The three Viennese opera houses rely on unusual repertoire. – Culture

Even in Vienna, the undisputed capital of culture, people are struggling with the consequences of the corona pandemic. The public hasn’t fully returned yet, and tourists interested in culture are still hesitant to come. But instead of becoming paralyzed with fear and only relying on the traditional, people are looking for new ways. At all three houses – the Vienna State Opera, the Theater an der Wien and the Volksoper – you can marvel at unusual premieres at the start of the season. Although they are quite different with Gustav Mahler’s “Von der Liebe Tod”, Leoš Janáček’s “The Cunning Little Vixen” and Peter Tchaikovsky’s “Iolanthe and the Nutcracker”, they are all at a very high level, so that the once undisputed supremacy of the Vienna State Opera seems a bit weakened. Not in terms of the glamorous setting or the reputation of the singers and instrumentalists – the Theater an der Wien is currently playing in the Museumsquartier because the main building on the Naschmarkt is being renovated and the Volksoper from 1898 can’t keep up in terms of size or glamor – but in terms of it Originality and innovation.