Best Opera House

Vienna State Opera is Austria's leading opera house, opened in 1869 on Vienna's Ringstrasse and long associated with the Vienna Philharmonic.

Palais Garnier is a Paris opera house opened in 1875, designed by Charles Garnier and famed for its Second Empire architecture.

Metropolitan Opera House is New York City's Lincoln Center opera venue, opened in 1966 and home to the Metropolitan Opera company.

Teatro Colón is Buenos Aires' main opera house, opened in 1908 and famed for its acoustics and international opera and concert history.

Royal Opera House is London's Covent Garden opera house, rebuilt in 1858 and home to The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet.

Semperoper Dresden is Saxony's opera house, designed by Gottfried Semper and known for premieres of major Richard Strauss works.

Teatro La Fenice is Venice's historic opera house, opened in 1792 and noted for premieres by Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi.

Staatsoper Unter den Linden is Berlin's historic state opera, founded in 1742 under Frederick the Great on the boulevard Unter den Linden.

Teatro di San Carlo is Naples' royal opera house, opened in 1737 and often cited as the world's oldest continuously active opera venue.

National Theatre Munich is Bavaria's main opera house, opened in 1818 and home to the Bavarian State Opera in central Munich.

Oslo Opera House is Norway's national opera venue, opened in 2008 on the Oslo waterfront and designed by the Norwegian firm Snøhetta.

Hungarian State Opera House is Budapest's neo-Renaissance opera house, opened in 1884 and designed by Hungarian architect Miklós Ybl.

Opernhaus Zürich is Zurich's principal opera house, opened in 1891 and known for a repertory that helped establish major modern productions.

Gran Teatre del Liceu is Barcelona's opera house, opened in 1847 on La Rambla and rebuilt after a major auditorium fire in 1994.

La Monnaie/De Munt is Belgium's federal opera house in Brussels, with a theatre opened in 1819 on a site tied to Belgian independence.

Hamburg State Opera is one of Germany's oldest public opera companies, tracing its origins to 1678 and based near Gänsemarkt.

Teatro Real is Madrid's major opera house, opened in 1850 opposite the Royal Palace and restored as a full opera venue in 1997.

Oper Frankfurt is Frankfurt's municipal opera company, based at the Opern- und Schauspielhaus and repeatedly recognized for ensemble work.

War Memorial Opera House is San Francisco's opera venue, opened in 1932 and home to the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Ballet.

Deutsche Oper Berlin is a major Berlin opera company, based in a 1961 modernist house in Charlottenburg and known for large-scale repertory.

Opéra Bastille is a modern Paris opera house opened in 1989, built for the bicentenary of the French Revolution and home to major Opéra national de Paris productions.

Komische Oper Berlin is a German opera house founded in 1947, noted for Walter Felsenstein's music-theatre approach in postwar Berlin.

Copenhagen Opera House is Denmark's national opera venue, opened in 2005 on Holmen and designed by architect Henning Larsen.

Royal Swedish Opera is Sweden's national opera company, based in Stockholm's 1898 opera house near Gustav Adolf Square and the Royal Palace.

Civic Opera House is a 1929 Art Deco theater in Chicago, home to Lyric Opera of Chicago since 1954 and among North America's largest opera auditoriums.

Grand Théâtre de Genève is Geneva's main opera house, opened in 1879 and rebuilt after a 1951 fire damaged much of the auditorium.

Dutch National Opera & Ballet is Amsterdam's main opera and ballet venue, opened in 1986 in the Stopera complex on the Amstel.

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma is Rome's main opera house, opened in 1880 as the Costanzi Theatre and later renamed for the city.

Finnish National Opera is Finland's main opera company, housed in a Helsinki opera house opened in 1993 beside Töölönlahti Bay.