Swan Lake Tickets

Swan Lake at the Vienna State Opera

The most famous ballet of all: Prince Siegfried meets the swan queen Odette by a moonlit lake, swears to be faithful, and is tricked at his own birthday ball by the sorcerer Rothbart’s daughter Odile, the black swan — the same ballerina, the famous thirty-two fouettés — before the lovers face the lake again. Tchaikovsky’s score of 1877 became the ballet we know in Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov’s St Petersburg staging of 1895, and the Vienna State Ballet dances it in Rudolf Nureyev’s version, created for this house in 1964 — the premiere, with Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn, is the one that went into the record books for its curtain calls.

Nureyev gives the Prince far more to dance than the old productions did, so the evening belongs to two stars rather than one. Sets and costumes are by Luisa Spinatelli and lighting by Marion Hewlett; Paul Connelly conducts the December and January performances and Guillermo García Calvo the February ones. Four acts, two intervals, about three hours.

• MusicPyotr Tchaikovsky, 1877
• ChoreographyRudolf Nureyev after Petipa and Ivanov
• Running timeAbout 3 h, two intervals
• Vienna premiere1964
• ConductorsPaul Connelly · Guillermo García Calvo
• PerformancesNine, 21 December to 18 February

Who’s Dancing

The Vienna State Ballet announces its Swan Lake casts performance by performance in the weeks before each date, and had not published them on 15 October 2026. The company’s principals and soloists share Odette/Odile and Siegfried across a nine-performance run; the house calendar carries each cast as it is confirmed, and we will note them here as they appear.

Dates on sale with us: 21, 26, 28 and 30 December 2026; 2 and 5 January 2027; 13, 16 and 18 February 2027. The 13 February performance belongs to the house’s family ballet cycle (suggested for ages 10 and over).

Seating Categories & Ticket Prices

At the Vienna State Opera you book by price category rather than a numbered seat: Category 1 is the front of the Parkett and the central boxes, the numbers rise as the seats move back and up, and we reserve the best available places within the category you choose. The holiday performances are listed a little above the February ones, as they are every year. Tickets for Swan Lake are listed with us from €86 to €361 by category across the run; the bands below show what each typically costs.

Prices as listed with us on 15 October 2026; each date shows its own categories and current prices. All prices include our service fee and may be above the original face value printed on the ticket. Categories 7 to 9 are restricted-view places, offered only when the house releases them. Standing room is sold by the house on the day and never through an agency.

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