Hungarian State Opera House is considered to be amongst the finest opera houses in the world. The auditorium holds 1,261 people. It is horseshoe-shaped and – according to measurements done in the 1970s by a group of international engineers – has the third best acoustics in Europe after La Scala in Milan and the Palais Garnier in Paris. Although many opera houses have been built since, the Budapest Opera House is still among the best in terms of the acoustics. In front of the building are statues of Ferenc Erkel and Franz Liszt. Liszt is the best known Hungarian composer. Erkel composed the Hungarian
Batcher Opera House Block more than a year until it was clear that another new building in town, raised by the local Odd Fellows, would not include an opera house. Batcher then decided to include an opera house and restarted construction in the spring of 1907, adding a third story to the design. Yet another new building in town, by Thomas J. Sharkey, did add an opera house, which opened as Sharkey's Opera House at about the same time as the Batcher Opera House opened. Batcher's Opera House was the more influential of the two, and though Sharkey's continued as an entertainment venue, it