Mozart dinner concert in Vienna or Salzburg

Do you want a world class performance, or do you want tourist dinner theater?

Would you also be able to provide dates for Vienna?

I went to the one at St Peter's in Salzburg and really enjoyed it. The performance was really good, the room was beautiful and the food was really good, too. I would recommend it. The only thing to note -and it might be that I just read the information wrong before I went - I was thinking it was going to be an orchestral performance only. It was orchestral and vocal, which was fine, just not what I was expecting.

Emily what are your suggestions for both the tourist type and world class?

Emily thinking May 23 in Vienna or May 25 in Salzburg

We did the Salzburg dinner concert because we were there. I'm not an opera buff so the dinner concert was great entertainment without having to sit through a full opera. But then I was in Salzburg as a tourist, not an opera lover. The Salzburg dinner concert was a fun evening.

" concert without dinner at the Musikverein in Vienna " Serious music programs don't include dinner . In those cases , dinner would be either before or after the program , The Musikverein is one of the world's premier concert venues , the top three being , arguably ,The Musikverein , The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam , and Boston Symphony Hall ( which was modeled on The Musikverein ) . The issue for you here , is what is the programming for the concert you are considering ? Assuming this might be a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic ( one of the world's greatest orchestras ) , you could encounter a wide variety in the classical music repertoire . How advanced and varied are your musical tastes and knowledge ? For me , dinner afterwards would be most desirable , in that case

I just checked your date in Vienna - The concert in the main auditorium ( Musikverein - Golden Salle ) that evening is the Berlioz Requiem , a major work of grandiose proportion . Based on your initial question , the program that night in the chamber music hall ( Brahms Salle ) is probably what you are looking for . It can be purchased with a dinner component , for either before or after the program , at a nearby restaurant , as well . This is the " Vienna Mozart Orchestra " and , in period dress , will perform a variety of selections . The program will be relatively light , with short selections . The orchestra is composed of free lance musicians from Vienna , and the playing is of very high quality , so , if you choose this , I think you would be pleased . Also , have a look here for more information - https://www.wien.info/en/music-stage-shows/classic/classic-for-beginners

Sometimes, people just want to hear Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, The Four Seasons and the Blue Danube Waltz. If that's what you want, there's nothing wrong with a dinner concert.

Absolutely ! I like that sort of thing myself . Dinner with some nice gentle Strauss is just the ticket , not the occasion for a Mahler Symphony ;--)

On that date, I'd go see La Traviata at the Opera.

If you are around on May 26 in Vienna, then definitely go see the free Vienna Philharmonic concert at Schonbrunn - an experience without equal.

http://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/summer-night-concert-main

@ Steven...exactly.. some light Strauss or F. von Suppé, even J. Lanner, very Viennese...and absolutely no Mahler, say his 1st or 5th Symphonies...too cerebral.

Lanner ? WOW ! I didn't think anyone remembered him . Fred , give this one a listen , it's been a favorite of mine since I was sixteen . A real beauty by Carl Michael Ziehrer - https://youtu.be/z9ZjYda04Ks

@ Steven...thanks for the tip. I hadn't heard of him admittedly. Another composer of Viennese music overshadowed by the Strauss brothers, all of this genre is so old school, old world, so cultural of the time, and so tragic historically. I take it you read German and heartily recommend seeing the Army Museum (the Heeresgeschichliches Museum) , especially the expanded WW1 special exhibit to see the real tragic social, political ramifications of the war history as it pertains not so much to Germany but rather specifically to Austria-Hungary.

@ Steven...Yes, Lanner to be sure along with light Strauss for gaiety, a frivolous, lighthearted atmosphere.

Fred , since pretense has never been one of my bad traits , you force a confession - My German is quite limited . I am not able to converse , save " Hello , Goodbye , Please ,and Thank you " I am able to read a bit , the result of my years of employment as a classical musician ( Bassoonist ) , in that I needed to be able to understand the instructions in the scores of the German and Austrian composers . A knack for deciphering words in different languages based on their roots is also a big help . In any event , language never gets in my way overseas . If I had three wishes from the Genie , one would be to be fluent in all the European tongues . Thanks for the complement , nonetheless . I just looked at information about the Military History Museum in Vienna , and my jaw dropped - We will be in Vienna this coming October for three weeks , and it's now right at the top of our list . We had made several visits to The Imperial War Museum in London in 2014 on the eve of the centenary , and spent time last autumn in Flanders and The Somme . A visit to the Vienna museum appears to be at least a full day (or two ) visit . Many , many thanks for the heads up ! , My Best , Steve

@ Steven...I confess too on that Viennese composer you listed CM Ziehrer that he was totally unknown to me. But J. Lanner I did know since I have his music conducted by Willi Boskovsky ( classics with the Wiener Philharmoniker) and the renditions done by that famous Alexander Schneider group. On the war museums it's basically a matter of perspectives. The IWM in London shows the war mainly from the British perspective, as the HGM in Wien shows it from the Central Powers, esp the Austrian view, how the horrors affected them as they had to fight on 3 fronts, later a fourth when Romania entered in 1916....more of the unknown war horrors to Anglo-American students of the war.

Thanks so much for the music suggestions. We will be in Vienna in April and would like to attend a performance at the Musikverein, as well as other venues. I know one can't go wrong with a jacket and slacks, but we're trying to keep the luggage to a minimum and I'm wondering how casual we can dress to attend these performances without embarassing ourselves. Do the men all wear jackets? Will a nice pair of khakis with a golf shirt or l/s Ralph Lauren casual shirt suffice? Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks!

I think you can forego the jacket - I pack dress slacks , a dress shirt and tie . The key here , good taste ( no jeans , for example ) . You won't be asked to leave based on your dress , but appropriate attire is certainly expected in European opera and concert halls . I t pains me here at home to see audience members showing up at The Metropolitan Opera dressed like they just came off a long haul bus trip . If you can get tickets for The Musikverein or the State Opera , you will be in for the treat of your life

"...you will be in the treat of your life."

@ Steven...I am sure you would have appreciated this totally at random event had you been there. On my one of my recent trips to Berlin (2011?) on the last Sunday in May, I was walking on Unter den Linden going east ward towards Museuminsel, heard music as I got closer and closer to Gendarmenmarkt. I bumped into the tail end of an open air concert given by a symphony orchester ...masses of people standing there absorbing the music with all the tech assistance set up. Not surprisingly, they were playing Beethoven, his 5th, with Simon himself conducting and speaking German to the audience. The portion of the concert I heard was absolutely uplifting, fantastic, and I thought they were members of the Berlin Philharmonic since the rendition of the piece was so outstanding....wrong! I found out a bit later the correct info on the performance and its encore (eine Zugabe) I had just witnessed. It was not the famous Berliner Philharmoniker but rather a less orchester in Berlin, the "Berlin Sinfonie Orchester" As an outsider I thought I had heard possibly the best performance in my life.

On Vienna: I remember Karl Böhm came to SF in the mid-1970s. I was there at the SF Opera House, ...seeing one the greats.

Fred , great story ! It's not uncommon to find great playing like that in many of the major cities worldwide . The coterie of excellent free lance players in places like Berlin , New York , and Vienna , just to name a few ( certainly San Francisco , as well ) , usually is equal to the players in the named orchestras . Here in NYC , these musicians staff Broadway shows , and frequently augment the NY Philharmonic , and the Metropolitan Opera . For anyone attending a performance by The Vienna Mozart Orchestra , and thinking that this may be a second string , pickup group , the players are top echelon . Look here at this picture of them https://www.wien.info/en/music-stage-shows/classic/classic-for-beginners . In the upper right hand corner , there is a female musician playing second bassoon , appropriately bewigged and dressed in period costume . Her name is Sophie Dartigalongue , newly weaned away from the Berlin Philharmonic and appointed as the new principal ( 1st ) bassoon of the Vienna Philharmonic ( she is also only twenty four ) . Also , for anyone looking for music in Vienna , a trip up to a heuriger in The Wienerwald , might provide some very authentic music . Very much loved is Schrammelmusik , beautifully played here https://youtu.be/p3NlE1C5Fsc

@ Steven....One of the traveling delights in the summer is that one may come upon a daytime outdoor performance (Konzert im Freien) by an orchester if you're lucky. I saw that as my lucky day. After finishing with Beethoven's 5th, Simon posed the question, more than once, (in German) to the audience which was clapping for an encore, what can one play as an encore to Beethoven? Obviously, it had to be something light. So, they played an overture by Mozart, the Magic Flute. The Berlin Philharmonic came to Calif once, at least , when I was following this sort of news in the 1970s and early '80s, not to SF or even LA proper but to Pasedena in 1980 or '81. Tickets were expensive, for me too. A good friend of mine went to two of the concerts, got blasted later by the Mrs for having spent that much money, but he said seeing them play was like no other orchester he had ever seen before.

On your Vienna trip in Oct: go out to the Zentral Friedhof (the main cemetery) not only to see where a good number of the composers' graves, (Strauss, Beethoven, Schubert, etc) but also the WW1 section, way in the back, ie, be prepared to do some walking tracking down the WW1 section...grim, poignant. Those opening battles in August and Sept 1914 destroyed the flower of the Monarchy's junior officer and non-commissioned officer corps, something from which the Austro-Hungarian Army never recovered.