Vienna. Leopold Museum

Hundreds of masterworks of Austrian modern art collected by the passionate art lover Dr. Rudolf Leopold are shown in the Leopold Museum at MuseumsQuartier near the Imperial Palace.

  

The Leopold Museum is a unique treasure-trove of Viennese art nouveau, the Vienna Workshop and of the Expressionist period. As the most-visited museum in the most fashionable cultural place in the city, the MuseumsQuartier, it houses the most important and largest Egon Schiele collection in the world as well as masterpieces by the founder of the Vienna Secession movement, Gustav Klimt. Also on display are outstanding artifacts of the Wiener Werkstätte, from Josef Hoffmann to Koloman Moser. The light-flooded cube of white shell limestone shows permanent highlights of the collection as well as selected special exhibitions on an area of 5,400 m² over four floors.

Egon Schiele

42 paintings, 187 original graphics (drawings and colored sheets) and manuscripts (letters, etc.) by Egon Schiele can be marveled at in the Leopold Museum. Many of his principal works, such as the "Self-portrait with physalis" and the "Portrait of Wally Neuzil", are owned by the Leopold Museum. In the 1950s, its founder, Rudolf Leopold, started collecting large quantities of the extraordinary works of the early Expressionist Egon Schiele. Schiele, who died at just 28 years of age, left behind a considerable body of work, which can be experienced here at close range.

  

Vienna. MAK - Museum for Applied Arts

Design is one of the main features of MAK. The museum shows furniture, glass, china, silver, and textiles from the Middle Ages to the present day. Precious crafts from the Wiener Werkstätte, bentwood furniture by Thonet and art nouveau highlights such as the gilded design of Gustav Klimt for the frieze of the Stoclet Palais in Brussels.

  

Bentwood chairs by Thonet are still used in Viennese coffeehouses, and armchairs from the Middle Ages to the present day look absolutely inviting. Biedermeier sofas surprise with pink, green, yellow, or red colors, because the Biedermeier style, with its simple and clear shapes, is considered the cradle of design.

Glass, china, silver, and textiles of the highest quality and in unusual designs were produced at the Wiener Werkstätte, which was founded in 1903 by Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser. A hammered silver service by Hoffmann or a black and white vase will thrill not only lovers of art nouveau. In November 2012, the MAK show collection "Vienna 1900" was redesigned and dedicated in its entirety to the development of Viennese arts and crafts between 1890 and 1938. The exhibition rooms recount the story of the search for the modern style via the creation of a unique Viennese style to the confrontation of the Viennese style with the international style and ending with the National Socialists seizing power in Austria.

Also new is the MAK permanent collection Asia, which presents Chinese porcelain, Japanese lacquer work, Japanese wood cuts and Japanese coloring stencil plates. The MAK permanent collection Carpets was reorganized in spring 2014. And the new MAK Design Laboratory makes references between art and everyday life on almost 2,000 m² in the former "Collection of Studies" (Studiensammlung). Contemporary art by Donald Judd, James Turrell and others and 12 sofas by Franz West span the artistic range to the present day. Young, sophisticated design to take away can be found in the MAK Design Shop. After visiting the MAK Austrian Museum of Applied Arts, guests are welcome at its restaurant Salonplafond.

  

  

Vienna State Opera

The Vienna State Opera is one of the top opera addresses in the world – where you can enjoy the very best in first-class productions.

  

This famous stage offers a different program every day, with over 60 operas and ballet works on around 300 days per season.

150 years of the Vienna State Opera

The repertoire of the State Opera ranges from the Baroque to the 21st century, with a focus on the 19th century. The 2018/19 season is marked by a big anniversary: The Vienna State Opera celebrates "150 years of the Opera House on the Ring". On 25 May, 2019 there will be a ceremony and the premiere of Richard Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow). This opera premiered here 100 years ago; Camilla Nylund, Nina Stemme, Evelyn Herlitzius, Stephen Gould and Wolfgang Koch now shine in the new production conducted by Christian Thielemann.

On May 26, everyone is invited to join in the celebration - at a festival on the square in front of the Opera House. In addition, there are two exhibitions (at the opera and in the Theatre Museum), streamings and a few other surprises.

Another five opera premieres are highlights of the season:

• Les Troyens / Hector Berlioz
• Die Weiden /Johannes Maria Staud (music), Durs Grünbein (text) – world premiere
• Lucia di Lammermoor / Gaetano Donizetti
• Orest / Manfred Trojahn
• Otello / Giuseppe Verdi

Audience members can individually switch on subtitles – in German, English, Italian, French, Russian and Japanese. The 2,021 displays at the seats also offer information about the cast and contents of the performance (German or English). By the way: The subtitles can be integrated manually by clicking a button, since all performances have different pacing.

Vienna Opera Ball: High point of the ball season

At the Vienna Opera Ball, the Vienna State Opera is transformed into the world’s most famous ballroom. The committee, consisting of approximately 150 pairs of young men and women in white ball gowns and tails, ensures a glamorous opening of the Opera Ball.

Opera live outdoors

In April, May, June, September and December, more than 80 opera and ballet performances will be screened live on Herbert-von-Karajan-Platz in front of the opera building on a 50 m² screen - it's classical enjoyment for free!

  

Vienna. In the footsteps of famous musicians

Stroll through the music city of Vienna in the footsteps of the great composers: to places such as the original homes of Mozart and Schubert, to monuments, museums, to temples of music such as the Musikverein and the Vienna State Opera to the coffee house with piano music.

  

Joseph Haydn and his brother Michael received a comprehensive musical education at St. Stephen's Cathedral as choristers. Joseph Haydn got married in this cathedral, as did Mozart and Johann Strauss. Antonio Vivaldi, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Antonio Salieri, Franz Schubert and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are entered in the cathedral's book of the deceased. In the House of the Teutonic Order, a memorial plaque bears witness to the fact that Mozart lived here in May 1781. Having been dismissed by his employer, he decided to live as a freelance artist from then on. The Mozarthaus Vienna and the House of Music are Vienna's leading musical worlds of experience.

Music lovers experience lively musical variety and exciting guided tours at the Wiener Konzerthausand at the Musikverein. The Theatre Museum presents stage history from the 17th century through to the present day. Mozart's Requiem was originally performed in St. Michael's Church; Haydn played the organ and lived next door on the top floor of the Grosses Michaelerhaus.

The Doblinger Music House is a treasure trove for sheet music seekers. The Vienna Boys' Choir can regularly be heard performing Mass in the Hofburg Chapel. The Collection of Historic Musical Instruments shows instruments played by Chopin, Beethoven, Johann Strauss, Liszt, Schumann, Brahms and members of the imperial family. The Vienna State Opera is both an architectural jewel and one of the world's most important opera stages.

For those who fancy a detour: Beethoven lived in the Pasqualati House for eight years. Schubert's birth house is also preserved. And the Central Cemetery is home to the biggest complex of honorary graves in the world.

  

  

Walks in Vienna. Hiking in and around Vienna

The foundation stone for the 12,000 hectare Vienna Green Belt, which encircles the city almost unbroken today, was first laid over 100 years ago. Want to know more? The Vienna Rundumadum hiking trail circles the city in 24 easy stages.

  

Vienna’s city hiking trails run for over 240 kilometers, mostly through the Vienna Woods on the edge of the city or through Vienna’s local recreation areas. They are well signed and can be reached by public transport. Service areas, restaurants and heurige along the way invite you to stay awhile, as do benches and tables at particularly attractive viewpoints or on forest meadows.

A classic is the 11 kilometer-long City Hiking Trail 1. It begins at the terminus of tram line D in Vienna's heurige town of Nussdorf and leads you moderately steeply, but with a great view of the city, Vienna Woods and Danube, through vineyards and woods to the Stefaniewarte on the Kahlenberg. After a detour to the cozily modern "Hütte am Weg" (Josefinenhütte), arrive comfortably back at the starting point along the gently sloping ridge of the Nussberg after about three and a half to four hours. What's more, you can ideally combine the hiking experience with culinary delights at Restaurant Kahlenberg as well as at the heurige on Wildgrubgasse, Kahlenberger Straße and in Nussdorf. A variant is offered by City Hiking Trail 1a, which starts right on Nussdorf Platz. Here, you hike along the Danube beach promenade, climb the Leopoldsberg and the Kahlenberg and can round off the tour, which is also 11 kilometers in length, in one of the delightful heurige in the romantic Kahlenbergerdorf.

The Green Prater

When you visit the Green Prater, you are walking on the former imperial hunting ground. The best way is to follow the signs on the 13 kilometer-long City Hiking Trail 9, which takes your directly from Praterstern (U1 Praterstern) away from the main avenue on the level to the little water meadow area at Freudenau.

Bisamberg

Ways to the wine on the edge of the city are offered by the hiking routes on the Bisamberg. One of these routes is the famous City Hiking Trail 5. Walk through old cellar lanes, roam through vineyards and oak woods.

Rundumadum Hiking Trail

The athletic amongst you can tackle the more than 120 kilometer-long Rundumadum Hiking Trail, which encircles the city in 24 easy to manage stages. The starting and end points of each stage can be reached by public transport. Inns and shelters along the way invite you to take a break. Collect confirmation at the five stamping points that you have really walked the "rundumadum" and be rewarded with a hiking pin!

  

Vienna. Ringstrasse Route

Around the old city on the Sightseeing Bicycle Path "Ringstrasse".

  

Start at Marienbrücke near Schwedenplatz (U1, U4, tram 1, 2) and continue along Franz-Josefs-Kai to Urania. There, turn onto the Sightseeing Bicycle Path Ringstrasse, which will take you along this splendid avenue around the old city - passing many of Vienna's best attractions.

Take a look at the splendor of art nouveau at Otto Wagner's Postsparkasse (Post Office Savings Bank), stop to take a picture of the golden Johann Straussmonument in Vienna's City Park, and ride past the Vienna State Opera - one of the most renowned opera houses in the world, with a constantly changing schedule on 300 days per year.

The Imperial Palace greets you with imperial magnificence, the Museum of Fine Arts across the street boasts the largest collection of Bruegels in the world, and the new MuseumsQuartier behind it is among the ten largest museum districts in the world. And of course, the dinosaur skeletons at Vienna's Museum of Natural History are a highlight for young and old alike.

The Parliament, City Hall, Burgtheater and University offer a representative sample of late nineteenth century architecture. At the place where you can see the neo-gothic Votivkirche, the Ring slopes slightly downward. This means that you might move a little faster on your way down to the Danube Canal - please pay special attention to crossing traffic (there is also a tram crossing).

At the Danube Canal you have the choice to either bike along the promenade at the canal itself (exit ramp on the left, near Augartenbrücke), or continue along the old city - in both cases, you will return to your starting point after 4.5 kilometers of pedalling, with a wealth of new impressions.

Other thematic bicycle paths ...

... such as the Danube Canal bicycle path, the Wiental bicycle path or the adventure bicycle path "Dampfross & Drahtesel" (along an old railway route).

Tip: To the Kahlenbergerdorf vineyards

If you pedal west of the city center on the Danube Bicycle Path, the attractive route will take you along the Danube into the idyllic Kahlenbergerdorf. This quaint village at the foot of the Leopoldsberg has maintained its original appearance as a wine-growing center and is famous for its Heurige. Particularly athletic bicyclists will continue along the route to Klosterneuburg and visit its 900-year-old abbey.

We advise that you plan your bicycle trip with the help of a city map - for example the City Map of the Vienna Tourist Board, which is available free of charge at your hotel or at our Tourist Information Offices (1st district, Albertinaplatz/Maysedergasse & 10th district, Am Hauptbahnhof 1, both daily from 9 am – 7 pm). or with a Bicycle Map of Vienna. Your hotel will also provide tips.

  

Vienna. Palm House, Schönbrunn

The Palm House in the palace park at Schönbrunn is the largest of its kind on the European continent. It houses dozens of Mediterranean, tropical and subtropical plants.

  
  

Emperor Franz Joseph commissioned the construction of the Palm House in 1882. Architect Franz Segenschmid had his hands full: with a length of 111 meters, 2,500 square meters in area and 4,900 square meters of glass, it is the largest Palm House on the European continent. 45,000 glass panes were installed.

The Palm House is divided into three pavilions and three climate zones, which are connected to each other by tunnel-like corridors. The tallest room exhibits plants from the Mediterranean region, the Canary Islands, South Africa, America and Australia. The northern room houses plants from China, Japan, the Himalayas and New Zealand. Tropical and subtropical plants grow in the third area. Plants on display in the Palm House include a 23 meter-tall palm and in spring/summer the largest water lily in the world (with a leaf diameter of 1.20 meters). Temperatures range between 8 and 17 degrees Celsius.

  

Vienna. Spanish Riding School

The Spanish Riding School and its world-famous Lipizzaners offers the highest standard of horse-riding art in the Baroque ambience of the Imperial Palace.

  

The Spanish Riding School in Vienna is the only institution in the world where the classic equestrian skills (haute école) has been preserved and is still practiced in its original form. Many years of training fuse horse and rider into an inseparable unit. The audience is treated to an unforgettable experience by the precision of movement of the Lipizzan horses in perfect harmony with the music.

In the course of gala performances, visitors experience unique presentations of the Lipizzans in the most beautiful riding hall in the world, which was impressively outfitted by baroque architect Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach between 1729 and 1735. It was originally built to provide aristocratic youths with the opportunity to take riding instruction. Since December 2015, the horsemanship of the Spanish Riding School has been classified as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO.

Morning training with music gives a good impression into the training program of the White Stallions; the guided tours include visits to the stables.

A Tribute to Vienna

The Vienna Boys' Choir are once again set to collaborate with the Spanish Riding School in 2019: In "A Tribute to Vienna”, Lipizzaners and choir boys perform alternately with highlights of their program.

  

Vienna. Schönbrunn Zoo: Europe's best zoo

Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna has been voted Europe's best zoo for the fifth time. Each year, more than two million visitors come to see panda babies, newborn elephants and many other rare animals in the world's oldest zoo still in existence.

  

In the summer of 1752, Emperor Franz I. Stephan von Lothringen, Maria Theresia's husband, took his royal guests to the newly constructed menagerie in the park at Schönbrunn Palace for the first time. Ever since then, the world's oldest zoo has been operating in Vienna.

In 1906, Schönbrunn was the site of a sensational event: This zoo in Vienna was the first place worldwide to see the birth of an African elephant conceived in human care. The next world premiere followed in 2007: For the first time ever, a panda baby that was naturally conceived in a zoo by the name of Fu Long was born in Schönbrunn. In August 2010 the second bear cub was born, in August 2013 the third. The twins Fu Feng and Fu Ban were finally born in 2016.

  

Modern enclosures

Today the Zoo at Schönbrunn is considered one of the best and most modern zoos in the world. In autumn 2018, it was voted Europe's best zoo for the fifth time: Schönbrunn Zoo therefore beat 126 scientifically managed zoos in 29 European countries to take first place. The animal compounds have a particularly generous and natural design. More than 700 kinds of animal live here - from the Siberian tiger to koalas and rhinoceros. Highlights are the giant rainforest house, the large South American enclosure and the ORANG.erie, home to Vienna's orangutans. The Nature Experience Trail was opened in spring 2010. May 2014 witnessed the return of polar bears to the zoo: The enclosure, called "Franz Josef Land", covers 1,700 m² and provides the white giants with enough space to romp around in. The bears can also be watched diving for the first time.

The new giraffe park was opened in May 2017: A gallery in the winter enclosure means that visitors can now meet the giraffes face to face. In the new East Africa Building next door, dwarf mongoose, Von der Decken’s hornbills and ground hornbills can be found bustling about. The latter share the 1,770 m² outdoor area with the giraffes. And the new, spacious hippopotamus bathing pond, which opened in summer 2018, makes it possible to watch the animals splashing around outdoors. New and extensive enclosures and animal houses are added each year. But the zoo's historic charm is always preserved. The zoo is part of the Schönbrunn UNESCO world heritage site.

Special tours and workshops provide information about the animal kingdom. And the zoo is directly adjacent to the Desert House, where the flora and fauna of the driest regions on earth can be explored.

  

  

Vienna’s best courtyards

There are countless beautiful courtyards hidden away behind many of the opulent facades of Vienna’s town houses and palaces.

  

Walk in, take a deep breath and enter an oasis of calm hidden just behind the entrance to a building on a busy street. Numerous old Viennese courtyards have now been painstakingly restored and remodeled. Vienna is famous for its Pawlatsche access balconies which provide access to the various apartments from the courtyard. Sometimes, two or more adjacent courtyards create a practical shortcut between two parallel streets which is accessible from each end.

Vienna's first district is home to some of the city's most attractive courtyards. Just behind St. Stephen's Cathedral, the buildings around Blutgasse (Singerstrasse, Grünangergasse, Domgasse) are among the oldest in the capital. The entrance to Blutgasse 3 conceals a remarkable 17th century building with open access balconies. Meanwhile nearby Singerstrasse boasts several interesting courtyards. The Deutschordenshaus Singerstrasse 7) has two courtyards and facades in the 17th century style.

A magnificent horse chestnut tree stands in the quiet courtyard of Singerstrasse 11, and the baroque Palais Neupauer-Breuner (Singerstrasse 16) also has an attractive courtyard with open access balconies. The pretty courtyard at Weihburggasse 16 is home to the Vermischte Warenhandlung shop with an adorable collection of original gift ideas and souvenirs.

Still in the 1st district, Viennese actor, dramatist and satirist Johann Nepomuk Nestroy was born at Bräunerstrasse 3. Wrought iron bars, wall fountains and hanging baskets adorn the elegant courtyard with its striking elevated balcony walkways. The 16th century renaissance Arkadenhof is a residential building to behold (Bäckerstrasse 7) - its wrought ironwork is from the collection of Biedermeier painter Friedrich Amerling. A stone's throw away, the generously proportioned Heiligenkreuzerhof joins Schönlaterngasse and Grashofgasse.

Beautiful courtyards are not the exclusive preserve of the 1st district. Elsewhere, the Raimundhof (Mariahilfer Strasse 45, 6th district), an arcade consisting of several adjoining courtyards, joins the Mariahilfer Strasse shopping street and Windmühlgasse. The passageway is lined with bijoux boutiques, bars and restaurants. In the 7th district three courtyards combine to form a passageway that links Neustiftgasse 16 and Lerchenfelderstrasse 13. The arcade has something of a Mediterranean feel with its sidewalk cafés. Things are a little quieter at the Adlerhof (constructed 1874). This restored passageway has five terraced courtyards giving access to ten buildings from Siebensterngasse 46 to Burggasse 51. 

  

Vienna. Main Public Library

One of the most fascinating facets of the Main Library of the City Libraries is the view through its vast glass facades: Kahlenberg, Leopoldsberg and large parts of the Vienna Woods seem close enough to touch. Spacious library rooms with Internet and audio stations, reading nooks and a café are conducive to reading and reflecting.

  

Directly above the underground station Burggasse-Stadthalle one finds the new library, opened in 2003 and created by architect Ernst Mayr whose design won a competition held by the European Union. A supporting structure spanning three stories makes the building look as if it were suspended above the tracks of the old Otto Wagner station pavilions. It is located directly between the two lanes of the Vienna “Gürtel," one of the busiest roads of the city.

The generous open staircase of the library connects to the roof of Urban-Loritz square, which was renovated a few years ago – it conveys a cosmopolitan feeling and signals free access to the knowledge stored in the library. The cafés in the glass rotunda represent casual and communicative urbanity. The library, 150 meters long and 26 meters wide, offers a usable area of 6,000 square meters and provides access to 240,000 pieces of print media (books, scores, trade journals) as well as to 60,000 electronic media items (CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs and videos).

Vienna. Architecture and design. Social housing and the Werkbund Estate.

In the 1920s, the city of Vienna began to build social housing for the countless workers who came to Vienna from elsewhere in the Empire. Today, the architectural image of Vienna is impossible to imagine without these buildings, some of which are truly gigantic.

  

The Social Democratic government of the First Republic (1918-1934) wanted to improve workers' quality of life. The plan was to erect large housing complexes that were affordable and offered their residents good living conditions. The social housing functioned as a city within a city and was usually built as perimeter block developments: a large gateway led into the often landscaped interior courtyard, from which the individual stairways and apartments were accessed. Amenities such as swimming pools, supermarkets, laundromats, and kindergartens were frequently situated in the common buildings. The first housing estate to be built in Vienna was the Metzleinstalerhof in the 5th district.

Many of the architects were students of Art Nouveau icon Otto Wagner at the Academy of Fine Arts. They included Karl Ehn, who planned the famous Karl-Marx-Hof in the 19th district of Vienna. Together with the Sandleitenhof with 1,531 apartments in the 16th district, he is the poster child of "red housing" in the period between the wars. In the Karl-Marx-Hof, which accommodates 1,272 apartments on a total of 156,000 square meters, there is a museum in the laundromat which explains the communal housing of this era. 61,175 apartments in 348 housing blocks and 5,227 apartments in 42 terraced house developments were built between 1923 and 1934. 400 architecture offices participated in the construction. Interrupted by the Second World War, the city of Vienna took up its social construction projects again in 1947, and has continued these - adapted architecturally to the era in question - until the present.

At the beginning of the 1930s, the so-called Werkbund estates were built. The underlying idea was that of a new estate movement. The aim was to achieve economy in the smallest space and functional solutions. The model houses were supposed to be affordable, able to be built in series, and with flat roofs. The Vienna Werkbund Estate in the 13th district had a total of 76 buildings and was built between 1929 and 1932 under the direction of Josef Frank. Prominent architects included Josef Hoffmann, Clemens Holzmeister and Adolf Loos. However, the Werkbund Estate did not succeed - although today it is one of the most significant examples of modern architecture in Austria. Starting in 1933, Austrian fascism left little space for socio-political experiments, which ended completely with the annexation of Austria to Hitler's Germany in 1938.

The Nazi era hardly left any architectural traces in Vienna, aside from the six flak towers that are visible today - like warnings - on the skyline. Since the 1960s, countless outstanding examples of modern architecture have been built in Vienna.

Vienna. Symphoniker Open-Air

Come enjoy the Wiener Symphoniker free of charge in open-air concerts in Vienna on May 8 and 31 at the Festival of Joy on Heldenplatz and at the MuseumsQuartier Open Air.

  

The Wiener Symphoniker, one of Vienna’s best orchestras, are treating the Viennese and their guests to no less than two free open-air concerts in May. Both the Festival of Joy and the MuseumsQuartier Open Air are already regular fixtures on the annual concert calendar.

May 8: Festival of Joy

This year Heldenplatz hosts the seventh Festival of Joy: It marks the anniversary of the 1945 surrender by the Nazi regime. In addition to commemorating the day of liberation, the 2019 Festival of Joy is also dedicated to Europe and human rights.

The Wiener Symphoniker, led by Finnish conductor Eva Ollikainen, and Mauthausen Committee Austria invite guests to a concert to be held at Vienna's historic Heldenplatz. Host Katharina Stemberger leads through the program, which also includes speeches and the broadcast of video messages. The highlight of the ceremony will be a speech by concentration camp survivor Shaul Spielmann.

The program spans a musical arc from the pre-war period to the horror of dictatorship and the joy unleashed by humanity's triumph.

  

May 31, MuseumsQuartier Open Air

By now a tradition, the Wiener Symphoniker will give another free open-air concert on Friday, May 31: The MuseumsQuartier's main courtyard will be transformed into Vienna's finest open-air concert hall. Conductor Speranza Scappucci leads a resounding program inspired by sunny Italy and Mediterranean passion, featuring works by Rossini, Verdi and Johann Strauss, among others.

Vienna. Church concerts

St. Stephen's Cathedral, Karlskirche (Church of St. Charles) and many other sacred sites are regular showplaces for diverse concerts. Classical works by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Vivaldi enchant in the atmospheric, sacred spaces, as do songs, choral, piano and trumpet music and opera performances in a crypt.

  

The concerts in Vienna's churches include spiritual works such as Mozart's Requiem, but there is also a purely secular program which includes Vivaldi's “The Four Seasons” and adapted operas. Church concerts are a delight, especially in summer, when a cool, airy atmosphere prevails in the architectural monuments.

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" are performed at the Summer Cathedral Concerts on Fridays and Saturdays from July to October in one of Vienna's leading attractions: St. Stephen's Cathedral. The one-hour performances are interpreted by the ensemble "Soloists of the Wiener KammerOrchester". Before Christmas, there follows a series of Advent concerts. And at the hour of Mozart's death, at midnight on 5 December, the Requiem he composed is played in full in his honor.

Karlskirche (Church of St. Charles)

In the magnificent Baroque Church of St. Charles, the ensemble 1756 plays Vivaldi's “The Four Seasons” on the cembalo and other historical instruments (large image on top). Antonio Vivaldi was buried a few meters from the Church of St. Charles in 1741. The second program consists of Mozart’s “Requiem” with 40 musicians – its sound and interpretation are styled in the spirit of Mozart’s age.

Peterskirche (Church of St. Peter)

The program of music in the Baroque Peterskirche (Church of St. Peter), which is located in the heart of Vienna, is exceptionally packed - from free, daily organ concerts to performances by international choirs. The Classic Ensemble Vienna is a guest here several times a week with a program ranging from Mozart to Beethoven and Bach to Vivaldi. "Opera in the Crypt" is regularly held in the old vaults deep under the nave - with opera program for children as well as for adults. Piano sonatas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are performed here on Saturdays and Sundays.

Vienna Boys' Choir in the Hofburg Chapel

On Sundays, the Vienna Imperial Court Music Ensemble performs at Holy Mass in the chapel of the Imperial Palace. The ensemble comprises the Vienna Boys' Choir, members of the Vienna Philharmonic as well as the men's choir of the Vienna State Opera and the schola cantorum of the Vienna Hofburg Chapel. Mass settings by the great masters ring out: Monteverdi, Salieri, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert and Bruckner.

St. Anna

The Church of St. Anna is an example of the beauty and playfulness of the Baroque and thus a noble setting for the classical concerts that are held here several times a week. Works of chamber music by Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven are on the program. On selected days, historical instruments are used - a special tip.

St. Rupert

Early Music is at home in Vienna's oldest church: The music that can be experienced in its original sound in the Church of St. Rupert from June to October (mostly Mondays and Tuesdays) ranges from the Middle Ages to the Romantic period. The 8th-century Roman jewel stands on the site of the ancient settlement of Vindobona, near Schwedenplatz.

Schubertkirche

Soloists and chamber music ensembles fill the cool, Baroque interior of the "Schubertkirche" in Lichtental in a series of summer concerts on Tuesdays, with sounds ranging from the Baroque to Modernism. The audiences here, where Franz Schubert was christened in 1797, sang and played music, are mainly Viennese. In the spring, the church is the showplace of the Schubert Festival, and on some dates there are performances on the Schubert organ, a modern organ in the original housing dating to 1774. Concerts are held on Saturday evenings during “Orgelherbst” (Organ Autumn).

Maltese Church

Musical enjoyment is provided by the one-hour classical concerts with organ and trumpets in the Maltese Church, located right on Kärntner Strasse. The program is filled with works by Händel, Mozart and Bach, plus Viennese classics by Schubert and Haydn.

Franciscan Church

Get to know the organ: At the Friday organ presentations, visitors can view the mighty Wöckherl organ - the oldest in Vienna, finished in 1642 - up close and listen to music from the time of its creation. Tip: The organ festival "Quintessenz" held in early summer each year.

Viennese Concert Cafés

Live music in numerous Viennese concert cafés makes a visit to the coffee house a delight for the ears: The piano music of Waltz King, Johann Strauss, rings out, as do melodies with a hint of jazz or the classic Viennese song.

  

Your apple strudel and ring cake will taste even better when accompanied by music - mostly on the piano, sometimes with soloists as well. Here, we present you with a selection of concert cafés that offer a regular program of music (see café address for precise times):

Cafés on the Ringstraße

Café Schwarzenberg is the oldest café on the Ringstraße, having been founded in around 1860. Piano concerts are played here in the vicinity of the Musikverien, Konzerthaus and Ronacher. Almost opposite, the Hotel Imperial opened its doors for the first time in 1873 - also for regular coffee house guests, such as Sigmund Freud and Anton Bruckner. For example, the Imperial Cake, a popular souvenir, can be enjoyed here to the music played on the Bösendorfer grand. Café Landtmann was also established in 1873 - guests such as Gustav Mahler, Marlene Dietrich, Romy Schneider, Burt Lancaster and Sir Paul McCartney listened to the piano here. Also on the Ringstraße, opposite the Museum for Applied Art, is Café Prückel. Its interior from the 1950s inspires coffee house and design fans. Piano concerts are as much a part of the Prückel as newspapers and coffee

Before the evening performance ...

The concert café Weimar near the Volksoper has existed since 1900 and remains a popular meeting place for audiences and artists alike. There is live piano in the historic ambience, with operettas, swing and jazz evergreens. At Café Sperl, which opened in 1880, Thonet chairs, marble tables and crystal chandeliers create a timelessly elegant ambience that opera lovers appreciate as a way to get in the mood for a performance at the nearby Theater an der Wien.

Palace Cafés

Schönbrunn Palace is the imperial setting of the Café-Restaurant Residenz. The music plays in the coffee house room upstairs, while the imperial bakery in the basement offers the opportunity to dive into the secrets of Viennese baking art during the Apfel Strudel show. Landtmann's Jausen Station in Schönbrunn Palace park was originally built as a pavilion for Emperor Franz Joseph and his siblings to play in - today, people feast on delicious pastries here on Saturdays, accompanied by live music.

In the center

The former regular café of Thomas Bernhard, Café Bräunerhof, lies in the heart of the Old City antiques district between the Imperial Palace and Graben. The Bräunerhof Trio (violin, cello, piano) plays a pot pourris of Franz Lehár, Emmerich Kálmán, Robert Stolz and the "Strausses". Around 1900, the poet, Peter Altenberg, frequented the legendary literati meeting place Café Central - music was offered here daily. The imperial shine of old Austria - with musical entertainment on Sundays - is brought to life in Café Hofburg, with its neighbors, the Sisi Museum, Imperial Apartments, Spanish Riding School, Treasuries and Imperial Silver Collection.

The most musical café

The concert café Schmid Hansl is home to Wienerlied (Viennese Songs), Jazz, blues, musicals and operetta, folk and brass music, whether national or international, classical or modern - everything finds its stage here.

Vienna. 39th International Musical Festival

The Wiener Konzerthaus invites you to the International Music Festival: with 66 events ranging from classical and jazz to contemporary music. Among the performers are Elīna Garanča, Hélène Grimaud and Diana Damrau as well as the Vienna Philharmonic.

  

Keeping the tradition alive and juxtaposing the new with the tried and tested – this was the idea of director Egon Seefehlner, who founded the International Music Festival of the Wiener Konzerthaus Society in 1947. In line with this mission, the festival will once again feature exquisite world stars this year. This year's music festival at the Konzerthaus will be opened on May 11 by the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst with Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8. Between then and the final concert with superstar Diana Krall on July 1, a wide range of guest performances by international orchestras and musical performances by leading soloists will be presented.

Musical diversity

In addition to the diverse forms of performance such as musical theater and video opera, the range of genres represented in the festival is once again extensive. It includes a performance by the Latvian mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča and piano recitals with Hélène Grimaud, a song recital with Diana Damrau, and major choral works such as Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem" with the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Daniel Harding.

Chamber music can also be experienced in all its diversity: the Philharmonix can be heard, as can the Artemis Quartet. The overall program

is rounded off by a whole series of jazz and world concerts as well as literature and film events in the best tradition of the Konzerthaus. Throughout the festival, sound installations by Hilario Isola and Enrico Ascoli will make the festival a unique experience on the main staircase in the Grand Foyer.