Schönbrunn Orangery · Vienna
In the Schönbrunn Orangery, a soprano, a baritone and the palace orchestra play Mozart and Strauss for about 105 minutes.
At the interval, the Orangery garden opens in the warmer months.
The short answer first
The palace orchestra, a soprano and a baritone play popular Mozart and Strauss for about 105 minutes, with an interval at the bar or, in the warmer months, in the Orangery garden. The music is the well-loved end of the repertoire, and the room is a baroque hall built to shelter the court's citrus trees. It is a concert in the Orangery beside the palace, not a visit to the palace rooms.
VIP holders get priority entry at the hall door and at the bar, seats in the front rows, a free cloakroom, a programme booklet and a glass of sparkling wine. It suits a first visit, an anniversary, or anyone who wants to watch the singers' faces. Every other category gives free choice of seat inside its own block, and seats go first come, first served on the night.
Many Vienna concert tickets let you cancel until the day before. This one does not: a full refund needs at least three days' notice. If your plans are loose, hold off until they firm up, or book a date you are sure of.
On selected dates the concert is held in the Great Gallery or the White-and-Gold Room of the palace's main building instead of the Orangery. Start times also change from date to date, so the time and the hall on your confirmation are the ones to follow, not a time you saw elsewhere.
The Orangery in four numbers
Part one, the interval, part two
The organiser describes the evening in two halves: Mozart before the interval, the Strauss family after it. These are the forms that fill each half, with the background drawn from Wikipedia. Read it as a field guide to the evening rather than a running order.
Part one · Mozart
An overture is the orchestral opening of an opera, played before any singer appears. Wikipedia notes that Mozart wrote his Orangery entry of 1786 in the same busy period as The Marriage of Figaro, which had its premiere later that year.
Eine kleine Nachtmusik is the nickname of Mozart's Serenade No. 13, finished in Vienna in August 1787. Wikipedia explains that the title simply copies his own catalogue entry for a small serenade, and that nobody knows why he wrote it.
Opera duets for these two voices are a natural fit for the evening's pair of singers. The best known is Là ci darem la mano from Don Giovanni, where the baritone Don tries to talk the soprano Zerlina into following him to his castle.
Mozart's last opera mixes singing with spoken dialogue, a form called Singspiel. Wikipedia describes the bird-catcher Papageno, the Queen of the Night and her famously high coloratura, and a cheerful Papageno duet that echoes a number by Salieri.
The interval
The bar, or in the warmer months the Orangery garden
Part two · Strauss
Johann Strauss II wrote The Blue Danube in 1866. Wikipedia records a lukewarm first outing with a men's choir in 1867, then a triumph in its orchestral form at the Paris World's Fair that same year. The Viennese waltz turns at roughly twice the speed of the slow ballroom waltz.
The polka is a quick dance in two-four time that began in 19th-century Bohemia. Polkas sit beside waltzes among the more than 500 dances Strauss II composed, and Wikipedia lists the Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka among his best-known works.
Die Fledermaus, Strauss's best-known operetta, had its premiere in 1874. Its makers swapped the French play's New Year's Eve supper for a Viennese ball, which is why its music sits so naturally beside his waltzes.
Johann Strauss I, father of the Waltz King, wrote the Radetzky March in 1848. Wikipedia links it today with the New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic, as its customary encore.
The programme is chosen by the organiser and can change from night to night. Nothing on this page promises a particular piece.
Where the music happens
The concerts take place in a working garden building with a long court history. Schönbrunn's own history pages and the organiser's venue notes fill in the story.
An orangery garden with a hothouse for tender citrus trees existed here under the dowager empress Wilhelmine Amalie. In 1754 Franz I Stephan had the present Orangery built by Nikolaus Pacassi, probably to designs by Nicolas Jadot.
At 189 metres long and 10 metres wide, it is one of the two largest baroque orangeries in the world, the other being at Versailles. Large and small round-arched bays alternate along its south front, separated by pilasters carved with masks.
A hypocaust system heats the floor, which is how citrus trees and other tub plants survive the Vienna winter inside. The concerts run indoors all year for the same reason.
Joseph II liked to hold banquets in the plant-filled hall after seeing the winter garden of the imperial palace in St Petersburg. One was billed as a spring festival on a winter's day, held on 6 February 1785.
On 7 February 1786 the emperor staged two short operas at once: Salieri's Prima la musica e poi le parole at one end of the Orangery and Mozart's Der Schauspieldirektor at the other.
Today a glass wall divides the building. The longer part, on the palace side, is a greenhouse again, while the end towards the Meidling gate serves as the concert and event hall.
The night, step by step at Schönbrunn
Seven steps from checking your ticket to heading home. Times and the hall depend on your date, so your confirmation has the final word.
Check
Start times vary by date, and on selected dates the concert moves into the palace itself. The confirmation names the hall and the time for your night.
Arrive
Take the U4 to Schönbrunn. The concert entrance is at Schönbrunner Schlossstraße 47, which Schönbrunn's own site places about 300 metres to the left of the palace's main entrance.
Doors
The hall opens half an hour before the concert. Seating is free within each category, first come, first served, so arriving early gets you the best of your block.
Coats
Vienna's event rules require coats, jackets, bulky backpacks and umbrellas to go into the cloakroom. It costs a small fee unless you hold a VIP ticket.
Part one
Overtures, arias and duets from the operas, with the soprano and the baritone taking turns in front of the orchestra.
Interval
Drinks are served at the bar and must stay in the bar area. In the warmer months the Orangery garden is open for the break.
Part two
Waltzes, polkas and operetta make up the second half. Afterwards taxis wait in front of the Orangery, and the U4 runs back towards the centre.
The Orangery ticket, line by line
Seven short lines on what the ticket covers and where its edges are.
Choosing a category
| Category | What you get | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| VIP | The front rows, priority entry to the hall and the bar, a free cloakroom, a programme booklet and a glass of sparkling wine | A first visit, a celebration, or anyone who wants to see the singers up close |
| A | The seats behind the VIP rows, with free choice inside the block | Good sightlines without paying for the extras |
| B | Seats in the middle of the hall | A clear view at a lower price |
| C | The rear block, which on busy nights can sit some way from the stage | Listeners who care more about the music than the view |
Around the hall
The Orangery front and its fountain, citrus trees behind the tall windows, a carved mask on a pilaster, the Great Gallery where some concerts move, and the Orangery garden.
Book the evening, or build a day around it
The concert on its own comes first. Next is the long version: the palace after closing, a dinner nearby and then the same concert. Two daytime options follow, the zoo in the palace grounds and an hour of Vienna's history in the first district.
About 105 minutes of Mozart and Strauss from the palace orchestra, a soprano and a baritone, with an interval at the bar or in the garden.
Around five hours: a self-guided visit of the palace after hours with an audio guide, a three-course Austrian dinner at a restaurant near the palace, then the concert.
A daytime ticket for the zoo inside the palace grounds, founded in 1752 and home to giant pandas. Pair it with the concert on the same day.
A multimedia trip through about 2,000 years of the city's history with a 5D cinema and a virtual-reality ride. It has steps and no lift.
Other Vienna evenings and days, live from GetYourGuide
Getting there and back
The U4 stops at Schönbrunn station, a short walk from the Orangery. Schönbrunn's own site also lists trams and a bus that stop at Schloss Schönbrunn.
The concerts are not in the main palace building but in the Orangery, which shares the palace street address, Schönbrunner Schlossstraße 47. Look for the long arched building beside the palace rather than the main gate.
Paid parking sits right opposite the Orangery, run as a separate car park with its own charges.
The organiser asks for smart casual. A jacket or a dress is common, but nobody expects evening wear.
The organiser sets no minimum age. Strollers cannot go into the hall and are left at the cloakroom instead.
The Orangery can be entered without steps. If you need a wheelchair space, tell the organiser before your date.
Sound, photo and video recording are not allowed during the concert. Pictures before and after it are fine.
A taxi rank sits in front of the Orangery, and plenty of cabs wait when the concert ends. The U4 runs back towards Karlsplatz and the centre.
The organiser credits the palace orchestra from April to October and over Christmas and New Year, and a palace ensemble in the other winter weeks.
Read further before you go
FAQ
Yes, for most visitors who want a relaxed evening of Mozart and Strauss in a historic building. The palace orchestra, a soprano and a baritone play popular pieces for about 105 minutes, interval included. Choose a concert hall instead if you want a full symphony or opera.
VIP for the front rows, priority entry, a free cloakroom, a programme and a glass of sparkling wine. A or B for a good view without extras. C if hearing the music matters more than seeing the stage. Within each category, seats go to whoever arrives first.
Usually it takes place in the Orangery beside the palace, not in the state rooms. On selected dates it moves into the Great Gallery or the White-and-Gold Room in the palace's main building. Your confirmation names the hall.
It changes from one date to another. Pick a night on the calendar to see its start, then rely on the time printed on your confirmation rather than one you read elsewhere.
Yes, but only up to three days before the concert, which is longer notice than many Vienna concerts ask for. After that a full refund no longer applies.
About 105 minutes including one interval. You can spend the break at the bar or, in the warmer months, in the Orangery garden.
Smart casual is the organiser's dress code. Nobody expects evening wear, but most guests dress up a little.
Yes. Coats, jackets, bulky backpacks and umbrellas must be checked under Vienna's venue rules. There is a small fee per item unless you hold a VIP ticket.
The organiser sets no minimum age, but strollers stay at the cloakroom. The halls are step-free; tell the organiser in advance if you need a wheelchair space.
The organiser credits the palace orchestra from April to October and over Christmas and New Year, and a palace ensemble in the other winter weeks. A soprano and a baritone sing in both.
No. You are reading an independent guide, written separately from the concert organiser, the orchestra and Schönbrunn Palace and with no tie to any of them. Your booking goes through GetYourGuide, which takes the payment and sends the ticket.
Choose a date and a category and the full total appears in the currency you select, booking fee included.