Music & Theatre, Vienna

Before arriving, we got the concierge of our hotel to get us tickets to see the Barber of Seville. What a good call! This was the highlight of our trip here and fortunately it was a lively entertaining opera. The architecture and decor inside is as amazing as you'd expect.

There is an electronic translation screen on the back of the seat in front of you. You can choose among four languages, among them English. These are much better than the translations shown at other venues high above the stage.

Dress Code: Smart casual. I wore a sports jacket, which fit in, but many others did not. One or two men wore black tie.

Check the programme for the Musikverein. During a daytime guided tour, we were lucky enough to be allowed to listen in to 5 minutes of a rehearsal for a concert to be held that night by the Ensemble Wien. We were so bowled over by what we heard that we went straight to the ticket office to see if we could get tickets for the concert that night. We were sold great seats at a cost of 39 euros each.

That evening, it was SO exciting just to enter the beautiful building and the concert that followed surpassed anything I'd heard before. The musicians gave a faultless performance on priceless, centuries-old instruments and the marvellous acoustics of the concert hall completed the perfection of it all. Just sitting there, gazing at the beautiful surroundings and listening to the marvellous music made for one of the best evenings I've ever had.

Dress Code: As we had no smart clothes with us, we asked about dress code before buying the tickets and were told there was NO dress code and we'd be fine in the very casual clothes we were wearing. However, when we turned up for the event, we had trouble ignoring the disgusted looks we got from "Vienna's finest" who had all turned out in their best clobber and clearly didn't appreciate anyone who hadn't made the same effort. So, I would recommend packing one smart outfit if you're easily embarrassed.

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Finally managed to catch up with Neil Young here and enjoyed his performance very much. Not so sure about the venue itself, my advice is buy the most expensive tickets you can, the cheap seats at the back are not great, view or sound. Getting in the place confusing also, my ticket had North entrance on it - there's not one - use east or west!

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As much as anything, Vienna is about music: think of such composers as Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss and Mahler, among others. We decided on an opera.

An internet search revealed that the State Opera was staging “Boris Godunov” and the Volksoper had a performance of La Traviata. Well, neither was particularly Austrian, but we chose La Traviata. The leading soprano was Roxana Briban, who you can see and hear on this “Youtube” clip in a dress rehearsal for this very show (hint – if you have a tabbed browser, open this link in a separate tab and listen while you read the tip).

Despite being somewhat preoccupied for the first five minutes (see “Warnings”) it soon dawned that this was a very different La Traviata than the usual, which is very colourful. Instead of Parisian parties, the show opened with a dying Violetta in her nightgown on a couch, a gauze curtain separating her from the cast in funereal clothing while phantoms with death masks pirouette. There was no colour, just black, white and grey, and the entire story was presented in retrospect, as a series of flashbacks and hallucinations about the past.

In the second half came a splash of red, when the usual gipsy girls were presented as a line of Spanish dancers, then back to the sombre outfits. At the end of the show, Violetta died alone on the stage, her hallucination of Alfredo having disappeared. Curtain.

If that sounds truly depressing, in some obscure way it seemed to work (though I think I’d prefer the original presentation style) and we enjoyed what was a very good performance

This link will give the details of what seem to be most of the musical shows being presented in Vienna and also enables you to make bookings. For many performances, particularly operas, an early booking (ie several months ahead) seems a good idea!

Dress Code: Smart casual - it does not seem necessary for men to wear suits or women tiaras, but something better than jeans and joggers would be appropriate.

I spent a lot of time trying to decide which concert to go, because there were just too many choices. And I think the Vienna tourism board isn't doing a good job to make all the performances more organized, so that tourists can easily tell the features of each concert and then choose one according to their preferrence.
But maybe it's still a best solution to go to the information centre to ask for a general introduction, though I don't think they're patient and helpful enough...
You'll also come across people in cloaks on the street, selling tickets of the concerts. It's advisory to buy tickets from them, coz it's possible to bargain...and the tickets sold in the information centre can be MORE EXPENSIVE!
My opinion is: since all concerts should be good, all at least has it's own advantage, just choose one which is held in a place you're interested in visiting...
I myself went to a puppet performance of "Magic Flute". I'm a little regretful for that...it's not so fantastic as I expected. It can't match a live ochestra, I believe...
Some of the concerts go with dinner in the fancy restaurants. I think it'll be nice to have dinner there, as long as you can afford that...
For the concerts only, the student ticket costs around 25euro. Or maybe you can bargain, which I didn't try...

Jeunesse.at is responsible for promoting live events - in particular classical music in an affordable way to the young - if you are under 26, then you pay half price on tickets. Booking is online, via their website, otherwise there is a ticket office at the Musikverein. It is possible to book online and to then pick up your tickets before the concert - this only applies for concerts in Vienna though. Online booking requires a credit card, but the process is simple and the forms are available in English or German.

Dress Code: Informal but smartish.

Once you get to Vienna , it's impossible to avoid young people dressed in period costumes trawling the streets. They are selling tickes to Strauss and other concerts and it seems like they are on every night of the year. To hear the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, you must however book months and months in advance. But the selection of venues and performers is huge in Vienna so whatever time of the year you visit it should be possible to attend one or several concerts, especially in churches. During our visit in early December the big concert was a performance of Mozart's requiem at the Stephansdom Cathedral. We did try for tickets but even standing room was completely sold out.
The phone number I've given is specifically for the Vienna Mozart concerts in period costumes.
Other details you will get on your trip by going to the tourist office at Albertinaplatz

Dress Code: Depends on the venue. The more upmarket the venue the more formal the dress code.

A night at the opera is an essential part of a trip to Vienna. Home of so many great composers it seems almost compulsory to sample the fare. Our night at the opera had been booked months in advance and as the great night finally arrived, much effort was put into deciding what would be elegant enough to wear to the grand and spectacular Staatsoper. We needn't have worried as it turned out our tickets were to the Volksoper which is a totally different kettle of fish. Once we adjusted our expectations and surrendered our glad rags it turned out to be a very enjoyable evening afterall. The Volksoper is in a fairly run-down area near the Gurtel Ring Road and the view from the upstairs area is of a huge traffic junction. Not the stuff of which dreams are made so one must go inside quickly and enjoy the red and cream interior with parralel lines of boxes on either side of the stage. The opera was Don Giovanni, composed when Mozart lived in Vienna. At three hours, it was a bit long for opera ignoramuses but I think as operas go it's fairly easy to follow. Even a philistine like me could tap their feet to the music and ogle the costumes and setswith delight. This photo is completely blurred but I'm using it because the blurry finish reminds me of many impressionist/pointillist paintings of audiences in Paris. Manet, and Seurat, eat your hearts out!
Our tickets for the balcony cost EUR 50 but prices go much higher than that. Standing room places are only EUR 2
Trams 40, 41 and 42 will take you to the Volksoper

Dress Code: Neat dress but nothing too formal.