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
The Phantom of the Opera (Andrew Lloyd Webber song) Peter Jöback and Erkan Aki. What makes this particular song unique within the musical is its unusual hard rock style, since most of the songs in the musical have a more operatic style. Early in the musical's production, Andrew Lloyd Webber met Jim Steinman, who described "The Phantom of the Opera" as a rock song invading an opera house. This is what inspired the hard rock style of the song, which influenced all of the rock-based instruments in the song including drums and electric guitar. "The Phantom of the Opera" song was also specially arranged by the show's original orchestrator,