Annagasse · Vienna
In baroque St Anne's Church, a small ensemble plays on instruments from Mozart's and Schubert's day.
Instruments of that era sound softer and warmer, and the whole church leans in.
The question first
It is worth it if you want chamber music by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven or Schubert, played on instruments from their own time, in a small Baroque church in the centre of Vienna. It runs about 70 minutes and the seating is free, so there is no assigned seat. It will disappoint anyone who wants an orchestra, singers or a padded seat.
Period instruments are instruments of the kind the composer knew, or modern copies of them. Historically informed performance, in Wikipedia's wording, aims to be faithful to the style of the era in which a work was written. Gut strings, lighter bows and a lower tuning are the usual differences.
First-time visitors who want to hear Vienna's Classical composers in a room that belongs to the same city. Couples and solo travellers with one free evening. Anyone who finds a two-hour concert-hall night too long, since this one fits easily around dinner.
Pick another evening if you need a reserved seat, if hard church benches would be a problem, or if you want a full orchestra with soloists and period costume. The comparison guide sets this concert beside the Golden Hall evening, point by point.
The concert in four facts
What period means
Six differences between a concert on modern instruments and one on period instruments, and what each means for a string ensemble.
The booking page says the music is played on period instruments and names Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven or Schubert. It does not name the instruments, the tuning or the pieces, and nothing on this page promises them.
Mozart wrote for the fortepiano, the early piano. Wikipedia describes leather-covered hammers, thin harpsichord-like strings and a lighter case with no metal frame in most examples. The tone is softer, with less sustain, and Mozart wrote for instruments of about five octaves. A string ensemble does not need one, so read it as background to the word period.
Gut strings are made from animal intestine. Before the Second World War many violins were strung with them, and steel and nylon spread in the middle of the twentieth century. Gut reacts to damp air, so its pitch shifts with humidity. Players in the period-performance movement use it to recreate how Classical music sounded when it was written.
Wikipedia notes that the chin rest was not invented until the early nineteenth century and that shoulder rests are a twentieth-century addition. Earlier bows are straighter than the strongly curved modern bow, whose shape is linked to the designs of François Tourte in the later eighteenth century. Later changes, the article says, increased the violin's overall sound and volume.
A natural horn has no valves. The player changes pitch with the lips and with a hand inside the bell, and swaps crooks to change key. Hand-stopping raises the pitch by up to about a semitone and alters the tone too. Valved horns arrived in the early nineteenth century. A string-only concert will not use one, so this is background as well.
Today the A above middle C is usually set at 440 Hz. Wikipedia gives baroque pitch as 415 Hz, a semitone lower, and says Classical-period instruments such as the fortepiano are tuned to 427 Hz or, more often, 430 Hz. The booking page does not state which pitch this ensemble uses.
Historically informed performance covers more than instruments: ornaments, rhythmic shaping and how much vibrato a player uses. Some of its early advocates aimed to remove vibrato, while many players today use a light one, so the practice varies from player to player.
Church or concert hall
What the ticket covers
What the ticket gives you, and what it leaves out.
The church and the streets around it
The church tower on Annagasse and the organ gallery inside, then the church door, Karlsplatz, Stephansplatz and Kärntner Straße.
Book around the concert
The left card is the concert this page covers. Beside it are the large-hall Mozart evening readers most often weigh it against and a daytime visit to a Baroque palace.
A concert in the Baroque church on Annagasse by a string ensemble playing instruments from the time of Mozart and Schubert. It runs about 70 minutes, with free seating and a free printed programme.
A two-hour concert in the Musikverein's Golden Hall by the Vienna Mozart Orchestra, with Mozart and Strauss, soloists, opera singers and period costumes.
Entry to the Upper Belvedere, the Baroque palace whose permanent collection includes Klimt's The Kiss, for about an hour and a half.
Other bookings around Vienna
Before you go
Give a taxi driver or a map app Annagasse 3B, 1010 Vienna. The church sits in the pedestrian zone, so cars stop short of the door.
The Karlsplatz and Stephansplatz underground stations are each a short walk away.
Seating is free, so the front rows go to the people who arrive first. Your confirmation lists the start time.
The church is heated in the cold months of the year, so a winter evening is no reason to skip it.
No dress code is set on the booking page. Comfortable layers suit a long walk through the old town and a bench.
Put them in a pocket once the music starts. In a room this small, a lit screen distracts everyone sitting behind you.
More reading
FAQ
Yes, if you want chamber music by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven or Schubert on period instruments in a small Baroque church. It lasts about 70 minutes with free seating. Choose a different evening if you want a full orchestra, singers or a reserved seat.
Instruments of the kind the composer knew, or modern copies of them. Wikipedia describes historically informed performance as an approach that aims to be faithful to the style of the era in which a work was written. Gut strings and a lower tuning are typical.
The booking page names complete works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven or Schubert and does not list the pieces. The programme varies by date, and a free printed programme comes with the ticket.
It runs about 70 minutes. Seating is free, so no seat number is assigned and the best places go to whoever arrives early. The seats are church benches.
Yes. The booking page says the church is heated in the cold months of the year.
The address is Annagasse 3B, 1010 Vienna, in the pedestrian zone of the old town. The Karlsplatz and Stephansplatz underground stations are each a short walk away.
The church concert is shorter, smaller and played on period instruments by a string ensemble. The Golden Hall evening is a two-hour orchestral concert with soloists and singers. The comparison guide goes through them point by point.
No. This guide is independent and has no connection with St Anne's Church, the community that runs it, the concert organiser or the musicians. You book the concert with GetYourGuide.
Pick a date and the full price appears in your own currency, fees included.