Graz Opera Graz Opera Graz Opera (German: Oper Graz) is an Austria opera house and opera company based in Graz. The orchestra of the opera house also performs concerts as the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra ("Grazer Philharmonisches Orchester"). Opera had been performed in Graz since the 17th century, originally in a converted coach house on the Habsburg royal estates. The National Theatre (Schauspielhaus Graz), constructed in 1776, saw many early performances of Mozart's operas, although today (after many reconstructions) it is devoted to the performances of plays. The city's first dedicated opera house and the immediate predecessor of the Graz Opera was the
Ice nativity scene (Graz) A local politician of the Green Party cynically noted: "Due to global warming, Advent will become ever milder. This raises the question of whether the city of Graz should continue to invest more than 40,000 € in a pool of water." Suggestions to cancel the project have been turned down by the tourist association who argued that the ice nativity scene rendered the economically important Graz Advent an "unmistakable" event. The "Tiroler Tageszeitung" made tongue-in-cheek claims about yearly bets of Graz citizens on the ice nativity scene’s endurance. A planned wood roof to protect the artwork from rain was vetoed