Letter from Zürich

Opernhaus Zürich attracts a well-dressed crowd, with beautiful architecture, top-notch service, and a very elegant auditorium. The house also features an eclectic array of inspiring and sometimes challenging offerings on its stage, works which are both familiar and not, in theatrical presentations that push ideas about what opera can and even should be in the 21^st century.

The house—with its neo-classical exterior, gold/burgundy jewel-box-style auditorium and superlative acoustics—has hosted numerous premieres, including Berg’s (1937), Hindemith’s (1938), and Schoenberg’s (1957). In 2014 it beat out Metropolitan Opera and Royal Opera House, Covent Garden to win Opera House of the Year at the International Opera Awards. As with most everything in this lovely Swiss city, it’s pricey but also high quality, and very classy: sip a glass of champagne in the beautiful, cream-colour basement bar; enjoy the lovely array of open-faced sandwiches on the second-floor balcony during intermissions;