The Hungarian State Opera House

Architects are often given guidelines from those who finance large-scale projects: work within a certain budget, comply with zoning laws, finish within a certain timeline, etc. However, when Hungarian architect Miklos Ybl was tasked with designing the Hungarian State Opera House in the 1870s, Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Josef’s stipulation for co-financing the project was that it must be smaller than the Vienna State Opera. 

Though Vienna and Budapest were the joint capitals of Austria-Hungary, the Viennese looked down on Budapest (rude!). So, if Ybl wanted his project financed, he had to comply with the Emperor’s request: do not make this opera house larger than Vienna’s. However, the Emperor said nothing about how the Hungarian Opera House’s beauty must compare to its meaner older sister’s opera house. As the story goes, during the opening ceremony of the Hungarian Opera House, the Emperor remarked, “Bloody hell, my beloved Hungarians! I told you that it shouldn’t be bigger than our Opera in Vienna, but apparently I absolutely forgot to tell you that it should not be nicer either!” That had to be music to Hungarian ears.

Franz was right to sing its praises: the foyer features breathtaking marble columns, the vaulted ceiling is adorned with murals, and a wide stone staircase, illuminated by wrought-iron lamps, gave the perfect place for ladies to show off their new gowns purchased for the special event of attending an opera. 

One of the most striking features of this more-beautiful but smaller-than-the-Viennese Opera is the bronze chandelier which lights up the ceiling’s intricate murals. The chandelier weighs 3,050 kg (6,724 lbs), which is over 3 tons! Good thing that the falling chandelier moment in Phantom of the Opera takes place in Paris, not Budapest (and, perhaps also that it’s a fictional story).