I love all types of music and was a dedicated flute player at one point in my life, and I have to say that the Mozart dinner concert at Stiftskeller St. Peter (purportedly the oldest restaurant in Salzburg) - yes, complete with musicians and singers in period costume - is one of my most memorable European experiences of all time! The food was amazingly good considering the scenario (it is a "period" meal that they must have cooked thousands of times over). I highly recommend it.
http://www.stiftskellerstpeter.at/

Yes, Salzburg does suffer from a little Mozart Mania, but it's not overwhelming, and it is a gorgeous city at any time of year!

For BAD "classical" music in costume check out this band! (saw them on QVC on Christmas Eve & spit out my egg nog!)

http://www.novaeramusic.com/

Anyway, the Municipal House concerts in Prague are notorious for using semi-pro performers, and cater to tourists who supposedly "won't know the difference" between poorly performed Mozart & the Czech Philharmonic. When in doubt, go with the Czech Phil..! I'm sure there are some good concerts featuring special period costume, but you might as well go see an opera & get the full experience of a concert hall, etc. Maybe a production at the Estates Theater in Prague, where Mozart premiered Don Giovanni, but even those "tourist" operas do not use "A level" casts & musicians.

Another vote for Vienna with the above-mentioned caveat to think twice about those tourist-oriented costumed performances. Anything at the Musikverein or Konzerthaus is likely to be good.
Also Paris; if you and your son can't find anything you like in the Pariscope music listings, you'd have to be really hard to please.

Unfortunately, it's probably a little too far off the beaten path, but we really enjoyed our stay in Detmold, Germany, in the Teutoburgerwald area. Detmold is home to one of Germany's best musical colleges, so there were always performances by students, faculty, or visiting professionals.

Finally, Verbier, for their summer music festival that features some of the world's best musicians. A nonstop feast for the ear in a beautiful mountain setting.
http://www.verbierfestival.com/html_en/home.html

Intuitive!

My son is a music performance graduate, conducts and is a development director for a symphony in California. YOU MUST GO TO VIENNA!

If at all possible, go to a Vienna Philharmonic concert at the Musikverein. You can purchase stnading room tickets at the Philharmonic office on KartnerRing for 4.5 euro apiece. If you get to the theater about 90 minutes before the concert begins, you can be at the front of the line for standing room only. We did this and stood in the front row! It was an amazing experience.

The Haus of Musik was interesting; they had several objects on display of a few composers items.

You will also want to go to the Volkerkunde Museum at Neue Burg in the Hofburg Complex. One section of it has an amazing collection of musical instruments from centuries past. I went for my son, but ended up being fascinated with it; seeing instruments used by Brahms, Mozart, Schumann etc. Quite fascinating.

A touching side trip would be the Central Cemetery to the section where very famous composers were buried....Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Schubert, Strauss, Lizst. My son was overcome with emotion here. Pretty amazing.

I would also try to see St. Stephens cathedral at a time when there is some kind of music. The acoustics were incredible, and well worth the time spent.

I'm sure there are other things I am not remembering right now, but suffice to say we spent 8 days in Vienna and are returning again this fall. There is still so much to see.

Enjoy!

Ben Haines: "London...The Royal Albert Hall, for a grand building but moderate music"

This would be bad advice if it were for the summer, when it hosts the Proms. For other main venues:

www.rfh.org.uk
www.barbican.org.uk
www.asmf.org
www.asmf.org


If you take a trip to Greenwich (on many tourists' itineraries already), Thomas Tallis is buried nearby: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Alfege%27s_Church%2C_Greenwich

The British Library's permanent exhibition has a great selection of music manuscipts etc. on display.

Any venue in Europe and even some of Western Asia offers unlimited musical experiences of all kinds. European culture is based on music. A Music major 22 years old should be able to organize a ten day 'discovery trip' in consultation with his teachers. What instrument does he favor?, is he a vocal person? Perhaps he writes music? My Lodz, Poland, Grand Opera offered 14 opera/ballets last December. January offers more. Other theaters have similar schedules. Every large city in Poland does the same. Ten days...rather a lifetime and then only the surface will be scratched.