Vienna Concerts

My Tips For The Best Musical Events

There are one to three dozen Vienna concerts taking place in my hometown every day.

Below is a list of the best classical and contemporary concerts, concert series and festivals. They include those I visit with my local friends and family, and those I would choose to attend as an independent traveller.

Classical Vienna Concerts Calendar

Here is an overview over all classical Vienna concerts and musical events. The calendar will help you find out what events are on at your specific travel dates. It includes a whole range of events, from Schonbrunn Palace concerts, and Strauss and Mozart evenings, to Mozart operas and music by classical ensembles that are popular with visitors and local residents alike.

Seasonal Vienna Concerts

Spring Concerts

Vienna concerts: Johann Strauss memorial at Stadtpark

Spring is the season of music festivals in Vienna, and the start of a few annual concert series. A 'must visit' is The Sound Of Easter In Vienna ('Osterklang' Festival). This annual Easter music festival selects high quality operas, theatres and concerts, involving internationally renown artists like Jordi Savall and Gerald Finley, and conductors like George Prêtre. In 2013, OsterKlang staged Benjamin Brittan's 'Curlew River' and 'The Prodigal Son' in English (with German surtitles).

Time: 23rd March to 31st March 2013
Location: Theater an der Wien Linke Wienzeile 6 1060 Vienna

Easter Concert At St. Stephen's

An organ, a trumpet, and a soloist: This evening Easter concert is a great way to end Easter Sunday celebrations. St. Stephen's cathedral will fill with baroque classical music by composers Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Friedrich Haendel, and Giuseppe Torelli. You hear works of the Vienna Classic from Joseph Haydn, and from Austrian Romantic composer Franz Schubert.
Time: 31st March; 11pm
Locations: St. Stephen's Cathedral (city centre) Stephansplatz 1010 Vienna

Haydn: Seven Last Words

Austrian baroque composer Joseph Haydn's music returns to St. Stephen's Cathedral: The 'Seven Last Words Of Christ On The Cross' will be performed by a string quartett at the cathedral, where Haydn once sang as a choir boy. Haydn often referred to this composition of slow meditative tunes as one of his most accomplished.
Time: 26th March; 8.30pm
Location: St. Stephen's Cathedral (city centre) Stephansplatz 1010 Vienna

Tickets: get tickets

Other popular spring music festivals are Spring In Vienna (Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday) and the Vienna Spring Festival, an exclusive event presenting a mix of classical, jazz and world music.
Time: 30th March to 5th May 2013;
Location: Wiener Musikverein Bösendorferstrasse 12 (Musikvereinsplatz) 1010 Vienna
Tickets: email tickets@musikverein.at.

Summer Night Concert Schönbrunn Palace

Vienna concerts: Vienna Philharmonic Orechstra, Summernight Concert

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra's annual free open air concert in the gardens of Schonbrunn Palace, with fireworks. Simply spectacular!
Time: 30th May 2013, 9pm
Location: Schonbrunn Palace, palace gardens, in front of Neptune fountain; Schönbrunner Schlossstrasse 47 1130 Vienna,
Tickets: free admission.

For a broad selection of Vienna concerts in the spring visit Spring Concerts in Vienna.

Summer Concerts in Vienna

Many local classical orchestras and venues take a summer break in July and August. During these months, you can book certain church concerts such as Mozart and More - a wonderful and almost intimate little concert series at St. Stephen's Cathedral. There are also the all-year-round Vienna concerts at venues such as Wiener Kursalon, Palais Auersperg or Palais Palffy - quite touristy!

The Mozart V.I.P. Dinner And Concert package at the traditional Musikverein is certainly among the best and most exclusive of these events. It includes dinner at a gourmet restaurant, a personal squire, a fiaker drive, top seats at the Musikverein, and the opportunity to speak with the conductor, singers and soloists.

Time: 3rd May to 30th October 2013;
Location: Wiener Musikverein Bösendorferstrasse 12 (Musikvereinsplatz) 1010 Vienna
Access the calendar for Summer Concerts in Vienna.

Things To See And Do In Vienna

Vienna Opera
Tickets

Spanish Riding School

Best Guided Tours

Schonbrunn Palace

Advent And Christmas Concerts 2013

The Christmas season offers classical music you may not listen to throughout the year: trumpets, choirs, and clearly Christmas Carols. Many of them take place in Vienna's sumptuous baroque churches and at St. Stephen's Cathedral. The best concerts series in 2013:

Advent Concert Series: Stephansdom Vienna

Dates: 29th November to 22th December 2013;
Location: Stephansdom, Stephansplatz 1 1010 Vienna

Advent Concert Series: St. Anne's Church Vienna
Dates: 29th November to 22th December 2013;
Location: St. Anne's Church (Annakirche), Annagasse 3B 1010 Vienna

Minoriten Church: Trumpets in Concert. A Very Special Christmas
Dates: 11th December to 18th December 2013;
Location: Minoritenkirche , Minoritenplatz 2A 1010 Vienna

New Year's Eve Concerts And New Year's Day Concerts

Vienna concerts: New Year's Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

The New Year is high season for classical music. After all, we traditionally waltz into the New Year to Johann Strauss' Blue Danube Waltz. Read more about New Year's Eve Concerts.

New Year's Day is the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra's annual New Year's Concert, which is broadcast all over the world. If you weren't lucky at the ticket ballots of the notoriously sold out event, there are additional New Year's events to select from.

Vienna Concerts: My Top Tips

Mozart Piano Sonatas At St. Peter's

The baroque church of St. Peter is another splendid location to absorb Mozart music. Every Saturday and Sunday you can listen to Mozart piano sonatas at the crypta, performed on a Steinway piano. The concerts last just 45 minutes and are therefore great for busy travellers and families.
Dates: 13th April to 29th December 2013;
Location: St. Peter's Crypt Petersplatz 1 1010 Vienna
Bookings: Get tickets.

Concerts In Mozart's House

Another almost intimate place to enjoy Mozart music: Under the fresco-decorated vaulted ceilings of a monastery where Mozart lived and composed for a few weeks, four string players perform Viennese chamber music and string quartets, mostly by Wolfgang Mozart.
Dates: 12th April to 14th April 2013;
Location: Monastery of the German Teotonic Order Singerstrasse 7 1010 Vienna
Bookings: Get tickets.

See an example of a concert in Mozart's House:

Mozart's Requiem Mass

Vienna concerts: Church St. Charles Borromeo

Wolfgang Mozart's famous Requiem gets even more magnificent at St. Charles Borromeo, a sumptuous baroque church with a spectacular dome and colourful frescoes. Since the Mozart anniversary in 2006, the Orchestra 1756 (Mozart's year of birth) and the Heinrich Biber choir perform the Requiem here every Saturday, turning it into one of the most popular Vienna Concerts. More than 40 musicians play on historical instruments, replicating the ambiente of the Requiem's premiere in the 18th century.
Dates: most Saturdays between 13th April and 4th December 2013;
Location: Church St Charles Borromeo (Karlskirche) Kreuzherrengase 1 1040 Vienna
Bookings: get Mozart Requiem Mass tickets.

Antonio Vivaldi At Baroque Churches

Few people know that Italian composer and violinist Antonio Vivaldi lived in Vienna for some time and died there. Because of this special connection, the Church St. Charles Borrmeo and the Church St. Anna, both beautiful baroque landmarks, regularly stage the composer's main oeuvre Four Seasons. The concert Vivaldi - The Four Seasons at St. Charles Borromeo focuses on the grand oeuvre while Classic Exclusive at the more intimate (and heated!) Church St. Anna includes some works by W. A. Mozart and J. S. Bach.
Dates: 12th April to 25th October 2013 (St. Charles Borromeo)
14th April to 27th August 2013 (St. Anne's)
Locations: Church St Charles Borromeo (Karlskirche) Kreuzherrengase 1 1040 Vienna

St. Anne's Church (Annakirche> Annagasse 3B 1010 Vienna
Bookings: Tickets for Vivaldi - The Four Seaons and
Classic Exclusive;

Concerts At Theater An Der Wien

Vienna concerts: Mozart and More at St. Stephen's Cathedral

The Theater An Der Wien is an insider tip for those who want to experience classical music with a twist off the beaten tourist tracks. Officially Vienna's youngest opera house, the Theater has established itself as a venue for Vienna concerts, among them operas in concert by Georg Friedrich Haendel, Claudio Monteverdi, Gioachino Rossini and others. and other classic and contemporary concerts.
Access Vienna musical events at Theater an der Wien;

Vienna Jazz Festival (Jazz Fest Wien)

Vienna concerts: Bobby McFerrin, Vienna Jazz Festival 2012

Witness baroque Vienna all jazzed up during three weeks in the summer. The concerts represent a mix of internationally renown jazz stars and national singers, such as Natalie Cole, Randy Crawford, Bobby McFerrin, George Benson, Bryan Ferry, Helge Schneider and Harry Stojka.
Dates: 17th June to 10th July 2013
Locations: various across Vienna, from the Vienna Opera House and Vienna Konzerthaus to open air concerts at City Hall square to Hundertwasser-designed incineration plant.
Programme and Tickets: visit website

Wien Modern Festival

Wien Modern is the ultimate Vienna festival for contemporary music. The event provides an international platform for developments in contemporary music, supported by dance, performance, visual arts, film and video. Each festival is related to a theme.
Dates: 24th October to 15th November 2013
Programme and tickets: visit website

My Vienna Concerts Highlights 2013

For most classical Vienna concerts there is no need for 'black tie' dressing unless you attend the New Year's Concert. Specific dress codes for certain concerts, if any, will be indicated when you buy the tickets.