32 Best Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria

Europe's largest contemporary dance festival takes place in venues large and small all over the city between mid-July and mid-August. In 2017, the festival venues were at nearly 100% capacity, with a record-breaking number of visitors; nearly 130,000 people packed into the halls, museums, and theaters to see some of the world's leading companies take the stage. Recent years have brought stars such as Alaine Platel, Jerome Bel, Mathilde Monnier, Anne Teresa De Keersmaker, and Marie Chouinard.

What would La Traviata be like with two soloists and a piano? Or how about a Tosca where you can join in the chorus? Stefan Fleischhacker's Letztes Erfreuliches Operntheater (otherwise known as the Last Enjoyable Opera Theater, or L.E.O. for short) offers marvelously funny and entertaining performances of grand operas that are appropriate for audiences of all ages (and much shorter than their originals). For a small donation, bread and wine are also available.

The city's most important concert halls are in the 1869 Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, better known as the Musikverein. This magnificent theater holds six performance spaces, but the one that everyone knows is the venue for the annual New Year's Day Concert—the Goldene Saal. Possibly the world's most beautiful music hall, it was designed by the Danish 19th-century architect Theophil Hansen, a passionate admirer of ancient Greece who festooned it with an army of gilded caryatids. Surprisingly, the smaller Brahms Saal is even more sumptuous—a veritable Greek temple with more caryatids and lots of gilding and green malachite. What Hansen would have made of the four subsidiary halls added in 2004 and set below the main theater will forever remain a mystery, but the avant-garde Gläserne, Hölzerne, Metallene, and Steinerne Säle (Glass, Wooden, Metal, and Stone Halls) make fitting showcases for contemporary music. In addition to being the main venue for the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Wiener Symphoniker, the Musikverein hosts many of the world's finest orchestras.

A play on the words music and theater, MuTh is the concert hall and permanent home of the world-famous Vienna Boys' Choir (Wiener Sängerknaben). Since it opened in 2012, the 400-seat theater has become the official music center inside the Augarten, the oldest Baroque garden in Vienna. Here the legendary Vienna Boys' Choir performs music that ranges from classical to world music to pop. The vast stage has some of the finest acoustics in Vienna and is equipped with an orchestra pit, specially designed seating, and distinctive acoustic panels. The building itself combines a unique mix of Baroque and modern architecture and includes a café, shop, and seminar room where musical education and other performances take place.

The most enchanting place to hear Mozart in Vienna (or anywhere, for that matter) is the exquisite 18th-century Sala Terrena, where Mozart himself played. In this intimate room (it seats a maximum of 80 people), a chamber group in historic costumes offers concerts in a jewel box overrun with Rococo frescoes in the Venetian style. Said to be the oldest concert hall in Vienna, the Sala Terrena is part of the German Monastery, where, in 1781, Mozart lived and worked for his despised employer, Archbishop Colloredo of Salzburg.

The beloved Vienna Boys' Choir, known here as the Wiener Sängerknaben, isn't just a set of living dolls out of a Walt Disney film (like the 1962 movie Almost Angels); its pedigree is royal, and its professionalism such that the choir regularly appears with the best orchestras in the world. The troupe was founded by Emperor Maximilian I in 1498, but with the demise of the Hapsburg Empire in 1918, it became its own entity and began giving public performances in the 1920s to keep afloat.

From mid-September to late June, the apple-cheeked lads sing mass at 9:15 Sunday mornings in the Hofburgkapelle. Written requests for seats should be made at least six weeks in advance. Tickets are also sold at ticket agencies and at the box office (open Friday 11–1 and 3–5). Expect to pay a top price of €38 for a seat near the nave, and note that only the 10 side-balcony seats allow a view of the choir. On Sunday at 8:45 am, any unclaimed tickets are sold at the entrance. If you miss hearing the choir at a Sunday mass, you may be able to catch it in a more popular program in the Musikverein.

The Burg's smaller house, the Akademietheater, draws on much the same group of actors for classical and modern plays, but performances are in a more relaxing setting.

A former bread factory once slated for demolition is now the site of Vienna's most celebrated contemporary art venue. Ateliers, galleries, showrooms, and studios for artists-in-residence are set up inside, making it akin to an urban artists' colony. It showcases some of the country's premier artists, as well as many up-and-comers.

Carol Reed's Vienna-based classic The Third Man, with Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton, is screened two or three times a week in English. Hollywood's latest releases are usually shown here in the original English version.

The Austrian National Theater is among the leading German-language theaters of the world. The Burgtheater's repertoire frequently mixes German classics with more modern and controversial pieces. The Burg also emphasizes works by Austrian playwrights, incluing Elfriede Jelinek, who won the 2004 Nobel Prize for Literature. The Burg's smaller house, the Akademietheater, draws on much the same group of actors for classical and modern plays, but performances are in a more relaxing setting.

Located in the Albertina, the Filmmuseum has one of the most ambitious and sophisticated schedules around, with a heavy focus on English-language films. It's stylish Filmbar serves drinks and snacks spills out onto the street. It's open until well past midnight and often hosts lectures and retrospectives, but note that it is closed in July.

This is one of the most influential of the Schleifmühlgasse galleries.

The Schleifmühlgasse has recently emerged as one of Vienna's most renowned gallery districts. Among the top contemporary galleries here is this one, located inside a former print shop.

A presence at cutting-edge art fairs around the world, this gallery has been going strong since the 1970s, when it pushed Vienna Actionism. Its Krinzinger Projects are among the most important blips on the contemporary Austrian art radar screen. The gallery is close to the MuseumsQuartier.

Joseph Haydn spent the last twelve years of his life at this house and so it is fitting that the permanent exhibition at his final residence-turned-museum focuses on the last years of the composer's life. The museum is small but offers insight into the Vienna of Haydn's last days as well as an opportunity to stand where one of the world's greatest composers stood and imagine him at work in this very space. You'll see his fortepiano and his clavichord (which was later owned by Brahms), as well as medals, certificates, and gifts Haydn had received and displayed with pride. The small garden has been recreated according to historical models, so you can sit here and imagine the great master admiring his fruit trees as he created melodies. Haydn bought the house—which was then considered to be in the suburbs—and added another floor, where his valet stayed. He moved in at the age of 65 in 1797 and lived here until his death on May 31, 1809. He was the most famous composer in all of Europe in the final years of his life and displays on the ground floor of the house show portraits and comments from his many famous visitors. These last years were also one of the most creatively productive periods of his life; Haydn created the two oratorios “The Creation” (1796–1798) and “The Seasons” (1799–1801) while living here. There's a first-edition score of the latter on display.

Much of the Imperial Palace is used today for orchestral concerts. The Festsaal, the largest hall of the Hofburg and originally conceived as a throne room, hosts frequent Strauss and Mozart concerts. If dripping opulence is a must, the Zeremoniensaal, considered the most magnificent hall of the palace, is an unparalleled venue for experiencing Vienna's classical soul.

This well-respected theater offers a season of modern dramas and comedies.

The Konzerthaus, home to three performance halls. The Grosser Konzerthaussaal, Mozartsaal, and Schubertsaal are all esteemed venues for a range of musical genres, including classical, cabaret, pop, and jazz. The lineup has included greats like Mnozil Brass, Dianne Reeves, Goran Bregović, and the Herbert Pixner Projekt.

Opposite Vienna's House of Music, Lucas Feichtner's two-story gallery is abundant with natural light, which helps showcase the array of bold works ranging from photography to collage. National and international artists, such as Petar Mirkovic and Stylianio Schico, are represented here.

Historical recordings of Mozart's Magic Flute and other favorites are on the program at this magnificent puppet theater in Schönbrunn Palace. These outstanding performances fill a whole evening, with programs designed for adults as well as for children.

Originally built as a theater for the people, the Raimund staged popular folk plays in its early days. It then moved on to opera for a spell before becoming a leading venue for long-running musicals. Here, lovers of the genre can enjoy such hits as Hair and Mamma Mia!

Extensively restored in recent years, the Ronacher presents the latest musical smash hits from Broadway in a magnificent, traditional space with ornate details, a painted ceiling and a two-ton chandelier.

For nearly 80 years, the theater has been associated with the University of Music and Performing Arts. Here visitors can watch student performances of both opera and dramatic arts.

Austria's foremost center for contemporary dance performances is Tanzquartier Wien. The season runs from September to June, and is followed by the so-called Factory Season, when the center concentrates solely on the projects presented in its dance studios.

This beautiful Rococo-style historic theater located in Mariahilf is more than 200 years old. It was used and abused for decades as a contemporary musical venue, but now the building—which is closely linked to Beethoven, who lived here—has renewed its role as an opera house, attracting an international crowd. It's open year-round, and hosts a premiere nearly every month. The selection of works performed here is tremendous, including Janáček, Prokofiev, Britten, Handel, Monteverdi, Rossini, and Bach.

The Theater in der Josefstadt, the oldest theater still in operation, stages classical and modern works year-round in a space once run by the great producer and teacher Max Reinhardt. The theater had, of late, been seeming to gather layers of dust, but happily director Herbert Föttinger has restored its reputation for more avant-garde and daring productions.

One of the world's great opera houses, the Staatsoper has been the scene of countless musical triumphs and a center of unending controversy over how it should be run and by whom. A performance takes place virtually every night from September to June, drawing on the vast repertoire of the house, with an emphasis on Mozart, Verdi, and Wagner. Guided tours are given year-round.

For English-language theater—mainly classic comedies and dramas—head for this cozy and charming venue. The season runs early September to early July.

Opera, operetta, and ballet are performed at the Volksoper, just on the outer edge of the Innere Stadt at Währinger Strasse and Währinger Gürtel. Prices here are significantly lower than at the Staatsoper, and performances can be every bit as rewarding. This theater has a packed calendar, with offerings ranging from the grandest opera, such as Mozart's Don Giovanni, to an array of Viennese operettas, including Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus, to Broadway musicals. Most operas and musicals are sung in German. The opera house is at the third stop on streetcar Nos. 41, 42, or 43, which run from Schottentor, U2, on the Ring.

This artsy theater features more alternative film options, with most movies shown in their original language with German subtitles. There are also special children's performances on the weekends. The cinema also has a lovely cafe offering wine, beer and light snacks.