Vienna State Opera brings its stars to the Burggarten for an up-close summer night

The Vienna State Opera turned its season opening into a close-up spectacle, placing popular singers before a large Burggarten audience and projecting their performances onto giant screens. The free event drew such strong interest that the garden had to close its gates, with a delayed livestream offered at the nearby Rathausplatz film festival and on ORF III.

The format follows the model of the Vienna Philharmonic’s summer night concert at Schönbrunn. An acoustic arch above the orchestra reinforced the resemblance, while the program offered a preview of the coming season through a series of familiar and forceful opera excerpts. The broader aim was to bring opera closer to the general public, at least for one evening.

From the audience area directly in front of the stage, the sound could be surprisingly loud, especially from the male chorus. The giant screens produced an occasionally comic delay between sound and image, and their extreme close-ups sometimes reached literally to the singers’ uvulas. From a purely listening perspective, the experience may have been more balanced elsewhere in the grounds.

The performers themselves were consistently convincing. Asmik Grigorian appeared as Carmen, Lisa and Manon, and sang the “Vogliatemi bene” duet from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly with Piotr Beczała. The tenor also delivered Andrea Chénier, Lohengrin and Calaf’s “Nessun dorma” in striking form. Juan Diego Flórez sang Tonio’s demanding role from Donizetti’s La fille du régiment, including nine high Cs, and performed Bizet’s duet from The Pearl Fishers with Ludovic Tézier. Marco Armiliato conducted, connecting the performers and audience with the warm presence the evening demanded.

The State Opera is also using its second venue, the Nest between the Künstlerhaus and Musikverein, to introduce opera to children. A pink carousel there promises an “opera dream you can ride,” with music by Offenbach and a public-space project led by director Anna Bernreitner.