11.13.08

HIGH CULTURE

If you’re a culture junkie, but orchestra seats at La Scala are looking a little steep this season, hop over to Eastern Europe. High culture abounds behind the former Iron Curtain, where opulent theatres and concert halls host world-renowned operas, superb ballet performances and classical concerts. From Warsaw to Zagreb, the quality of the singers, costumes, set designs and music rival those in Western Europe, but at significantly lower prices. And the opera houses themselves are spectacular architectural achievements that are worth visiting alone.

Budapest’s neo-Renaissance Hungarian State Opera House dates from 1884 and was built to rival the opera houses of Paris and Vienna. It serves up a world-class program mixing classics with little-known Hungarian works.

In Romania, a strong tradition of opera and dance make the Bucharest National Opera House, Bucharest National Theatre, and Bucharest National Philharmonic, a memorable night out.

Understandably opera is a popular art in the country that gave us Dvorak, Smetana and Janacek. First-rate performances can be heard at Prague's three opera houses; the State Opera House, Estates Theatre and National Theatre.

Warsaw's Polish National Opera presents wonderful ballet and opera performances; and further south in Poland, don’t miss a night at Krakow’s baroque Slowacki Theatre, a historical gem.

And finally, one of our favorite places to enjoy a night of music? The Slovene National Theatre Opera and Ballet in Ljubljana - a jewel of a theatre in an equally charming city.

And it's not just the cost of culture that's cheap: The whole package, from hotels to restaurants to taxis, will run a lot less in Budapest than in Milan or Munich.