The Konzerthaus is a

concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage (theatre), stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention ...

located in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, which opened in 1913. It is situated in the third district just at the edge of the first district in Vienna. Since it was founded it has always tried to emphasise both traditional and innovative musical styles. In 1890, the first ideas for a ''Haus für Musikfeste'' (House for music festivals) came about. The idea of the new multi-purpose building was to be more interesting to the broader public than the traditional Vienna

Musikverein The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. The acoustics of the building's 'Grea ...

. In addition to the concert hall, the first drawings by Ludwig Baumann for the ''Olympion'' included an ice-skating area and a bicycle club. In an attached open air area, 40,000 visitors would be able to attend events. Although the drawings were not accepted, today an ice skating area is situated right next to the building. The Konzerthaus was finally built between 1911 and 1913. The architects were

Fellner & Helmer Fellner & Helmer was an architecture studio founded in 1873 by Austrian architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer. They designed over 200 buildings (mainly opera houses and apartment buildings) across Europe in the late 19th and early 20th c ...

; the work was done in cooperation with Ludwig Baumann.

Performance facilities

The building is about 70×40 meters and had originally three halls, in which there can be simultaneous concerts, since they are sound-proofed. The original

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

building was partly destroyed during renovations and adaptions, but the building was reconstructed from original sketches in the 1970s. A historic

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

was installed in the Konzerthaus by the Austrian firm Rieger in 1913. Between 1997 and 2000 the house was completely renovated. *Großer Saal (Great Hall), with 1,840 seats *Mozartsaal (Mozart Hall), with 704 seats *Schubertsaal (Schubert Hall), with 336 seats *Berio Saal (Berio Hall) was added during the latest renovations and seats up to 400 people

Program

The Konzerthaus has the

Vienna Symphony The Vienna Symphony (Vienna Symphony Orchestra, ) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna. Its primary concert venue is the Vienna Konzerthaus. In Vienna, the orchestra also performs at the Musikverein and at the Theater an der Wien. History ...

, the

Vienna Chamber Orchestra The Vienna Chamber Orchestra (Wiener Kammer Orchester, or WKO) is an Austrian chamber orchestra based at the Vienna Konzerthaus. History The WKO was founded in 1946, and its first artistic directors were Franz Litschauer, Heinrich Hollreiser, P ...

, the

Wiener Singakademie The Wiener Singakademie is a choir in Vienna, Austria. History As the first mixed choir in Vienna, the Wiener Singakademie was founded in 1858 to establish a "Singübungsanstalt" - an institution for the training of voices. It aims to promote th ...

and the

Klangforum Wien The Klangforum Wien is an Austrian chamber orchestra, based in Vienna at the Konzerthaus, which specialises in contemporary classical music. Founded by composer and conductor Beat Furrer in 1985, it is run on collective principles, having no o ...

in residence. Several subscriptions also include concerts by the

Vienna Philharmonic Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...

and other organizations. The ''Wiener Konzerthausgesellschaft'' also conducts several festivals during the year: *Early Music Festival ''Resonanzen'' in January *the Vienna Spring Festival ''Wiener Frühlingsfestival'' in April and May *the ''Internationale Musikfest'' in May and June *
Wien Modern
' in the Fall

Directors

Hugo Botstiber Hugo Botstiber (21 April 1875 in Vienna – 15 January 1941 in Shrewsbury, UK) was an Austrian Jewish musicologist, who studied under Robert Fuchs and Guido Adler. He was the secretary general of the Wiener Konzerthaus The Konzerthaus is a c ...

(1913–1938) *

Armin Caspar Hochstetter Armin is a male given name and surname of Indo-European origin. In the Balkans, Armin is popular among Bosniaks in the former Yugoslav nations. The name is a modification of Amin, following a pattern similar to the modification of Anel to Arn ...

(1938–1945) * Friedrich Reidinger (1940–1945) (representing Hochstetter, excused for military service) * Egon Seefehlner (1946–1961) *Peter Weiser (1961–1977) * Hans Landesmann (1978–1984) *

Alexander Pereira Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are A ...

(1984–1991) *

Karsten Witt Karsten or Carsten is a both a given name and a surname. It is believed to be either derived from a Low German form of Christian, or "man from karst". Notable persons with the name include: Given name ;Carsten: * Carsten Becker (born 1990), Germa ...

(1991–1996) *

Christoph Lieben-Seutter Christoph is a male given name and surname. It is a German variant of Christopher. Notable people with the given name Christoph * Christoph Bach (1613–1661), German musician * Christoph Büchel (born 1966), Swiss artist * Christoph Dientzenh ...

(1996–2007) *

Bernhard Kerres Bernhard is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar (1604–1639), Duke of Saxe-Weimar * Bernhard, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (1901–1984), head of the House of Saxe-Meiningen 194 ...

(2007–present)

History

The Historic Concert for the Benefit of Widows and Orphans of Austrian and Hungarian Soldiers was held at the Konzerthaus on January 12, 1918. Its patrons were Kaiser

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

and Empress

Zita Zita (27 April 1272), also known as Sitha or Citha, is an Italian saint, the patron saint of maids and Domestic worker, domestic servants. She is often appealed to in order to help find lost Key (lock), keys. Zita entered domestic service a ...

, with posters designed by Josef Divéky.

Awards

Zero Project The Zero Project is a non-profit based in Vienna, Austria, which focuses on researching and sharing innovative solutions that support the rights of people with disabilities globally. Zero Project publishes an annual report of innovative solution ...

Awardee 2023 - SommerMusikWoche – Inclusive Music Programme

Bibliography

*Barta, Erwin, ''Das Wiener Konzerthaus zwischen 1945 und 1961. Eine vereinsgeschichtliche und musikwirtschaftliche Studie''. Schneider, Tutzing 2001

External links

Wiener KonzerthausWien Modern Festival
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Landstraße Cultural venues in Vienna Concert halls in Austria Music venues completed in 1913 Fellner & Helmer buildings Event venues established in 1913 Art Nouveau architecture in Vienna Art Nouveau theatres 1913 establishments in Austria 20th-century architecture in Austria Vienna Symphony