Further to my question at the end of the previous thread on this subject: All this is just too embarrassing, but could it be that the designation %26quot;Stehparterre%26quot; on the horseshoe-shaped seating plan refers to the blank area above the term, rather than the block of seats (Rows 14-18) below it? If so, what is the meaning of the %26quot;S.%26quot; in the designation %26quot;S.Parkett Rows 14-18%26quot; on the drop-down section-by-section menu that appears when one clicks on %26quot;Advance booking%26quot;? Having just booked and paid for %26quot;seats%26quot; in Row 18 without it occurring to me that they might be standing-room tickets (at Euro 95,00 each!), I%26#39;m hoping someone can ease my mind.
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Do not worry - you have a seat - and at that price you should!
The Stehlparterre refers to that area behind the seats ( behind row 18) that is standing room.
You will note metal railings in this standing area. Those standing lean over the railing and traditionally %26quot; reserve%26quot; their standing place with a scharf or sweater - This is observed by the other standees with exception of some tourists.
Several places for handicapped are shown at the ends of Row 14. I did not see the %26quot; S%26quot; you refer to.
The Horseshoe area you refer to is actually the first balcony I believe
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Yes, you definitely have seats - all of the floor of the opera house is filled with rows of seats, and the Stehparterre occupies the small blank area at the top of the horseshoe behind row 18. I think the small blank area above that, between the first row of boxes, is the old royal box. The standing places are like football terraces! I seem to recall there%26#39;s a sort of low wall between the back of the seats in the parterre and the first row of the stehplatze which is slightly raised. I did a tour of the opera house back in April but obviously with my eyes firmly shut! (not to mention having them glued shut when I was there last Saturday?!!)
I see the S. you mean on the English version of the seating chart where it says %26quot;S. Parkett%26quot; but I%26#39;m blowed if I can figure out what it means. It might just be Sitzeplaetze Parkett - parterre seats or something. Or seated-part-of-the-Parterre!
I also have an idea - perhaps Vertical can correct me - that one can%26#39;t preorder standing places anyway; one must queue for them on the day. So even the lowly 9 euros places on the seating chart are actually seats.
Rol, very unobservant
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Standing Room is only available from the Box Office the evening of the performance ( about 1 1/2 hours before )
Previously you could buy a season card for Standing room and then get a ticket but that may be discontinued ( never had standing room -so do not know for certain.)
Beware of the cheap Parterre seats ( 9 euros) they are third row ( riehe) of Logen ( boxes) you see little or nothing of stage
Re %26quot; S%26quot; checked again -not on my seat plan.
For the first time visitor- the seating area is much smaller and intimate than you believe when seeing the exterior of the building.
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Vertical and Roley, many thanks for your reassuring responses. In just a few days, I%26#39;ve learned much about Vienna from each of you. Please keep those posts coming! If you ever want advice on the Washington, DC area -- one of the most historically interesting in the US, and with an amazingly good chamber-music scene to boot, better than NY in my opinion -- just send up a signal here on the Vienna forum and you can be sure I%26#39;ll do what I can.
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I sat in the front row of that back section, 14, I guess, earlier this year. Fantastic access - there%26#39;s a cross-aisle in front of you - but it does mean you won%26#39;t get any of the surtitles with your Opera: they%26#39;re on natty little screens in the backs of the chair in front, so with no chair in front you don%26#39;t get them. Also, it%26#39;s not a very raked auditorium, so I didn%26#39;t get a very good view of the stage. At only 5%26#39;2%26quot;, I find that the case in most houses, except the very modern, so no blame to the Staatsoper!
I was there alone and found it a very friendly, easily navigable place. The rooms you stroll in during the interval(s) are absolutely gorgeous! as is the stairwell: you get a stiff neck either from peering up or peering down!
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having been on the waiting list for months for the opera i have just been allocated seats in the gallery. please someone reassure me that we will be able to see/hear something. the seats are in row c of the gallery. roley whats the heads up?
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Hey well done for being allocated seats! I still find that very tricky indeed :)
I%26#39;ve sat in the gallery and found it fine. Which are your places exactly? I sat in the front row of the gallery nearish the middle and you might get a slightly better view from further back anyway because the pitch of the rows is very steep. BUt I%26#39;m quite tall so I could see over the balustrade and had a good view of the whole stage, and I found it good acoustically too. The Staatsoper is surprisingly small inside and it%26#39;s not like the gods in the English theatres where you practically need oxygen tanks to go up there (though I admit I could do with a whiff or two after climbing all those stairs to the gallery!)
Which opera are you going to? Ugh, I%26#39;m so jealous! I can%26#39;t handle more than 2 months till I go back (plus I%26#39;ve just run out of Kletzenbrot, gnash gnash)
rol, bereft of Susswaren
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Re Seating---Are you certain that seats are row C - in Galerie
To my knowledge, all rows have numbers not letters All seats numbered also.
If your seats are in the middle - this location , while in the top balcony, should be OK-- On the side - closer to the stage --are not that great
Visitors to Vienna often fail to look at the offerings at the Volksoper-or Peoples Opera.
These performances are generally excelent, especially the Operettas. Tickets, much easier to purchase at less than 1/2 of the State Opera price. This provides a very nice evening of music.
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I wish I knew your secret, Hoftraveler, as I%26#39;ve just entered into yet ANOTHER battle with Culturall.com - they%26#39;ve just issued me tickets for a ballet in September which I preordered - but doh, they issue them in my %26quot;alternate%26quot; category when there are still seats available in my %26quot;preferred%26quot; category (and still in the area in which I indicated I wanted to sit). What am I doing wrong? I feel like taking to them with a club. Particularly considering the amount of euros I have dropped on tickets there over the past couple of months! Am I %26quot;trouble maker customer, put her next to the toilets%26quot;?
Since I%26#39;m in a liver with them I will quote a piece from my journal I wrote in the interval at the premiere of their Manon Lescaut at the beginning of June %26quot;The lead [Des Greux] is deeply annoying and has a voice like a low-wattage vacuum cleaner in a distant room.%26quot; So there, Wiener Staatsoper - put that on your needles and knit it!
Rol, in a paddy
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Unfortunately, Roley, there%26#39;s no secret I know of, and the only suggestion I might make is Keep It Simple, or at least keep it away from human hands. I didn%26#39;t mess with %26quot;pre-ordering,%26quot; just waited until exactly 30 days before the performance (actually the June equivalent), then merrily clicked my way through the automated system until it produced the promised %26quot;invoice.%26quot; And it even sent the promised follow-up confirmatoryE-mail the next day.
Here at home I generally try to avoid these automated systems,and will wait interminably if that%26#39;s what it takes to get a live human being on the line. But in this case the time zone difference, the cost of international telephone calls(at least on our rate plan), and the possibility of encountering a language barrier convinced me to give automation a chance. Just lucky, perhaps. (I did, however, try E-mailing the live human beings to get confirmation that the tickets will be held at the box office, as you indicated is the practice, but have yet to receive a reply.)
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