Vienna · Austria
Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven played in the gilded Golden Hall or the Brahms Hall, depending on your date.
The hall and the programme change by date, so check yours before you book.
The answer first
For most visitors, yes, provided you book it as the visitor concert it is. A live orchestra plays about two hours of Viennese classics by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven in one of the two best-known rooms of the Musikverein, a house that opened in 1870. Which room you get depends on your date: the gilded Golden Hall on some evenings, the smaller Brahms Hall on others. Read the dates for each before you choose a day, bring a few coins for the cloakroom, and expect an evening of music rather than a grand-occasion ticket.
Five things to settle before you book
Dates for the Golden Hall and for the Brahms Hall are listed separately on the booking page. If the big gilded room is what you came for, read that list first and pick the day second.
This is a concert series for visitors. It is not a Vienna Philharmonic performance, and it is not the New Year's Concert, which that orchestra plays in the Golden Hall each year, according to English Wikipedia.
The Four Seasons is played on selected nights only. On the others the programme is built from Viennese classics. If Vivaldi is your reason for booking, check the programme for your date.
The price on the booking page belongs to the cheapest seat category, and views differ from one category to the next. Look at what each category offers before you pay.
The cloakroom for coats and backpacks is mandatory, and both it and the paper programme cost a small cash fee. A free programme for the evening can be opened online.
Which room you will be in
The house around the music
The building's story as English Wikipedia and the hall's own pages tell it. None of it promises anything about the programme on your night.
1870
Emperor Franz Joseph I granted the plot while the Ringstrasse was being built in 1863. The Danish-born architect Theophil Hansen designed the house in a Neoclassical style modelled on an ancient Greek temple, with a concert hall and a smaller chamber hall, and it was inaugurated on 6 January 1870.
The shoebox
The hall is 49 metres long, 19 wide and 18 high. Hansen had no acoustic studies to lean on and relied on intuition. The narrow shoebox shape, thick plaster walls and many reflecting and diffusing surfaces send strong sound in from the sides, which gives a warm, rich and clear tone.
The gilding
German Wikipedia describes columns, caryatids and pediment reliefs that make the house read as a temple for music. Inside, the Golden Hall's ceiling carries paintings of the nine Muses and the god Apollo by August Eisenmenger, with sculptures by Franz Melnitzky.
The organ
The hall first had an organ by Friedrich Ladegast, and Anton Bruckner gave its first recital in 1872. The present instrument was installed in 1907 by the Austrian firm Rieger and rebuilt in 2011.
The second room
The second-largest hall in the building was known as the small hall until 1937, when it took its name from Johannes Brahms, who had been appointed the society's music director in 1872. It is prized for chamber ensembles and song recitals.
January
On the morning of New Year's Day the orchestra based in this house plays its New Year's Concert here, and English Wikipedia says the concerts have been held in the Golden Hall since 1939. It is a different event, and the concert on this page belongs to another series.
Sources: the English Wikipedia articles on the house, Theophil Hansen, the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and the Vienna New Year's Concert, German Wikipedia for the ornament, and the hall's own visitor page.
Photographs of the building and of Vienna after dark. The two interior views show orchestral concerts in the Golden Hall; neither is this concert.
From the lobby to the last note
Start times differ by date; the calendar shows yours and the confirmation repeats it. The five steps below follow the ticket's own notes and the hall's house rules. The music itself changes with the programme.
Tickets are handed over at a collection point in the lobby, starting an hour before the concert. Arrive in that window rather than at the last minute.
Coats and backpacks go to the cloakroom, which is mandatory, and a paper programme is on sale in the hall. Both are paid for in coins or small notes.
Admission to the hall opens thirty minutes before the concert. A gong calls everyone to their seats, and the house rules let latecomers in only at a break in the music.
The orchestra plays Viennese classics, and on selected nights Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Phones go off, and clapping waits until a piece has finished, not between its movements.
The hall sits between Karlsplatz and the Ringstrasse, so a station and a taxi rank are both close when the lights come up.
The ticket, the room, the rules
The essentials as stated for this ticket and in the hall's own visitor guidance. Your confirmation adds the start time and where to collect.
The concert company Classic Exclusive sells and runs this series. The hall, its house rules and its cloakroom belong to the hall itself.
Seats are sold by category, and the from-price is the cheapest category. Views differ between categories, so check each before you pay.
Collect your tickets at the lobby collection point, which opens an hour before the concert. Every guest needs a ticket, children included.
The hall opens thirty minutes before the concert. Latecomers are admitted only at a break in the music.
The cloakroom for coats and backpacks is mandatory, and a paper programme is on sale in the hall. Both are a small cash fee, so bring coins.
Children under 5 are not admitted. This ticket does not suit wheelchair users. The hall describes a step-free entrance and wheelchair spaces for its own events, so enquire first if you need one.
The hall asks for festive attire suited to the occasion and says to leave sportswear and training gear at home.
Video and audio recordings are not allowed without permission. Keep your phone off, and clap only when a piece has ended.
Listening or looking
Book the concert, then fill the rest of your Vienna days
Put the concert first. Around it are the Danube Tower ticket this page weighs it against, a guided visit to a palace on the city's edge, and a ticket for one of the museums in the centre.
Two hours of Viennese classics by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven, with Vivaldi's Four Seasons on selected nights, in the Golden Hall or the Brahms Hall depending on the date.
A lift to the observation decks at 150 metres, an open-air terrace or a glass-enclosed area depending on the weather, and slide access included. Skip-the-line entry; wheelchair accessible.
A licensed guide leads either the 22-room Highlights Tour or a gardens-only tour, lasting from 60 minutes up to two and a half hours, with skip-the-line timed tickets on the longer option.
A museum in the centre of Vienna with a permanent Monet-to-Picasso exhibition, the Habsburg state rooms and changing exhibitions. A good use of the afternoon before an evening concert.
More to do in Vienna
Getting there and what to bring
The hall's own visitor page gives Karlsplatz as the stop to use, on the U1, U2 and U4 lines. A short walk leads from the platform to the entrance.
Trams and buses stop at Oper, Karlsplatz and at Schwarzenbergplatz, and cab ranks stand on Canovagasse and on the Kärntner Ring.
English Wikipedia says the entrance faces Musikvereinsplatz, a square set between Karlsplatz and Bösendorferstraße, with a hotel on the Kärntner Ring in front.
The lobby opens an hour before and the hall thirty minutes before. Latecomers wait for a break in the music, so give yourself time.
The hall asks for festive attire suited to the occasion and says to leave sportswear and training gear at home.
Bring coins for the mandatory cloakroom and for the paper programme. Coats, bags, umbrellas and rucksacks may not enter the hall.
Eating and drinking are not allowed inside the hall, so have your meal before or after the concert.
Read both date lists on the booking page, then choose your day. It is the one choice that changes the evening most.
Worth a read before you pick a seat
FAQ
Worth it for most visitors who want a live orchestra and Viennese classics at a modest price. You will be in the Golden Hall on some dates and in the Brahms Hall on others, so read both date lists on the booking page first.
The booking page keeps one date list for the Golden Hall and another for the Brahms Hall. Match your day against them first, since the hall follows the date and cannot be picked separately.
Neither. This is a concert series for visitors. The New Year's Concert is played by the Vienna Philharmonic on New Year's morning, in the Golden Hall since 1939 according to English Wikipedia.
No. It is played on selected nights only, with soloists, and the other nights carry Viennese classics by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. A free programme for each evening can be opened online, so look up your date if Vivaldi is what you are booking for.
Seats are sold by category, and the from-price on the booking page is the cheapest one. Views differ from category to category, so compare what each offers before you pay. Do not expect the cheapest category to match the closest.
Yes, a little. The cloakroom for coats and backpacks is mandatory, and it and the paper programme each cost a small cash fee. Bring coins or small notes; the booking notes ask you to carry small change.
The hall asks for festive attire suited to the occasion and says to leave sportswear and training gear at home. Tall hats and bulky headgear are best left at home, because they block the view of the row behind.
Children under 5 are not admitted, and every guest over that age needs a ticket. This ticket does not suit wheelchair users. The hall describes a step-free entrance for its own events, so enquire first if you need wheelchair space.
No. Vienna Concert Hall Guide is a separate, independent site with no tie to the hall, the orchestra or the concert company. It sells nothing itself, and you complete your booking with GetYourGuide.
Cancelling is allowed up to a day before the concert, for a full refund, and payment can wait. After that window the refund lapses, so settle the hall and the date first.