The Palace of Arts concert hall, part of the Millennium City Centre of Budapest, opened in March 2005. I'm in the lobby of the 1,700-seat concert hall; audiences that night listened to Mahler. Our tour attended a contemporary performance of the ballet "Romeo and Juliet" in the small theatre. The Palace of Arts is praised for its near-"perfect" acoustics.
On our last day in Budapest, we visited Castle Hill in Old Town; Buda's neo-Gothic Matthias Church on Trinity Square is under renovation. Behind the church is the Fisherman's Bastion. Its 7 turrets commemorate the 7 Magyar tribes that founded Hungary in 896 A.D.
After shopping at the Herend store for handpainted porcelain, visiting the House of Terror at 60 Andrassy Boulevard - headquarters in 1944 of the Hungarian Nazis and the Communist organization AVO from 1945-1956, and having lunch at the Callas Restaurant, we toured the Hungarian State Opera House. Two marble sphinxes guard the driveway; statues of Liszt and Erkel, the father of Hungarian opera, are near the main entrance.
The Hungarian State Opera House was slightly smaller than the opera house in Vienna, but many feel that it is more beautiful. It opened to the public in the fall of 1884 after nearly 9 years of construction in the neo-Renaissance style.
The 125th season of performances at the Hungarian State Opera House - with 33 operas and 13 ballets - was to begin about a week after we were scheduled to leave Budapest. The magnificent chandelier was lowered at the time of our tour so bulbs could be replaced prior to opening night.(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)
1 comment:
Heidi, the photos look great! Its wonderful to see you guys are having a blast..you look very lovely! Hope to see you guys soon :)
Kei
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