Venice we attended the one that is performed in a very old house (Barber of Seville) and our hotel got the tickets (about $80 for two tickets). There was a change of rooms for the one in Venice and a glass of champagne was provided in the third room--part three. We enjoyed them--no fancy dress needed--but the old house in Venice seemed like a potential fire trap with all the candles. This was at least 5/6 years ago but your hotel may have updated information. A tour of La Fenice is available and very worthwhile.

You don't say what time of year. Big city operas usually shut down in summer, but the previously mentioned Verona Arena is a summer festival.

Yes, you don't have to stay for the whole thing. If you get a chance, see "La Boheme". You'll get to see Mimi and Rodolfo fall in love and have a great Christmas dinner with their friends, and don't have to watch the break up and Mimi die of tuberculosis.

Hello Joy,

If interested, check out these links (St. Paul's Within The Walls) Rome. Gorgeous church.

http://www.stpaulsrome.it/concerts-at-st-pauls/

https://www.classictic.com/en/the_three_tenors__opera_arias__naples___songs/29374/552212/ (different pricing)

Have fun!

In Venice, check into Palazzo en Musica (listed in RS guidebook.) They perform condensed, chamber style operas in an old palace on the Grand Canal. It’s a very unique, intimate experience. Each act is performed in a different, elegant room. There might be 50 audience members tops. I don’t recall how long it all was, but it was certainly shorter than a full opera, so... two hours max? You also had a cocktail between scenes, and moving you into different rooms helps break it up. I would recommend it for opera lovers and opera likers.

Real operas are those performed in full size opera house, with full orchestra accompaniment, full choir and dancers if required by the score. The average length is three hours, there are some one hour operas in the repertory but they are usually performed in pairs.

Operas in churches or private halls are reduced to main characters accompanied by piano. While I have several friends that give fine performances in them, they are mainly meant for tourists that probably have never had the occasion to see a fully staged opera.

Opera house performances actually are not so expensive, but tickets are better reserved in advance for popular titles.

I’ve been doing some research on Venice operas, this opera house looks beautiful. Has any one been to this opera house in Venice? If yes, do you have seat recommendations? If you had a floor seat, was it worth? Did seats on the top level provide a good view? Thanks in advance.
https://fenice.tm.bestunion.com/biglietteria/listaEventiPub.do?codice=algeri&data=20190302&lingua=eng

Yes, La Fenice is THE opera house in Venice. Built in the 1700's and burned down 3 times and rebuilt 3 times, thus the name "The Phoenix". Some of Verdi's greatest operas premiered here.

Sat in the floor seats middle. This is not a big house (1200 seats maybe?), so everything is pretty pretty good, except seats with obstructed views. Here is the seating chart.
https://www.music-opera.com/en/teatro-la-fenice-venice/161986-la-traviata-verdi.html

We sat in the Galleria (basically the 4th floor) at La Fenice front and center. Get seats in the first row and you won't have an obstructed view.

Joyful, it's hard to be sure, but your asking if there are any short operas suggests to me that you've never been to the opera. My wife and I have three subscription series at Carnegie Hall (for concerts), but she won't go to the opera, and I only go every two years or so. I am not confident that you are setting out to spend your money in the best way. I go to the concerts or the theater four or five times a month, but I find that (for me) opera takes too long to get somewhere.

When you ask about the "view", I know that you mean "of the stage". But we all (myself) agree that the magnificent architecture of the most famous opera houses (especially compared with most American opera houses !!) is part of the reason for going. There's a BIGGER difference is the view of the architecture from the cheap seats than there is a difference in the view of the stage. That's true in almost all theaters in the world. (I know that non-regular theatergoers are more sensitive to the idea of "good" and "bad" seats. I know that I'm not in my [imaginary] Home Movie Theater in the basement of my MiniMansion, so I expect to have to move my head around and ask thoughtless Millenials to remove their hats.

Do any of the houses you are interested in offer (their own, conducted ... ) interior tours? These are often infrequent, and at inconvenient time. But how convenient is it to spend 6 hours of your Vacation at "Parsifal", and go to bed exhausted and annoyed?

Another issue is that these major opera houses regularly sell out. You need to worry about getting any seats at all, not just how good they are.

I hope you understand that I don't mean to sound snooty. I love live theater, and my career depended on people paying money to see it. I want you to feel your money was well spent!