Organ at eight in the Michaelerkirche
Saturday at eight, from June to September: half an hour on the Sieber organ of 1714, the largest baroque organ in Vienna. The instrument is explained in German and English, and afterwards you may go up to the organ loft. Ten euro, given freely, right beside the Hofburg. The loveliest way we know to end […]
Chamber music in the Sala Terrena
The oldest concert room in Vienna, an oval frescoed hall with a cupola and thirty-five seats. Mozart lived and played music here in 1781. Today a string quartet or piano trio plays, Tuesday to Sunday, no singing, no ballet, no costumes. Said honestly: the seating is tight, 59 to 69 euro is not cheap, and […]
Early music at the Ruprechtskirche, in summer
Vienna’s oldest church, Monday and Tuesday at half past seven, from early July to early September. An hour of music from the middle ages to the early romantic period, on period instruments. Twenty euro. No marketing, no costumes, no website full of glossy pictures. Instead three things you need to know: summer only, cash only, […]
High Mass at the Augustinerkirche
Sunday at eleven, two minutes from the Hofburg: a complete orchestral mass by Mozart, Haydn, Schubert or Beethoven, with the choir, soloists and orchestra of St Augustine. Free entry, a donation is welcome. Said honestly: this is a mass, not a concert. Anyone who knows that and comes anyway hears Vienna as it has sounded […]
Klangkultur at the Minoritenkirche
The address we missed the longest ourselves. All year round at eight, about seventy minutes, 29 to 65 euro. What is played is real repertoire, not a best-of: a Mozart piano concerto cycle, Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, Brahms. What makes the difference: the ensembles and soloists are named in the programme. That is rare among Vienna’s […]
Palace concerts at Schönbrunn, the Orangery
Every evening at half past eight in the Orangery, where Mozart was set against Salieri in 1786. Mozart in the first half, Strauss in the second, two opera voices, one hour forty-five with an interval. Two things worth knowing before you book. From April to October the orchestra plays, in winter the smaller ensemble. And […]
Vienna Mozart Concert at the Musikverein
The Golden Hall is the Golden Hall, there is no arguing with that. Mozart and Strauss, thirty-three performers in period costume, around one hundred and five minutes with an interval. Our advice, if you have set your heart on that hall and cannot get a seat in the regular programme at short notice: category A […]
Musikverein, the regular season
The best kept tip in the city is not on any poster: returned tickets. When someone cannot use a seat they hand it back and the house offers it again at the box office. Simply ask, even on the day itself. Add to that the evening box office, open from an hour before the start. […]
Wiener Konzerthaus, the regular season
For everyone under thirty: remaining tickets at twenty euro, available thirty minutes before the start at the Ticket and Service Center, with proof of age, for almost every concert the house presents itself. That is the best value in the city, and hardly any visitor knows about it. Pass it on. konzerthaus.at.
Vienna State Opera, the standing places
The State Opera is not a nightly concert for visitors, it is one of the great opera houses of the world, and it lets you in for the price of a coffee and a slice of cake. Standing tickets go on sale eighty minutes before the performance, at the entrance on the Operngasse corner. Bring […]
Spanish Riding School, if you would rather watch movement
Not a concert, but the most common mix-up in conversation. The performances in the winter riding hall of 1735 are accompanied by Viennese classical music, and that is where the connection ends. If you have to choose: the full performance is worth more than the morning exercise. Note that the building is listed and has […]
Vienna Boys’ Choir at the Hofburgkapelle
Sunday, quarter past nine, since 1498. This is not a performance, it is a mass: a complete setting by Mozart, Haydn or Schubert, sung by the boys’ choir or the girls’ choir, with members of the State Opera orchestra and the men’s chorus. Said honestly: the choir sings from the gallery and you barely see […]
MuTh, the concert hall of the Vienna Boys’ Choir
If you want to see the choir and not only hear it, go to their own hall by the Augarten. A Friday afternoon series, concerts by the Vienna Girls’ Choir, and the Christmas programmes in December. One note for autumn: from mid-October to mid-December one of the choirs is traditionally on tour and the Vienna […]
Classic Ensemble Vienna at the Peterskirche
The best rated address among the evening concerts in Vienna, and that across more than a thousand reviews. An hour of Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart and Schubert in one of the loveliest baroque rooms in the city, two minutes from the Graben. We like to suggest it before or after dinner in the old town. Bring […]
Vivaldi at the Karlskirche, Orchester 1756
The Four Seasons on period instruments, in the domed church on Karlsplatz, a few steps from Vivaldi’s grave. Around seventy-five minutes, no interval, no singing, no wigs. This is the evening for anyone who would like to hear Vivaldi close to how he may have sounded. The church acoustic has a mind of its own, […]
The Four Seasons in St Stephen’s Cathedral
On Friday and Saturday evenings in the summer half of the year: Bach and Vivaldi inside the cathedral, played by the Harmonia Ensemble Wien. Sixty minutes, no interval. The concerts support the cathedral, and that is not a footnote, it is the reason they exist. This is the most transparent organiser in the whole field: […]
Eine kleine Nachtmusik at the Kapuzinerkirche
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at seven, directly above the Imperial Crypt on the Neuer Markt. Mozart, Bach, Schubert and Vivaldi, sixty minutes, played by the same ensemble as in the cathedral. A quiet, short evening that sits well at the end of a long day. Tickets at kunstkultur.com.
