Ranking the world’s 10 most breathtakingly beautiful opera houses

11 August 2025, 16:41 | Updated: 11 August 2025, 16:47

Before the music has even begun, these opera houses will stun any operagoer.

Opera houses aren’t just places to listen to the world’s most beautiful music – they are also some of the world’s most beautiful spaces.

From centuries-old buildings to extraordinary feats of modern architecture, here are some of the most beautiful opera houses around the globe.

Read more: 25 best opera singers of all time

1. Copenhagen Opera House

   In central Copenhagen, on the shore of the Inner Harbour, stands architect Henning Larsen’s 2005 creation. Its sleek, wide roof hangs over the front of the building, and inside it has one of the largest orchestra pits in any opera house, with room for 110 musicians. It was one of the most expensive opera houses to ever be built (it cost over £275 million to build) but later became controversial after Larsen described the building as “the most owner-infected ‘worst-case’ in my 50 years as an independent architect” in a book he published about the project.

   

   

2. Oslo Opera House

   Construction for Oslo’s opera house finished in 2007 and won the culture award at the World Architecture Festival in October 2008 and the 2009 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture. A large proportion of the building is covered in white granite and Italian marble and the roof slopes down to ground level, which creates a plaza where people can enjoy the panoramic views of the Norwegian capital.

   

3. Cairo Opera House

   This relatively modern opera house – inaugurated in 1988 – was built to replace the great Khedivial Royal Opera House that was completely destroyed by a fire in October 1971. Its construction was largely supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency who worked with Egypt’s Ministry of Culture to design a house that was suggestive of traditional Islamic architecture.

   

4. La Fenice, Venice

   Teatro La Fenice is one of the most famous opera houses in the world, and was home to the premieres of operas like Verdi’s La Traviata and Rigoletto and Britten’s The Turn of the Screw. Architect Giannantonio Selva won a competition in 1790 to have his designs chosen to become Venice’s newest theatre. However, just over 40 years after it was built, most of the theatre was destroyed by a fire. Reconstruction began almost immediately, to create the splendour that we see today.

   

5. Teatro San Carlo, Napoli

   The oldest opera house in the world was the model for La Fenice. It has a fresco on the ceiling of Apollo presenting to Minerva the greatest poets of the world was by Giuseppe Cammarano. In 1816, this opera house was also partly destroyed by a fire and was rebuilt and reopened a year later. Rossini was its artistic director for seven years, 1815 to 1822, before being replaced by Donizetti, who served from 1822 until 1838.

   Read more: Edward Gardner apologises for ‘Mafia’ comment about Naples opera house chorus

   

6. Sydney Opera House

   The sails of the Sydney Opera House define the landscape of the Australian city. Situated in the heart of Sydney Harbour, it is regarded as one of the masterpieces of 20th-century architecture and is one of the most recognisable buildings in the world. It was designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 1973.

   Read more: Rejected entries reveal what Sydney’s iconic Opera House could have looked like

   

7. Royal Opera House, London

   Colloquially known just as ‘Covent Garden’ after its location, the Royal Opera House was originally built in 1858 and sits on the site of the old Theatre Royal, where Handel premiered many of his works. This is another theatre that was damaged by fires and rebuilt several times, but now is home to a beautiful, 2,256-seater auditorium, with its iconic red velvet curtains on stage.

   

   

8. The National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing

   Beijing’s opera house is known as The Giant Egg – and you can see why. Designed by French architect Paul Andreu, the NCPA opened in 2007 and its large shell is made up of more than 18,000 pieces of titanium metal plates, covering an area of more than 30,000 m2. It sits to the west of Tiananmen Square, near the Forbidden City, and is surrounded by an artificial lake that does not freeze, even if temperatures drop below zero.

   Read more: Watch ‘Carmina Burana’ performed in the Forbidden City in Beijing

   

9. Teatro Amazonas, Manaus

   One might associate opera with big cities or British country houses, but, in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, lies a glorious opera house. The house was inaugurated on 31 December 1896, after 15 years of construction, and no expense was spared. The building’s dome features a giant mosaic composed of 36,000 glazed ceramic tiles, 198 chandeliers (dozens of which are made of glass from Murano, Italy) and the ceiling of the auditorium features decorative panels painted by Italian artist Domenico de Angelis.

   

   

10. Palais Garnier, Paris

    The setting for Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel (and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical) The Phantom of the Opera is both one of the world’s most famous and most breathtaking opera houses. Its exterior and interior are uniquely ornate and lavish with a grand central staircase at its heart. It was built by Jean-Louis Charler-Garnier and opened on 5 January 1875.

    Read more: Ralph Fiennes to direct his first opera in Paris’ magnificent Palais Garnier

    

    

Join tenor Freddie De Tommaso as he explores the world’s greatest opera houses in ‘Around the World in Eight Opera Houses’ on Classic FM, on Fridays at 9pm.