At The Burgtheater I Saw
Kotzebue's Edelsinn Und Armuth Performed.
The Wieden theatre which is, as
I have said, in the faubourgs, is the handsomest theatre perhaps in Europe
for its size.
It is not large, but it is fitted up with so much taste and
you see and hear so well; every ornament is so chaste and there is nothing
at all tawdry or superfluous. It is, I really think, a model of what every
theatre ought to be. There is a good deal of bronze about it which gives it
a classical appearance, and the boxes are supported by Caryatides in
bronze. There is a peculiarity in all the theatres at Vienna, which is,
that in the parterre you must sit in the place the number of which is
marked on your ticket. These places are called Gesperrte Sitze, and each
seat resembles an armchair. When not occupied, the seat is folded up and
locked to the back of the chair, until the person who holds the ticket
corresponding to its number comes to take it; so that no other but the
person holding the ticket corresponding to the number can take it, and you
are thus never likely to be shoved out of your place, as you are at most of
the theatres in Europe. There are men stationed at the doors who follow you
into the parterre to unlock and let down a seat for you, and to them you
give your ticket with a slight gratification, which is however quite
optional; your ticket you previously pay for at the door.
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