A Viennese Christmas is about the lights, the sights, the smells, and the sounds. Expect fewer sleigh bells and more violins, though – you’re in the concert capital of classical music, after all.
Here are my tips for finding the best classical concerts, church recitations, choir performances and more during the Advent season.
- See also: December in Vienna
Christmas 2021
Note that these are mostly general tips with some suggestions based on specific concert schedules at various popular venues (once available). Keep an eye on any attendance requirements or limitations, though, as Austria responds to any changes in the COVID situation.
Classical concerts
Goodness, there are so many. All the popular venues normally continue their programme through the Advent season. However, here are some Christmas-themed highlights from the major venues and orchestras:
Mozart and Strauss performances
(The Kursalon venue at Christmas)
Various orchestras and ensembles perform the music of Mozart and Strauss with visitors in mind, usually at historic sites and often in period costume. I’ve listed them here, but some seasonal changes to the usual routine are, for example:
- The famous Kursalon usually continues its performances* throughout the Christmas period, but typically offers a special Christmas concert* on December 24th (sells out fast), galas on both the 24th and 25th, and a New Year’s Eve concert*.
- The Vienna Hofburg Orchestra typically has an annual Christmas Concert in the Hofburg on December 25th and again on the 26th
Mozarthaus
This is where Mozart lived and the location of the main museum dedicated to the composer. Keep an eye out for concerts in the Bösendorfer Saal in the basement. Frankly, it’s rather cool listening to, for example, Mozart’s music in the same house he composed it in.
2019, for example, saw an advent concert and an evening of spiritual songs interpreted through contemporary jazz.
The Musikverein
(Musikverein ticket office)
The Musikverein is probably the world’s most prestigious and best classical music venue. Here’s what the provisional 2021 Christmas programme has to offer at the moment. Note they have daily “normal” performances – I’m highlighting seasonally-themed concerts already announced at the time of writing:
- If we stretch out the concept of the Christmas period a little, then consider the rather excellent New Year’s Concert from the Wiener Philharmoniker on December 30th and 31st, as well as January 1st.
- The Grenzlandchor Arnoldstein (a choir) offers a Carinthian Advent on December 5th
- The Donau Philharmonie Wien and conductor Vasilis Tsiatsianis (plus solo singers) perform Christmas im Wiener Musikverein on December 14th
- The Wiener Domorchestra and Domchor perform and sing a Musik der Meister Christmas concert featuring works by Mozart, Haydn, and others on December 20th
- The Vienna Imperial Philharmonics play the Sound of Christmas on December 22nd
More info and tickets on Musikverein events available at the website.
The Konzerthaus
Another prestigious venue is the Konzerthaus, which usually has a more eclectic advent choice. Christmas-flavoured performances include:
- The Gaechinger Cantorey choir and orchestra perform Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium on December 5th
- The Wiener Symphoniker’s Christmas concert fills the auditorium on December 10th
- The Gerhard Aflenzer Broadway Big Band has a Swinging Christmas concert on December 12th
- One of Austria’s more popular pop and schlager bands has a big Christmas concert on December 19th as part of their 2021 Stad Tour
- The Philharmonic Five perform Weihnachtsmärchen (Christmas fairy tales) on December 22nd
- The Bolschoi Don Kosaken male voice choir gives a Christmas concert on December 23rd
The Konzerthaus always hosts Christmas in Vienna. This is the rather-apt title of a traditional gala music event held every year: December 18th in 2021 (with a preview on December 17th).
International singers accompany the Vienna Boys’ Choir, the Konzerthaus’s own choir (the Wiener Singakademie), and the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra for a seasonal sing-song and feel-good evening of entertainment.
The program can range from traditional carols and songs to pop classics, opera arias, and orchestral compositions. If you miss out on tickets, the national broadcaster (ORF) usually shows it on TV (as do many other countries, I believe).
More info and tickets available at the Konzerthaus website.
The opera houses
- The Staatsoper performs Strauss’s Die Fledermaus at New Year (an established tradition), which you can usually catch as a livestream or view outside on the streets on a giant screen
- The Volksoper opera house holds a traditional Christmas Concert (two performances on December 19th)
Church concerts
Various churches hold advent concerts and choral recitals through advent. Here are the more popular ones:
Stephansdom
(Stephansdom cathedral)
The grand cathedral is the heart of the city and worth visiting in its own right. Expect regular evening Advent concerts from late November through to just before Christmas Day.
Ticket info: Website
Minoritenkirche
Home to the Italian congregation in Vienna, this large gothic church also sits in the city centre. Unlike Stephansdom, the Advent concerts are a mix of different performers and works, with regular Gospel and other concerts from late November through to the end of December.
Ticket info: Website (German & Italian)
Peterskirche
(Peterskirche)
Another beautiful church in the centre and the traditional host for an exhibition of nativity scenes. There are two venues there. Concerts in the church itself are traditionally “free” (a donation is usually requested), those in the crypt tend not to be.
Ticket info: Website
Karlskirche
The mighty baroque church on Karlsplatz normally has a fair few concerts in the advent season programme. In 2021, the Orchestra 1756 and Ensemble 1756 plan regular evening performances of Mozart’s Requiem and The Four Seasons.
Ticket info: Website (for the orchestra)
Kapuzinerkirche
(The Capuchin Church)
The Wiener Kaiserquartett & Friends plan to perform a selection of seasonal music and songs in the Capuchin Church on various dates through Advent in 2021. The church sits above the Imperial Crypt.
Ticket info: Website
Annakirche
And another church in the old town with concerts typically focusing on the peak era of Viennese classical music (think Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart, etc.).
Ticket info: Website (for the orchestra)
Choirs
Vienna Boys’ Choir
The Wiener Sängerknaben are usually quite busy at the end of the year.
More info and tickets from the venue’s website (for their in-house events). The choir’s website has a calendar of all their performances, with appearances in the Hofburg chapel typical for advent.
Other choirs
Various choirs usually sing each year at the Christkindlmarkt on the Rathausplatz from 6.30pm to 7pm, December 1-23. No news yet at the time of writing on whether this repeats in 2021.
Still not found something?
For a list of absolutely everything, try the official tourist office events calendar.
Enjoy!