2023-05-05 18:04:46
The “Mozart sellers” on the street are well known in Vienna, but the orchestra in the Musikverein is mainly experienced by tourists. The Vienna Mozart Orchestra has existed since 1986. If possible, it is made up of members of other Viennese orchestras. Instead of the “tailcoat disguise”, the musicians wear “authentic historical costumes” from the 18th century – including a wig.
Musical journey through time
“If it’s very warm in summer, you might sweat more with a wig than you would without a wig,” says Johannes Wildner, one of the conductors of the Vienna Mozart Orchestra. “But it wouldn’t make sense to complain regarding it, because we also gain something completely different with the wig: we put the time indicator back to the year 1780 or 1790.(…) We give the audience an insight into what it might have been like back then.”
150 concerts a year
The program is designed to be as varied and entertaining as possible – for a less concert-savvy audience. Only works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are played – from the “little night music” to the opera aria from “Don Giovanni”.
The concert season starts in April and ends in December. The concerts take place both in the Musikverein and in the Vienna State Opera. “We are at home in these two houses. We usually play four times a week and in the summer months of July and August six times a week,” says managing director Philipp Grünbacher. Around 150 concerts are planned this year, and as in the years before the pandemic, 200,000 concert guests are expected.
Portrait of the Mozart Orchestra
The Vienna Mozart Orchestra has existed since 1986. Its members come from other Viennese orchestras and they perform in historical costumes from the 18th century. Business has been so good this season that more concerts might be held.
Full-price tickets cost 59 to 370 euros – with the most expensive VIP category, in addition to the concert, dinner in the hotel, a cab ride, the care of a Mozart bellboy and other extras are included. Most tickets are sold on the Internet and through hotels “which appreciate the regularity of the concerts”. The Mozart vendors on the street, on the other hand, only sell remaining tickets and fill the halls in the hours before the concert begins.
Wig as a trademark
Grünbacher is proud that the wig functions as a trademark. “We are the well-known orchestra that plays in Mozart costumes and we want it to stay that way. It is well received, positively highlighted in the reviews, people like it.”
The last three years have not been easy – just like for all other culture and event companies, says Grünbacher, whose father founded the orchestra and whose mother was “the first Mozart seller on the streets of Vienna”. “But this year you notice immediately: every concert is completely sold out. We might do more concerts. It’s going really well.”
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