My family will be in Vienna on New Years Day and I'm wondering whether it's worth the expense to attend the Vienna Boys Choir Mass that morning (9:15). From what I can find, tickets run anywhere from 35-50E each and there are four of us. As much as I'd like to see them, I'm just not sure whether that's a very good value for an hours entertainment! Would appreciate feedback from others who have seen them.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
1068 posts
I have seen them. They were ethereal - wonderful - amazing. As a musical experience, it is up there in my pantheon with U2, James Brown, and the Ring cycle at the Met. On the other hand, if you are not a hard core choir addict (and I am), that is quite pricey, especially if they are not singing the entire time. When I saw the VBC, it was in concert. If you're thiking of seeing them celebrate a mass, that means lots of NOT singing, right? I am no expert, but if it's mass, won't there also be all the other non-singing stuff, like the collect, the homily, the Eucharistic prayer, etc., etc.? Maybe they sing the whole thing. That would make a difference to me in pricing it, I think.
Posted by
OP
Wildomar, CA, USA
2 posts
Kira, I appreciate the response..... you bring up some very good points to consider and I'll bring them up with the family to get their views. We are not necessarily 'followers' of the choir, but see it as a unique opportunity given the day & venue, but we definitely need to weigh the options.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
A few years ago (ok, many years ago) when I was a student in Austria, we had standing room tickets for a mass at the Hofburgkapelle. As I recall now, it was just a regular mass. In fact, we were so far to the back that we got bored and slipped out early, taking pictures of the choir as they came out of church afterward. I have also seen them in concert, twice. That was well worth the money, believe me!
Posted by
Ann Arbor, Mi
3696 posts
I saw them this past May in Vienna and our seats were not very good, so be sure and check out exactly where you are sitting. There were lots of people, including us who could really only see them on a big screen tv... so a few of the people we were with felt they could have stayed home and seen as much. We did see them enter and exit and of course could hear them quite well. The video closeups of the kids were fun, but would have been better if we could have seen them as well.
Glad I went, but would not do it again unless I was absolutely sure I could see them singing.