Oper

Richard Strauss

Arabella

Lyrische Komödie in drei Aufzügen

Text Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Sunday 13. April 2025 One intermission Main Stage
Area 1 220 €
Area 1

220 €

Area 2 175 €
Area 2

175 €

Area 3 140 €
Area 3

140 €

Area 4 100 €
Area 4

100 €

Area 5 76 €
Area 5

76 €

Area 6 52 €
Area 6

52 €

Area 7 36 €
Area 7

36 €

Area 8 25 €
Area 8

25 €

Area 9 15 €
Area 9

15 €

Standing room
Standing room

U27

Cast at
13. April 2025

Musikalische Leitung

Inszenierung

Sven-Eric Bechtolf

Bühne

Rolf Glittenberg

Kostüme

Marianne Glittenberg

3 more dates

Arabella

Cast at Wednesday 16. April 2025

Musikalische Leitung

Inszenierung

Sven-Eric Bechtolf

Bühne

Rolf Glittenberg

Kostüme

Marianne Glittenberg
Area 1 220 €
Area 1

220 €

Area 2 175 €
Area 2

175 €

Area 3 140 €
Area 3

140 €

Area 4 100 €
Area 4

100 €

Area 5 76 €
Area 5

76 €

Area 6 52 €
Area 6

52 €

Area 7 36 €
Area 7

36 €

Area 8 25 €
Area 8

25 €

Area 9 15 €
Area 9

15 €

Standing room
Standing room

Included in: Subscription 12
Subscription 12

Season 2024/2025

Choose a day of the week and your favorite seats and enjoy five performances in one season.

The following performances are included in this subscription:

30. October 2024: BILLY BUDD
27. November 2024: MANON
19. Febuary 2025: BALLET: DIE KAMELIENDAME
16. April 2025: ARABELLA
11. June 2025: IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA

Arabella

Cast at Saturday 19. April 2025

Musikalische Leitung

Inszenierung

Sven-Eric Bechtolf

Bühne

Rolf Glittenberg

Kostüme

Marianne Glittenberg
Area 1 220 €
Area 1

220 €

Area 2 175 €
Area 2

175 €

Area 3 140 €
Area 3

140 €

Area 4 100 €
Area 4

100 €

Area 5 76 €
Area 5

76 €

Area 6 52 €
Area 6

52 €

Area 7 36 €
Area 7

36 €

Area 8 25 €
Area 8

25 €

Area 9 15 €
Area 9

15 €

Standing room
Standing room

Included in: Cycle »Strauss«
Cycle »Strauss«
Arabella

Cast at Tuesday 22. April 2025

Musikalische Leitung

Inszenierung

Sven-Eric Bechtolf

Bühne

Rolf Glittenberg

Kostüme

Marianne Glittenberg
Area 1 220 €
Area 1

220 €

Area 2 175 €
Area 2

175 €

Area 3 140 €
Area 3

140 €

Area 4 100 €
Area 4

100 €

Area 5 76 €
Area 5

76 €

Area 6 52 €
Area 6

52 €

Area 7 36 €
Area 7

36 €

Area 8 25 €
Area 8

25 €

Area 9 15 €
Area 9

15 €

Standing room
Standing room

Included in: Subscription 3
Subscription 3

Season 2024/2025

Choose a day of the week and your favorite seats and enjoy five performances in one season.

The following performances are included in this subscription:

22. October 2024: FIN DE PARTIE
14. January 2025: BALLET: SHIFTING SYMMETRIES
11. Febuary 2025: IL TROVATORE
22. April 2025: ARABELLA
03. June 2025: CARMEN

Short Summary

The beautiful Arabella doesn't want to make a commitment until she meets the right man,

"who will one day stand before her". And she does indeed find him in Mandryka: a country nobleman unspoiled by the decadent big city. But before the happy ending, a misunderstanding and Mandryka's jealousy jeopardize their relationship, which is based on great mutual love.

Arabella

Storyline

Arabella, the beautiful daughter of Count Waldner, is desired by many men:

Three counts are courting her, and the young officer Matteo is also in love with her. His hopes are nourished by Zdenka, who is devoted to him. She is Arabella's younger sister, but appears as a boy, as the Waldner family is unable to take two daughters to Vienna in a manner befitting their status. Arabella, however, wants to wait for the right man and shows Zdenka a strange man from the window whom she had previously met on the street and who had made a strong impression on her.

This stranger is Madryka. A letter from Waldner to his deceased uncle of the same name had summoned him to Vienna. Waldner, pressed by debts, had written to his rich friend and regimental comrade in Slavonia and enclosed a picture of Arabella. The young Mandryka and sole heir had fallen in love with the painting straight away and now asked Waldner for Arabella's hand in marriage. As he is the right man, she also gives him her word, but wants to bid farewell to her admirers from her girlhood with a final dance during the Fiakerball.

Zdenka slips the desperate Matteo an envelope containing, as she tells him, the key to Arabella's room, where she will be waiting for him that night.

Mandryka accidentally witnesses this conversation and believes that Arabella has betrayed her. In the meantime, she has returned from the ball and meets Matteo in the hotel lobby, who thinks he has just held her in his arms in her room and doesn't understand why she is now so brittle. Mandryka appears in the company of Arabella's parents and believes he has convicted her of infidelity.

But then Zdenka, recognizable as a girl, rushes over. She herself has received Matteo in the dark room and now wants to throw herself into the Danube. The shamed Mandryka, however, asks Zdenka to marry Matteo. And his happiness is also sealed: Arabella forgives him and, in accordance with the custom of her homeland, offers him a glass of pure, clear water.

Act 1 60 min
Intermission 25 min
Act 2 & 3 95 min

Director Sven-Eric Bechtolf and set designer Rolf Glittenberg moved the action to the time when the opera was written, around 1930, in order to emphasize more clearly that the characters in the play are not operetta archetypes.

Inspired by Mozart's Idomeneo, Strauss created a very transparent score despite the large orchestra. At the same time, he gave this comedy a deeply lyrical underpinning, into which he wove themes from South Slavic folk songs.

Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal's last joint opera Arabella is spanned between two statements by the title character: "But the right one, if there is one for me, will one day stand before me" in Act 1 and "So we are bound together in sorrow and joy and pain and forgiveness!" in Act 3. The work was originally intended to be an operetta or a second Rosenkavalier. The result is a declaration of unconditional faith in the love between two people who belong to each other - and who find each other even when all the signs initially point against it.

© Wiener Staatsoper
© Wiener Staatsoper
© Wiener Staatsoper
© Wiener Staatsoper
© Wiener Staatsoper
© Wiener Staatsoper
© Wiener Staatsoper

This is a co-production with the Hamburg State Opera.

This production is sponsored by

FAQ

Tickets for our standing room can be purchased online or at the Bundestheater box office from 10 am on the day of the performance. BundestheaterCard holders can book standing room tickets online the day before the performance.

In addition, a fixed contingent of standing room tickets is available for regular evening performances from 80 minutes before the start of the performance at our standing room box office (Operngasse entrance).

Our operas are sung in the original languages - these vary depending on the work.

At each seat, subtitles in different languages can be switched on or off via a separate subtitle screen. In addition to the original language of the opera, you can choose from up to eight languages: German, English, Italian, French, Russian, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin).

In the event of a change of performance, you can of course return or exchange your tickets.

As changes to the cast cannot be ruled out due to illnesses or other hindrances of artists, there is no entitlement to a refund of the ticket price or exchange in this case.

Tickets cannot be returned or exchanged if you are not admitted to the auditorium due to being late (even after the interval).

About Your Visit

Cloakroom

The cloakrooms are located next the the entrances at the Operngasse. You can find additional cloakrooms on the left and right side of the balcony and the gallery and in the boxes. All cloakrooms are free of charge.

Be on Time

We kindly ask you to arrive on time for the performances. Latecomers can only be admitted during the intermission. After the intermission, re-entry will not be possible.

Food and Drink

Our gastronomy opens at the same time entry is permitted. You can enjoy some snacks and drinks before the performance starts or you can book a table for the break.

Practical Information

You can find more practical information regarding your visit (e.g. Dresscode, barrier-free-access, …) here.

 

Discounts, Subscriptions, Cycles

Discounts

The Vienna State Opera offers the following discounts:

  • Under 27
  • Children- & Youth-Tickets
  • BundestheaterCard
  • Ballett-Bonus
  • Ö1-Club
  • Culture Pass »Hunger auf Kunst und Kultur«
  • Disability ID
More info

Subscriptions

Choose a week-day and your favorite seat and enjoy five performances.

  • 4x Opera, 1x Ballet
  • spread out over the whole season
  • up to 30 % discount compared to the regular ticket price
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Cycles

Buy multiple performances as a package!

  • big selection of different cycles
  • bundled together by composers, artists or topics
  • spread out over the whole season
  • up to 10 % discount compared to the regular ticket price
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