Great Concert Halls

Covent Garden is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Originally called the Theatre Royal, it served mainly as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later, Handel's first season of operas began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there. The present building is the third theatre on the site following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1856. The façade, foyer, and auditorium date from 1858, but almost every other element of the present complex dates from an extensive reconstruction in the 1990s. The main auditorium seats 2,256 people, making it the third largest in London.

The Gran Teatre del Liceu, or simply El Liceu in Catalan (the vernacular language spoken in north-eastern Spain), is an opera house in Barcelona. The Liceu opened on 4 April 1847.  In contrast with many other European cities, where the monarchy took on the responsibility of the building and upkeep of opera houses, the Liceu was funded by private shareholders.  The building was severely damaged by fire on 9 April 1861.  From the old building only the façade, the entrance hall and the foyer (also known as the Mirrors Hall) remained. The auditorium is huge. With 2,292 seats it is one of the biggest opera houses in Europe. It is a typical Italian horseshoe-shaped theatre.  On 31 January 1994 the building was destroyed by a fire caused by a spark that accidentally fell on the curtain during a routine repair.  The auditorium was rebuilt with the same layout, except for the roof paintings which were replaced by new art works, and state-of-the-art stage technology.

Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Italy, is one of the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre and in the history of opera in particular.  Especially in the 19th century, La Fenice became the site of many famous operatic premieres at which the works of several of the four major bel canto era composers -Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi- were performed.  The theatre was destroyed by fire three times, the last one in 1996 leaving only the exterior walls, but it was rebuilt and re-opened in November 2004.

The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the most important music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the masterpieces of the Russian greatest composers had their premieres. Through most of the Soviet era (1922-1991), it was known as the Kirov Theatre. Today, the Mariinsky Theatre is home to the Mariinsky Ballet, Mariinsky Opera and Mariinsky Orchestra.  In 2009, the Mariinsky Theatre launched its own record label.  All titles are recorded in the new Mariinsky concert hall in St Petersburg and released on Super Audio CD as well as on download.

The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as The Met) is an opera company based in New York City, The US, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.  The Met was founded in 1880 as an alternative to the previously established Academy of Music opera house, and debuted in 1883 in a new building (now known as the "Old Met"). It moved to the new Lincoln Center location in 1966.  The Metropolitan Opera is the largest classical music organization in North America. It presents about 27 different operas each year from late September through May.  The operas in the Met's repertoire consist of a wide range of works, from 18th-century Baroque and 19th-century Bel canto to the Minimalism of the late 20th century. These operas are presented in staged productions that range in style from those with elaborate traditional decors to others that feature modern designs.

The Opéra de Monte-Carlo is an opera house which is part of the Monte-Carlo Casino located in the Principality of Monaco.  It opened in 1879 and became known as the Salle Garnier, after the architect Charles Garnier, who designed it.  The hall was inaugurated on 25 January 1879. The opera house seats 524 people and was constructed in only eight and a half months. The Opéra has been transformed several times to host gala-dinners. 

The Palais Garnier is a 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera.  The Palais Garnier has been called "probably the most famous opera house in the world, a symbol of Paris like Notre Dame Cathedral or the Louvre."  The Palais Garnier also houses the Bibliothèque-Musée de l'Opéra de Paris (Paris Opera Library-Museum).  The auditorium has a traditional Italian horseshoe shape and can seat 1,979. The stage is the largest in Europe and can accommodate as many as 450 artists.

La Scala, abbreviation in Italian language for the official name Teatro alla Scala is an opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778.  Most of Italy's greatest operatic artists, and many of the finest singers from around the world, have appeared at La Scala. The theatre is regarded as one of the leading opera and ballet theatres in the world and is home to the La Scala Theatre Chorus, La Scala Theatre Ballet and La Scala Theatre Orchestra. The theatre also has an associate school, known as the La Scala Theatre Academy (Italian: Accademia Teatro alla Scala), which offers professional training in music, dance, stage craft and stage management.  The Museo Teatrale alla Scala (La Scala Theatre Museum), accessible from the theatre's foyer and a part of the house, contains a collection of paintings, drafts, statues, costumes, and other documents regarding La Scala's and opera history in general.

The Teatro Colón (Spanish: Columbus Theatre) is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the best opera houses in the world and is acoustically considered to be among the best, too.  The present Colón replaced the original theatre that opened in 1857. Towards the end of the century it became clear that a new theatre was needed and, after a 20-year process, the present theatre opened on 25 May 1908, with Giuseppe Verdi's Aïda.  The auditorium is horseshoe-shaped, has 2,487 seats, standing room for 1,000 and a stage which is 20 m wide, 15 m high and 20 m deep.   

Teatro Real (Royal Theatre) or simply El Real, as it is known colloquially, is a major opera house located in Madrid, Spain.  Founded in 1818 and inaugurated on 19 November 1850, it closed in 1925 and reopened in 1997 with a capacity of 1,746 seats. Today, the Teatro Real opera is one of the great theaters of Europe and its seasons are home productions involving leading figures of the international singing, musical direction, stage direction and dance. The theater also offers guided tours in several languages, including the auditorium, stage, workshops and rehearsal rooms.  The theatre stages around seventeen opera titles (both own productions and co-productions with other major opera houses in Europe and South America) per year, as well as two or three major ballets and several recitals, from September to July.

The Vienna State Opera (German: Wiener Staatsoper) is an Austrian opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria.  The members of the Vienna Philharmonic are recruited from its orchestra.  The Wiener Staatsoper is one of the busiest opera houses in the world producing 50 to 60 operas in a repertory system per year and ten ballet productions in more than 350 performances.  It is quite common to find a different opera each day of the week. The Staatsoper employs over 1000 people. As of 2008, the annual operating budget of the Staatsoper was 100 million euros with slightly more than 50% as a state subsidy.