Muscial Performances in Vienna
May 17th, 2001, 09:47 AM
#2
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Mike, <BR>Check the following website for a schedule of concerts. Click on events and then list the dates of your visit and you'll get all the events of interest <BR>http://info.wien.at/index_e.html <BR> <BR>
May 17th, 2001, 11:27 AM
#4
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Definitely the Staatsopera -- for 20 shillings (as of Dec. '93 -- oh, so long ago!) you can get standing room directly in front of the stage. The 15-shilling tickets were way to the side for a partial view. NOTE: They did not tell us that there were two different ticket prices for two different sections, so ask before purchasing. Also, if you're a student, you can get "leftover" seats before the show starts -- a friend got Orchestra Box seats for his 20 shillings!
May 18th, 2001, 11:50 AM
#7
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I was in Vienna a couple years ago at that same time period and I was very disappointed in the classical music offerings at that time. I was very surprised as I thought it was an especially musical city, but there was very little of any quality in July. So, it really depends on your level of experience and interest in classical music (assuming that's what you meant). The opera is over by July (I am not a big opera fan anyway), and there are not nearly as many good concerts as in Paris, for example. I think they just close their performing arts season early in Vienna. The only things going on were the tourist concernts, of which there are many, but I am not interested in this type of repertoire (those are the people with historic costumes); however, if you haven't listened to classical music a lot, you might enjoy those. I will honestly tell you the highest quality and far cheapest classical music concerts I found in July were the smaller chamber music/solo recitals in churches (best quality for repertoire and musician caliber); you can find listings of these in local events newspapers, my pension had some of these publications where I found them. Now, another thing I attended which was very enjoyable was an open-air evening festival occurring at the Rathauspark (park area around the City Hall); this happened several nights (I was staying near there, so could walk) and had lots of food booths, and either music or a large-screen projected movie of a performance film, as I recall. Yo might check if there is that going on. Finally, you know your stay coincides with the Vienna Jazz Festival if you like that style of music (www.viennajazz.org), you might need to reserve ahead for that one. If you are especially interested in classical music, don't miss Haydn's house--which has a Brahms room, whom I adore, he does not get his own house as a museum :- Surprisingly, they had a piano (square, as I recall) and some artifacts of Brahms in Haydn's house, but it was a different piano than the photos of his house on the wall showed; also, don't miss Mozart's house.
May 18th, 2001, 11:59 AM
#8
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Christina, what a wonderfully informative post. The one time I was in Vienna I didn't attend any concerts at all but you've definitely made me feel I must go back and do that! I tried to make up for it by going to as many as I could in Prague, but of course that is not the same thing at all. <BR>BTW, where is Mozart's house in Vienna? What is it near, I mean? Thanks, kk
May 18th, 2001, 04:01 PM
#9
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Kay, <BR>Mozart and his wife lived on the first floor of the house at 1 Schulerstrasse, almost next door to Stephansplatz. It's known now as Figarohaus since he composed "The Marriage of Figaro" while living there from 1784 to 1787. Beethoven was his student for a short while while Mozart was in residence. <BR> <BR>The entrance to the house is not on Schulerstrasse but rather at No.5 Domgasse.
May 18th, 2001, 04:30 PM
#10
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We were in Vienna for three days in late June last year. One of the Austrian art forms is the operetta (Lehar, Joe Strauss, Oskar Straus, many others). Even if you don't speak German, the visual and musical experience can provide a great evening of fun, especially followed by some Viennese chocolate dessert and coffee (the fairly simplistic operetta plots--mistaken identity, etc., usually involve some comic relief and the singers almost always beautiful voices) <BR> <BR>There is a summer theatre about 25 miles from Vienna (perhaps even in the Viena Woods, and trains and buses are available) where operettas are performed "under the stars." I think Millocker's "Gasparone" was the featured work at that time. If you are interested in the email address, let me know and I'll dig it up and forward it to you. <BR> <BR>Having written all that, we instead attended "The Merry Widow" at the Staatsoper (not an inexpensive evening--the hotel secured the tickets for us). The Staatsoper was rebuilt in 1955 (it had been destroyed in WWII) and is an incredibly handsome venue for opera or operetta. That event was a major highlight of our European trip. <BR> <BR>Of course, there does seem to be a bit of Mozart and Beethoven around the town most of the time as well.
May 21st, 2001, 04:06 PM
#11
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kk, the house Wes mentions at Domgasse 5 is the main Mozart house I visited; it is set up for visits and has some artifacts of his in it, not really much, if any, furniture, as I recall. This is his only residence in Vienna set up as a museum; although like many musicians (or others), he moved around a lot--that is one of his apartments he lived in longest (about 2-3 years). I also visited the house where he died, as that was important to me (where he wrote the Requiem); it is at Rauhensteingasse 8 (on other side Kartnterstrasse 19), which is not far from there in the central area, also. It is not being preserved and was difficult to find; in fact, perhaps I was mistaken, but it appeared to me it was being demolished for a modern building or at least massive renovation, it had a lot of scaffolding around it when I was there. Haydn's house is farther out, not right in the center, but only a few metro stops away in the 6th district at Haydngasse 19. Actually, it was the most interesting place, as it had the most to look at. Perhaps it is just because Brahms is so special to me, and I could see his things there (including photos). The concerts in Prague are wonderful, you didn't really miss anything, I don't think. There were some nice small chamber music performances in St Stephan's when I was there (some Schubert, for example) but, as I said, I was disappointed in the paucity of offerings in July. I personally don't care for operettas nor the lighter classical music like Strauss waltzes, etc, so I don't recall if there were performances of that type of music around when I was there. I like Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, all of whom lived in Vienna at times. I think Vienna should do much more in keeping up the houses as museums for these giant composers, including manuscripts and other artifacts; Haydn and Mozart are the only ones, I believe, that tourists can see, although there are some sites with Beethoven items but not an entire museum, I don't think or I would have gone. There is an excellent listing of sites and events affiliated with these composers on this web site: austria-tourism.at (go to "Famous People" then "Music Masters") Finally, this is not a performance, but I must mention that Vienna has one of the best musical instrument museums in the world; it is right near Hofburg Palace, and has some wonderful instruments in it, including at least one of Beethoven's pianos. It is part of the Kunsthistorishches Museum and can be seen at www.khm.at (go to Collections, you should see musical instruments).
