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Festivals
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.
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3rd District/Landstrasse | Opera
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.
Ungargasse 18, Vienna, Vienna, A-1030, Austria
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1st District | Music
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.
Bösendorferstrasse 12A, Vienna, Vienna, A-1010, Austria
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2nd District/Leopoldstadt | Music
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.
Am Augartenspitz 1, Vienna, Vienna, 1020, Austria
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1st District | Music
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.
Singerstrasse 7, Vienna, Vienna, A-1010, Austria
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Recommended Fodor’s Video
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1st District | Music
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.
Hofmusikkapelle, Hofburg-Schweizerhof, Vienna, Vienna, A-1010, Austria
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3rd District/Landstrasse | Theater
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.
Lisztstrasse 1, Vienna, Vienna, A-1030, Austria
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10th District/Favoriten | Art Galleries–Arts
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.
Absberggasse 27, Vienna, Vienna, A-1100, Austria
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1st District | Film
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.
Opernring 19, Vienna, Vienna, A-1010, Austria
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1st District | Theater
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.
Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Ring 2, Vienna, Vienna, A-1010, Austria
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1st District | Film
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.
Augustinerstrasse 1, Vienna, Vienna, A-1010, Austria
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4th District/Wieden | Art Galleries–Arts
This is one of the most influential of the Schleifmühlgasse galleries.
Schleifmülgasse 1a, Vienna, Vienna, A-1040, Austria
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4th District/Wieden | Art Galleries–Arts
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.
Schleifmühlgasse 5, Vienna, Vienna, A-1040, Austria
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7th District/Neubau | Art Galleries–Arts
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.
Schottenfeldgasse 45, Vienna, Vienna, A-1070, Austria
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6th District/Mariahilf
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.
Haydngasse 19, Vienna, Vienna, A-1060, Austria
Arts/Entertainment Details
Rate Includes: €5, Daily 10–1 and 2–6; Closed Mondays.
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1st District | Music
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.
Hofburg Palace, Heldenplatz, Vienna, Vienna, A-1010, Austria
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1st District | Theater
This well-respected theater offers a season of modern dramas and comedies.
Rotenturmstrasse 20, Vienna, Vienna, A-1010, Austria
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1st District | Music
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.
Lothringerstrasse 20, Vienna, Vienna, A-1010, Austria
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1st District | Art Galleries–Arts
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.
Seilerstätte 19, Vienna, Vienna, A-1010, Austria
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13th District/Hietzing
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.
Schönbrunner Schlossstrasse 47, Vienna, Vienna, A-1130, Austria
