Concerts

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 a shawl, the pews are hard and it turns cool in winter. Tickets directly at classicensemblevienna.com.

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 guests who say: please, nothing made for tourists. The church acoustic has a mind of its own, so sit further forward if you want to hear every line. Tickets directly at vivaldi-vienna.com.

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: works with catalogue numbers, soloists named, clear prices. Later in the year come the Mozart Requiem at the hour of his death on 4 December and the Advent concerts. Tickets at kunstkultur.com.

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 evening concerts and a good sign. In high summer there is a festival of their own here, exactly when the Musikverein and the Konzerthaus are closed. klangkultur.wien.

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.

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, and only with a reservation. Which is exactly why the audience is Viennese. ruprechtskirche.at.

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 an evening tour. michaelerkirche.at.

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 them. If you want photographs of boys in sailor suits, this is the wrong room. If you want to hear how Vienna sounds, it is exactly the right one. Tickets from 14 euro, standing room at the back is free, handed out from half past eight. hofmusikkapelle.gv.at.

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 for centuries. If you would rather sleep in: the Jesuitenkirche does the same at half past ten, and the room with its Pozzo frescoes is spectacular. hochamt.augustiner.at.

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 programme thins out. Dates at wsk.at.

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 the entrance is hard to find (not the garage gateway). In return you sit two metres from the quartet. It is the most intimate musical evening in the city. mozarthaus.at.

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 seating is free within your category, which is why we suggest category A or B, otherwise you end up far at the back. Then it is a lovely evening, especially after a day at Schönbrunn. palaceconcertsvienna.com.

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 or above, never the upper tiers, and without the dinner package. Anyone with a week to plan will get more music for less money in the regular season. mozart.wien.

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. If you are flexible and really want to hear music, this beats any tourist concert, and often costs less. musikverein.at.

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.

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 a scarf to tie to the rail, that is how you claim your spot. You stand for three hours and remember it for the rest of your life. wiener-staatsoper.at.

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 no lift. srs.at.