Classical Music

There is a Mozart dinner concert in Salzburg. I believe it was about 40E. It was one of the highlights of our trip. Vienna and Salzburg are the music centers. There is a fantastic music store in Salzburg with an outstanding selections of classical music. I bought several cds there. I'm sorry I can't remember it. Our wonderful RS tour guide played the viola and introduced many people to classical music.

Laura, I was lucky enough, when in England, to chance upon rehearsals at St Martin in the Fields (London) and at York or Bath (sorry, forget which) for evening performances. Check the visitors information site for the various places you will be visiting. Also, try googling the place name+classical concerts. Good luck.

The "best" place to hear music is probably with one of Europe's premier orchestras, like the Berlin Philharmonic, London SO, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Philharmonic, etc. Many of these offer discount "rush tickets" to anyone presenting a student ID. Prague is loaded with cheap concerts, although most of them play the same few pieces over and over again. In Germany, many of the orchestras in smaller cities have a reasonable price for admission.

But, perhaps you could tell us where you will visit, and we can make some more specific recommendations.

One suggestion: In France: Colmar's two-week long annual music festival in July.

http://www.colmar-festival.com/

If you're passing by Oxford there are three places that really are worth checking out, all of them are in the centre of the city.

The first is the Pewsey Rooms. The accoustics here are particularly favourable to the string section. This is where most of the students go to practice and there are usually lunchtime concerts - usually for free.

The Holywell Music Rooms are superb, they were the venue of choice for GF Handle. Again there are usually lunchtime and evening concerts and they are very reasonably priced.

The Sheldonian is more suited to large choral productions and symphonies but it has to be experienced. It's not that cheap but it is worth the money.

The Oxford Mail always has details of what's on and where.

I've heard many very good classical music performances for free.

It's not unusual to visit a cathedral when the choir or organist are practicing. Many cathedrals also have performances schedules, at least some of which are free.

Street musicians in Europe are often amazingly good. Several places that stick out in my mind for excellent free music are Bonn, Salzburg and the Paris Metro although I've seen some very talented performers in many other places.

Festivals often have plenty of music to enjoy for free. It's more often traditional than classical however.

I just want to say thank you for all who have replied! Having never been to Europe before it really helps to get ideas from others. I will be in Europe Oct-Dec and plan on visiting:

Berlin
Amsterdam
Salzburg
London
Munich
Paris
Barcelona
Dublin
Rome, Florence, Venice

But I'll only have a few days in each.

Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" is played commonly throughout Europe. Of course, you don't want to hear this one piece over and over. In Arcos, Spain, I saw a poster advertising Vivaldi, not the 4 seasons. Around London, even buskers are playing classical music and buskers play for free or tips. I figure there must be a school of music in London. I would expect to hear lots of music in Vienna; I haven't been there.

Nothing settles my nerves as much as The Four Seasons as I board the plane for my international flight.

Then I get out my iPod, put on my headphones and listen to "Music for Airports", and I'm good to go, but I agree that Salzburg or Vienna is THE place for classical music! ;)

B~

Of the cities you listed, London, Berlin and Salzburg are probably the most "musical". London probably has more large symphony orchestras than any other city on Earth. You can choose from the London SO, London Phil, Royal Phil, London Sinfonietta, BBC SO, Philharmonia, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, plus many other smaller ensembles (like the Academy of St, Martin in the Fields, as others have mentioned). You should be able to get a student rate for tickets at any of them. Berlin, of course, has the world's most prestigious orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic. Salzburg doesn't have any orchestra within the same class as those listed above, but it hosts many smaller ensembles of varying quality. Expect the more inexpensive programs here to always feature the Four Seasons and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.

Laura,

make sure you take your Student ID along. That might give you reduced admission for a number of concert venues. For example, at the Berliner Philharmoniker for all concerts at the Chamber Music Hall students can get tickets for 8 Euro the night of the event.

I'm a professional flutist, but my Dad was a professor of violin so I know much about this! His very favorite place in the whole world(and he was a world traveler) is Salzburg. I was there in 2007 and loved it there myself. Just this past November I was in Berlin and heard the Berlin Philharmonic. The best!!
Many posters have given the same advice, and as a professional classical musician, I agree 100%. Other advice from posters are great too! Vienna and London, wonderful!

From the St Martin-in-the-Fields Web site concerning their lunchtime concerts: "Doors open at 12.30pm for a 1.00pm start. Lunchtimes normally take place on Monday, Tuesday and Friday. All our lunchtime concerts are free of charge – a suggested donation of £3.50 goes towards the work of St Martin’s."

The American Church in Paris has free concerts occasionally. Check their schedule. The church is walking distance from the rue Cler area, across from the Seine.

Hope y'all won't mind this "mini-hijack", but I thoroughly ENJOY PBS' New Year's Day Concert from Vienna's Musik Verein. Never been there, but from what I see on tv and the net, the Konzert Halle is beautiful!

It is a major part of our holiday celebration, and I love to see one of my heroes, Walter Cronkite, every year as he serves as host!

B~

In the summer of 1951 when I was 15 and on my first trip to Europe we enjoyed an evening sitting on the grass in a park within hearing distance from the Salzberg Musical Festival. It was one of my life's most memorable evenings.

Brad's reference to the Paris Metro brings back a very strong memory. While walking through the tunnels I heard the familiar notes of an organ prelude & fugue by J.S. Bach. An organ in the Metro? No. A special amplified accordian that truly sounded like an organ.

Bill- Yes! I, too, confess to being a huge fan of the New Years Concert from Vienna. Never attended it live, but perhaps someday...

You didn't list Brussels as a destination, but if you are passing through on the train, get off for a couple of hours to visit the musical instruments museum. I too am a musician and I found the museum fascinating. As you walk through the exhibits, the music in your earphones changes to music played by the instruments in each display.

Church services, especially evensong services, are great for hearing classical music in venues with spectacular acoustics for free or a donation.

Hello Laura. You said you will be in Europe October - December. I think that is during the Symphony Orchestra concert season. I recommend : go to any concert of a big symphony orchestra, that you are able to go to. My first choice would be the Berlin Philharmonic. And I guess a concert of the London Symphony orchestra could be wonderful ! But for me, what music they are performing is more important than which orchestra is performing it. For example : I would prefer to hear any major orchestra performing "Prelude to afternoon of a Fawn" composed by Debussy, rather than hear the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra perform music composed by Bartok. You might be able to go to more than one concert (by more than one orchestra).

Ron, for me it's the other way around! I LOVE the Berlin Philharmonic, and when I was there in November, I didn't care what they played because all the major composers are great anyway, but not all musicians are great! However, in Europe, there are more great classical musicians. Sad but true, in the USA Symphonies, many musicians are from different countries. It's very hard for a great American musician, because of this. Boy, do I ever know this. I've been in this business since I was in the womb! LOL! My Dad was concertmaster in many USA
symphonies, and was a professor of violin. But he was a great Italian musician living in the USA!
Another poster here said that all parts of Europe has great music. True. Some are better than others like Berlin, Vienna and London. But Italy and France are great as well.
I want to add, true what Ron said about you going in peek music season. Less touristy concerts will be going on, and you can go to concerts the locals go too, for the true music lovers.

Tom,

I think that getting seats for the New Year's Day concert is pretty much impossible as they are sold out years in advance (according to what I read).

Still, it's so great to see the various interpretations of the Strauss waltzes presented by the ballet, and who can forget the Lipizzaner stallions' performance?

B~

There are a number of musical instruments museums around Europe. If you are a musician, definitely go. It's fun and interesting to see the "missing links" before today's instruments became standardized.

It's also interesting when they have sheet music by some of the great classical composers written specifically for the antiquated instruments displayed.

Brad has a good suggestion. I've been to many instrument museums since I was a child, and still enjoy them! If ever in Salzburg, The Mozart museums are really neat. I felt close to Mozart as a person seeing his personal items as well his writings. I've played a lot of Mozart, and when I play his works now, I feel I play his pieces better than ever feeling closer to this genius that lived so long ago. A must for musicians and classical music fans to see.

Haus der Musik in Vienna is a high tech music museum. One example: 5 earphones conveying what Beethoven could/could not hear when he wrote 5 different symphonies as his deafness progressed--this helped me understand the true meaning of the word "genius", that he could write the 9th Symphony while profoundly deaf. The museum exhibit reminded me that when Beethoven conducted the 9th in its debut performance, the audience gave him a standing ovation (not as common then as now) and the first violinist had to walk over to him and physically turn him around so he could see what he could not hear: the ovation.