Nationaltheater, Munich

The Nationaltheater in Munich, home of the Bavarian State Opera, packed for a concert in November 2013, with the Bavarian State Orchestra in front of the stage and tier upon tier of cream-and-gold balconies around the royal box. With about 2,100 seats it is one of the larger houses in Europe, yet the steep horseshoe keeps it intimate. The first theater here opened in 1818, and Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger had their premieres in the building that replaced it after an 1823 fire. Bombing gutted that house in 1943; the rebuilt theater reopened in November 1963, faithful to the original neoclassical design.