Page 121 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Budapest

AROUND P ARLIA MENT  119

r Budapest
Operetta Theatre
Budapesti Operett Színház
Nagymező utca 17. Map 2 F4 (10 F1).
Tel (06 1) 472 20 30 or 312 48 66 (box
office). v 4, 6. q Oktogon, Opera.
∑ operettszinhaz.hu
Budapest has a good reputation
for musical entertainment, and
its operetta scene (see p216) is
over 100 years old. Operettas
were first staged on this site in
The Neo-Renaissance façade of the Drechsler Palace the Orfeum Theatre, designed
in the Neo-Baroque style by the
0 St Stephen’s the Turks in the 16th century, Viennese architects Fellner and
Basilica was added to the façade at Helmer, in 1898. The project
this time. was financed by the impres sario
See pp120–21. In 1978 the hotel was taken Károly Singer-Somossy.
over by the Radisson group, In 1922, the American
q Hungarian State which restored the rich inter iors. entrepreneur Ben Blumenthal
Opera Notable features are the redeveloped the building and
opened the Capital Operetta
stained-glass windows in the
See pp122–3. Szondi Restaurant, by Jenő Theatre, which then specialized
Haranghy, illustrating the works in the genre. After 1936, this
of Richard Wagner. The Romeo theatre became the only venue
w Drechsler Palace and Juliet conference room for operetta in Budapest.
Drechsler Palota and the Shakespeare Res taurant The repertoire of the theatre
are named after the murals includes the works of both
Andrássy út 25. Map 2 F4 (10 E2). that decorate them. The café international and Hungarian
q Opera. serves cake and coffee on composers of this genre,
porcelain from the Pécs factory in cluding Imre Kálmán, Ferenc
Formerly the State Ballet (see p58). Lehár and Pál Ábrahám.
Institute, the Drechsler Palace
was originally built as Neo-
Renaissance apartments for
the Hungarian Railways Pension
Fund in 1883. It was designed
by Gyula Pártos and Ödön
Lechner to harmonize with the
façade of the Hungarian State
Opera (see pp122–3).
Its name derives from the
Drechsler Café, which occupied
the ground floor in the 1890s
and early 1900s.
e Radisson Blu
Béke Hotel,
Budapest
Radisson Blu Béke Hotel, Budapest
Teréz körút 43. Map 2 F3.
Tel (06 1) 889 39 00. v 4, 6.
q Oktogon. ∑ radissonblu.com
This elegant hotel was built
in 1896 as an apartment
building, and in 1912 was
restyled by Béla Málnai as the
Hotel Britannia. A mosaic of
György Szondi, a Hungarian
captain who fought against Entrance to the Budapest Operetta Theatre on Nagymező utca

118-119_EW_Budapest.indd 119 15/09/16 10:33 am