2017: In the Rhythm of Vienna
A rich musical heritage and a thriving contemporary musical scene – music from all genres and eras has a place in the Austrian capital.
At first glance Vienna seems to be all about classical music, a genre that up to 10,000 music fans can enjoy live every night. The Vienna Philharmonic orchestra, founded 175 years ago, and the Vienna Boys’ Choir (est. 1498) are among the capital’s leading international exports. Tickets for the New Year’s Day Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic – broadcast live to 50 million people in 90 countries – are hot property. And their Summer Night Concert in the Schönbrunn Gardens attracts around 100,000 visitors each year.
The Vienna State Opera, Musikverein and Konzerthaus are at the top of many tourists’ itineraries. Music fans will also find a whole host of interesting places such as the House of Music, Mozarthaus Vienna and the capital’s other concert halls. The beat of the waltz is always in the air in Vienna. Couples have been dancing to the sounds of Johann Strauss’s world famous Blue Danube Waltz for 150 years now, and the golden statue of the ‘Waltz King’ in Stadtpark is one of the most photographed sights in the whole of the city.
Music fans will have little trouble finding the ideal location to indulge their passion. Each year the Austrian capital stages more than 15,000 concerts of all sizes and genres. But there’s more to music in Vienna than concert halls and festivals – it can also be enjoyed in concert cafés, at numerous ball events, at Heuriger wine taverns, at the turn of the year on the New Year's Eve Trail or even at the Vienna City Marathon where classical melodies fill the air along the way.
Music, music everywhere!
Opera fans can choose between four different opera houses. It goes without saying that the Vienna State Opera claims top spot. One of the world’s leading opera venues, is also credited with having the largest repertoire of any of its peers (season runs from September to June, more than 300 performances of around 60 different operas and ballets). Vienna’s second largest opera house, the Volksoper, offers a rich variety of stage performances, from opera to operettas, musicals, ballet and contemporary dance. The Theater an der Wien hosts around ten premieres from Baroque operas to contemporary pieces each year. It also hosts the Vienna Chamber Opera, the capital’s fourth opera house, which specializes in opera buffa, chamber musicals and contemporary musical theater.
Vienna’s classical music scene is dominated by two institutions. The Musikverein is known to music lovers all over the world as one of the most illustrious concert halls of them all, where only the crème de la crème are invited to perform. Its Golden Hall, which aside from having superb acoustics, is one of the most attractive concert venues anywhere in the world. Each year the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra performs its New Year’s Concert at the venue. Broadcast live, it includes works by Strauss (father and son) and their contemporaries. The second, the Wiener Konzerthaus is home to the Wiener Symphoniker, the Wiener Kammerorchester, the Klangforum Wien and the Wiener Singakademie. Vienna also has a brace of venues for musicals: the Ronacher and Raimund Theater.
Fans of historic music should pay a visit to the musicians’ apartments in the capital, which include the former homes of Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Strauss. Located just behind St. Stephen's Cathedral, the six-floor Mozarthaus Vienna gives an insight into the great composer’s life and includes his original apartment. The Arnold Schönberg Center houses the estate of the inventor of the twelve-tone method of composition and founder of the Second Viennese School, and also hosts a changing line up of temporary exhibitions and an active research facility. The House of Music spirits visitors off on a journey back in time through the history of music. Interactive multimedia exhibits track the development of music from its evolutionary origins to the present day. The Collection of Historic Musical Instruments at the Hofburg is home to the world’s largest repository of Renaissance and Baroque instruments, many of which have been played by famous musicians and composers.
No end of clubs and festivals
But Vienna also has a different sound to it, particularly at night in the venues on the Gürtel or down on the Danube Canal, with Flex, Fluc, rhiz and Grelle Forelle as well as the nearby Pratersauna leading the way. Here, music fans can hear what came of the 1990s ‘Vienna Sound’ popularized by producer duo Kruder & Dorfmeister. It’s not just Kruder & Dorfmeister that confirmed the success of Viennese popular music on the international stage with a raft of their own tracks and numerous remixes for such luminaries as Madonna and Depeche Mode – Falco’s Rock Me Amadeus is the only German-language to this day to reach number 1 in the US billboard charts, a feat achieved back in 1986. He also topped the charts in numerous European countries and Japan with follow-up hit Der Kommissar. The legendary Viennese singer and musician, who died in a car accident in the Dominican Republic in 1998, would have celebrated his 60th birthday in 2017. More recent success stories include Conchita Wurst (Rise Like a Phoenix) at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen and Viennese band Wanda (Bologna), which has a loyal following, particularly among German-speaking music fans.
The idea that the city’s musical experience extends to all genres and eras is also clear to see at its numerous music festivals: there’s Wien Modern with new music, Resonances with old music and Voice Mania with a-cappella sounds. Meanwhile, the capital’s young music scene is given ample exposure at Popfest, Gürtel Nightwalk and Waves Vienna. Jazz and blues fans are spoilt for choice with Vienna Blues Spring, Vienna Jazz Festival in the Summer and und One Month of Jazz & Blues in November. Wienerlied festivals such as Wean Hean reveal the enduring relevance and adaptability of this supposedly highly traditional musical genre. The Danube Island Festival — Europe’s largest free open-air party — pulls in some three million visitors each year, with acts from just about every genre imaginable on the billing. During Rock in Vienna the Danube Island is the place to be for harder sounds.
City of film music
Synchron Stage Vienna, one of the leading studios for film and orchestral recordings, opened in 2016 in the sound stage set up during the Nazi era at Rosenhügel studios in the 23rd district. Its exceptional acoustics put Vienna’s newest sound stage on a par with today’s top film music studios in Los Angeles, London and Berlin. At the same time, the Synchron Stage Orchestra film music session ensemble is starting to take shape, ready to offer all the skills needed to meet the exacting standards of the studios and leading film producers. The outstanding quality of the city’s classical music institutions means that the orchestra is able to work with mostly local musicians. Synchron Stage Vienna is operated by the Vienna Symphonic Library, a local company which specializes in the development of music software and sample libraries. With more than two million audio samples currently available, this high-end service is used by big-name music makers such as Grammy winner James Newton Howard. The Vienna Symphonic Library is the market leader and by far the largest sample repository of its kind.
2017: year of Viennese musical anniversaries
175 years of the Vienna Philharmonic
Founded in 1842 by composer Otto Nicolai, the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra is an integral part of the city’s classical music scene. Widely fêted as one of the greatest orchestras in the world, many people maintain that it is the best. Many of the performers’ instruments are specially made for them, with clarinets, bassoons and the notoriously difficult Vienna horn amongst the most common commissions. Once the inimitable Viennese string sound is added, the orchestra has a truly unique identity that never fails to impress audiences. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is an ambassador for the capital’s music scene wherever it performs, from concerts in its home city, to international tours and live broadcasts including the New Year’s Concert and the free Summer Night Concert which takes place in front of Schönbrunn Palace each year.
150 years of the Blue Danube Waltz
On February 15, 1867 the sounds of the Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss struck up for the first time. The Donauwalzer, as it is known locally, became Vienna’s unofficial anthem, an integral part of any self-respecting Viennese ball, a staple of New Year’s celebrations nationwide and an instantly recognizable feature of the New Year’s Day concert by the Vienna Philharmonic. The piece is even played on Austrian Airlines flights. Anyone with an interest in the life and work of the Waltz King should head for his apartment in the second district and the lovingly curated Strauss Museum in the ninth district. The golden Johann Strauss statue in Stadtpark on the Ringstrasse boulevard is one of Vienna’s best-loved photo opportunities.
To celebrate its 150th anniversary, the Museum of the Johann Strauss Dynasty is presenting an exhibition on the historical background that led to the composition of the famous waltz. And the exhibition “Donau, so blau” at the Vienna City Library in City Hall examines the history and impact of this unique piece of music.
Johann Strauss Apartment, Praterstrasse 54, 1020 Vienna,
Museum of the Johann Strauss Dynasty, Müllnergasse 3, 1090 Vienna,
150th anniversary of the waltz – On the Blue Danube, Feb 16-Dec 31, 2017, Museum of the Johann Strauss Dynasty, Müllnergasse 3, 1090 Vienna,
Donau, so blau, Dec 7, 2016-May 12, 2017, Vienna City Library, City Hall, entrance on Felderstrasse, stairwell 6, 1st floor, 1010 Vienna,
Vienna Boys' Choir – 5 years of the MuTh concert hall
The members of the Vienna Boys' Choir are often away on tour, but somehow still find the time to perform in their own back yard. Between September and June they can be heard at Sunday mass in the Hofburg Chapel, and since 2012 they have regularly taken to the stage at the MuTh concert hall in the Augarten. Located directly next door to their second-district base, the building for ‘music and theater’ offers excellent acoustics for audiences of up to 400 to enjoy. From kindergarten right up to senior school age (the school is also open to girls), the Boys’ Choir performs a classic program containing a little bit of everything from world music and pop to children’s opera.
MuTh – Vienna Boys’ Choir Concert Hall, Am Augartenspitz 1, 1020 Vienna,
200 years of the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna (mdw)
Founded in 1817, the mdw is one of the world’s largest and most respected universities of performing arts, music, theater and film. Spread across 24 institutes and with more than 3,000 students from Austria and the rest of the word, it offers 107 different study programs. Its best known alumni include Gustav Mahler, Friedrich Gulda, Zubin Mehta, Alfred Brendel, Claudio Abbado and Angelika Kirchschlager. The mdw will be in the spotlight at several events in 2017 as it celebrates its 200th anniversary. The festivities get under way on December 8, 2016 with a performance by the Weber Symphony Orchestra at the Musikverein’s Golden Hall under Zubin Mehta.
Anton-von-Webern-Platz 1, 1030 Vienna,
Music events in Vienna in 2016/17
Sep 30, 2016-June 28, 2017: Schikaneder the musical/Raimund Theater
Schikaneder looks at the turbulent love story behind Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute. The show focuses on the unusual marriage between the actor, theater director and Magic Flute librettist Emanuel Schikaneder and his wife Eleonore.
Raimund Theater, Wallgasse 18-20, 1060 Vienna,
January and February 2017: Viennese ball season
Each year the Austrian capital hosts around 450 balls, which are hallmarked by the upbeat melodies of the Viennese waltz. Highlights include the Hofburg Silvesterball ( the Opera Ball at the Vienna State Opera (Feb 23, 2017, the Vienna Philharmonic Ball at the Musikverein (Jan 19, 2017, the Coffeehouse Owners’ Ball (Feb 17, 2017, and Vienna’s classic ball for gays and lesbians the Rainbow Ball at Parkhotel Schönbrunn (Jan 28, 2017, Two music worlds come together at the HipHop Ball in the Kursalon Wien (Jan 28, 2017, where guests are free to pair their ball gowns and tuxedos with sneakers if they feel like it.
Jan 21-29, 2017: Resonances Festival/Konzerthaus
Vienna’s old music festival celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2017. Resonances will once again feature authentic sounds from the Middle Ages to the Baroque era. This year’s event at the Konzerthaus is inspired by “Freedoms”.
Wiener Konzerthaus, Lothringerstrasse 20, 1030 Vienna,
Feb 25-Mar 26, 2017: International Accordion Festival
This event brings artists from all over the world together for a festival of music that reveals the full spectrum of this versatile instrument. Styles range from traditional to avant-garde.
Mar 20-Apr 30, 2017: Vienna Blues Spring
The international blues scene gets together in the Austrian capital for the world’s longest blues festival.
April 2017: OsterKlang Wien music festival
Vienna’s long-established Easter festival serves up a fascinating selection of music from ancient compositions to contemporary arrangements – at the Theater an der Wien and other venues.
April 20-21, 2017: Electric Spring/MuseumsQuartier Wien
This electronic music festival presents the latest movers and shakers on the contemporary Austrian electronic music scene at the MuseumsQuartier.
MuseumsQuartier Wien, Museumsplatz 1, 1070 Vienna,
April, June and September 2017: Oper live am Platz/Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera will be broadcasting selected performances live and free of charge on a giant screen on the square outside.
Vienna State Opera, Opernring 2, 1010 Vienna,
Late April-mid-May 2017: Wean hean, Wienerlied Festival
The Wienerlied festival shows that Viennese music and the Viennese dialect are thriving and that this genre is more than happy to look well beyond its own confines.
May 12-Jun 18, 2017: Vienna Festival
Under artistic director Tomas Zierhofer-Kin, from 2017 the multidisciplinary Viennese culture festival will showcase new formats, including an electronic music festival that aims to bring the sociopolitical dimension of experimental club culture to the fore. The German artist Jonathan Meese will direct the premiere of a new interpretation of Richard Wagner’s Parsifal by Austrian composer Bernhard Lang.
May 25, 2017: Summer Night Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic/Schönbrunn
The annual Summer Night Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the major highlights of the Viennese concert calendar. For one night only, the Vienna Philharmonic will give a classical music masterclass in front of one of the Austrian capital’s best loved landmarks – free of charge.
Schönbrunn Palace, Schönbrunner Schlossstrasse, 1130 Vienna,
Jun 2-5, 2017: Rock in Vienna rock festival/Danube Island
Everyone who is anyone in the rock and metal scene will be reporting for duty on the Danube Island festival site.
Danube Island Festival, 1210 + 1220 Vienna,
Jun 23-25, 2017: Danube Island Festival
The Danube Island Festival is Europe’s largest free open air party, with more than three million visitors each year. An impressive 4 miles in length, the festival site features around 250 concession stands and numerous stages offering a mix of everything from pop and Schlager to jazz and electronic music.
Danube Island Festival, 1210 + 1220 Vienna,
Jun 23-Jul 2, 2017: Vienna Music Theater festival
The Vienna Music Theater festival is the capital’s first international festival for new musical theater.
Jun 28-Jul 10, 2017: Vienna Jazz Festival
During summer some of the city’s most attractive locations – from the Vienna State Opera to the open air arcaded courtyard at City Hall – are transformed into jazz clubs.
Jul 1-Sep 3, 2017: Music Film Festival/Rathausplatz
Each night the festival on Rathausplatz offers top music films representing a broad range of genres from opera to pop hits on the big screen, accompanied by culinary delicacies from all over the world. Admission is free.
Rathausplatz, 1010 Vienna,
Jul 13-Aug 13, 2017: ImPulsTanz – Vienna International Dance Festival
Europe’s largest dance festival presents a range of highlights and new work by exciting young dancers and choreographers at numerous venues throughout the capital. This avant garde summit meeting also includes a full range of workshops.
July 2017 Popfest/Karlsplatz
Popfest Wien pays homage to the sensational recent developments on the capital’s music scene, with an exclusive series of free open-air concerts by local bands in front of the Baroque Karlskirche and at various locations on and around Karlsplatz.