4 Best Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria

What would La Traviata be like with two soloists and a piano? Or how about a Tosca where you can join in the chorus? Stefan Fleischhacker's Letztes Erfreuliches Operntheater (otherwise known as the Last Enjoyable Opera Theater, or L.E.O. for short) offers marvelously funny and entertaining performances of grand operas that are appropriate for audiences of all ages (and much shorter than their originals). For a small donation, bread and wine are also available.

This beautiful Rococo-style historic theater located in Mariahilf is more than 200 years old. It was used and abused for decades as a contemporary musical venue, but now the building—which is closely linked to Beethoven, who lived here—has renewed its role as an opera house, attracting an international crowd. It's open year-round, and hosts a premiere nearly every month. The selection of works performed here is tremendous, including Janáček, Prokofiev, Britten, Handel, Monteverdi, Rossini, and Bach.

One of the world's great opera houses, the Staatsoper has been the scene of countless musical triumphs and a center of unending controversy over how it should be run and by whom. A performance takes place virtually every night from September to June, drawing on the vast repertoire of the house, with an emphasis on Mozart, Verdi, and Wagner. Guided tours are given year-round.

Opera, operetta, and ballet are performed at the Volksoper, just on the outer edge of the Innere Stadt at Währinger Strasse and Währinger Gürtel. Prices here are significantly lower than at the Staatsoper, and performances can be every bit as rewarding. This theater has a packed calendar, with offerings ranging from the grandest opera, such as Mozart's Don Giovanni, to an array of Viennese operettas, including Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus, to Broadway musicals. Most operas and musicals are sung in German. The opera house is at the third stop on streetcar Nos. 41, 42, or 43, which run from Schottentor, U2, on the Ring.