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  • St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom) Vienna
    St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom) Vienna
  • St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom) Vienna
    St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom) Vienna

Advent Concert Series: Stephansdom Vienna

Vienna, Stephansdom — main

Free seating  1 h  Instant e-Ticket Give as a gift card

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Total Price
$ 53

About the Event

Particularly before Christmas, many people seek the peace and contemplation of St. Stephen's Cathedral to prepare for the most beautiful time of the year. The Christmas concerts in St. Stephen's Cathedral invite you to pause for a while — moments when you can escape the hustle and bustle of the pre‐Christmas period and return to the essential things in life.

These intimate evenings are filled with festive chamber music and the most beautiful Christmas songs, skillfully interpreted by the Harmonia Ensemble Vienna, soprano and baritone solos contribute to the contemplative atmosphere.

Aside from playing in orchestras, the musicians of the Harmonia Ensemble Vienna perform with great efficacy and pleasure as a chamber ensemble, always with the aim of broadening their musical abilities and horizons. The musicians thus followed an old tradition, as is customary with established orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic.

Get your tickets and experience a magical pre‐Christmas evening at St. Stephen's Cathedral!


The stage is not directly visible from seats in Category 3. The concert presenter recommends Categories 1‐2 for the best view.

Program

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Selected works
  • Johann Sebastian Bach – Selected works
  • Franz Schubert – Selected works
  • Georg Friedrich Händel – Selected works
Program is subject to change

Artists

Ensemble: Harmonia Ensemble Wien

Stephansdom

The Stephansdom (St. Stephen´s Cathedral), constructed in the 12th century, is a Viennese landmark. The present-day building incorporates Romanesque and Gothic styles, and stands on the site of two earlier churches. 23 bells hang in the Stephansdom's towers - the most famous is called 'Pummerin', and is the second-biggest church bell in Europe. One highlight of the Stephansdom is its tiled roof, intricately ornamented in richly-colored mosaics that outline Vienna's coat of arms. Visitors can climb up the North or South Tower to take a closer look at the stunning roof and enjoy the view of the city. The cathedral's catacombs - the resting place of approximately 10000 souls - are another must-see. Classical music frequently adds to the magic of the Stephansdom, with those featuring the music of Vivaldi and Mozart attracting the largest crowds.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Perhaps the most important composer of all time, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was an Austrian composer of the late 18th century. Born in 1756 in Salzburg, he showed prodigious musical talent from childhood. Beginning at five years of age, he composed more than 600 works, including concertos, symphonies, religious works and operas before his premature death at the age of 35. Hi influence over successive generations cannot be overestated - Ludwig van Beethoven wrote of Mozart "posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years”. Despite the immense success of his compositions, and the acclaim he received across Europe, Mozart achieved little financial security and rwas buried in an unmarked grave in Vienna's St Marx Cemetery.

Franz Schubert

During his rather short life, Franz Schubert, one of the fathers of romanticism in music, had always been an unappreciated genius who had never received public acclaim. Only his family and friends were delighted by his music, and most of his works were discovered and published only many years after his death. Franz Schubert was born on the 31th of March 1797 in the suburbs of Vienna. His father and eldest brother were amateur musicians and they taught him to play piano and violin. At the age of 11 Schubert was a singer in a choir at the Lichtenthal parish and later auditioned for Antonio Salieri and admitted to the emperor’s choir. During that period young Franz started composing his own works. However, after his voice broke he had to leave the choir and in 1814 he started working as a teacher in the same parish school as his father. He never stopped composing and 4 years later he decided to quit teaching and devote his life completely to music. He fell out with his father because of that and struggled to make ends meet. In 1818 Schubert went to Vienna, where he met Vogl. Together they gave private concerts in small aristocratic circles, mainly playing Lieder, which Schubert wrote around 600. Franz Schubert gave only one big public concert in his whole life in March 1828, which was very warmly received by the audience. However, his health was deteriorating and in November the same year he died of thyroid fever at the age of 31.

Georg Friedrich Händel

An English subject with German origins, Georg Handel was truly a musical pioneer, combining musical traditions of English, Italian and German composers. He was born in 1685 in Halle, Germany, into a very religious and conservative family. His father was dreaming for his son to become a lawyer and would not let young Georg play musical instruments at home. But the Duke Johann Adolf accidentally heard him playing in the chapel and convinced Georg's father to let his son receive a musical education. Thus, Handel became a pupil of the famous organ player and composer Friedrich Zachow. The first success came to Handel in 1705 when he moved to Hamburg and staged his two premiere operas, Almira and Nero, in the Oper am Gänsemarkt. Almira immediately became a highlight of the theatre and was performed around 20 times. Later next year Handel moved to Italy were he received high acclaim and was put on the same level as renowned Italian composers of the time. In 1710 Handel travelled to London where later he decided to settle down. There he wrote a sacred choral piece "Te Deum" that was played in St. Paul´s Cathedral at the ceremony devoted to signing the Utrecht Treaty. From that moment onwards he became the leading composer of England, as the country did not have any native prominent composers. His oeuvre was mainly focused on operas, but by 1730 the genre of Italian opera ceased to be popular and Handel´s success dwindled. During the last years of his life until his death in 1759 he was mainly composing oratorias, including his famous and magnificent Messiah.

Johann Sebastian Bach

The name Bach and the word musician had long been synonyms in Germany as the world saw 56 musicians from this kin. But it was Johann Sebastian Bach, a genius composer and virtuoso organ player, who shed lustre on his family name. He was born on th 31st of March 1685 in Eisenach, a small town in Thuringia. At the age of 10 he became an orphan and was brought up by his elder brother Johann Christoph, who was an organist in a neighbouring town. His brother was the one to teach music to the young Johann Sebastian. Later he moved to Luneburg where he attended a church school and mastered the techniques of playing violin, viola, piano and organ by the age of 17. Besides that, Bach was a choir singer and later after his voice broke he became a chanter’s assistant. In 1703 Bach was hired as a court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst III. He earned such a good reputation there that he was later invited to Arnstadt to be an organist at the New Church, where he wrote his best organ works. In 1723 he moved to Leipzig to be a chantor at St. Thomas Church where he stayed until his death of a stroke in 1750. In the year of his death he had undergone unsuccessful eye surgery which lead him to lose his eyesight. During that strenuous time his second wife Anna Magdalena helped him to write his last musical pieces. Bach’s artistic legacy is vast. He created compositions in all genres of the time: oratorias, cantatas, masses, motets, music for organ, piano and violin.

Customer Reviews

3.5 of 5

  • Andrea C, Italia

    Dec 2019

    Un concerto assolutamente imperdibile! L'aria magica della chiesa di Santo Stefano rende ancora più emozionante qualsiasi concerto.

  • Tatyana Z, Israel

    Dec 2019

    Excellent performance! Highly recommend!

  • Erich D, Österreich

    Dec 2019

    Konzert war sehr schön und hat uns sehr gut gefallen. Die Sänger sollten mehr im Vordergrund stehen! Beim Einlass in den Stephansdom war es chaotisch und sollte besser organisiert sein.

  • Modesto M, Spain

    Dec 2018

    This is the first time we ordered rickets at ClassicTic and we had no problems at all. The tickets were ready for us at Stephansdom and we enyoid very murch a beautiful concert.

  • Ruud v, Netherlands

    Dec 2018

    Very nice concert with fantastic Christmas feeling !!

  • Lorena R, USA

    Dec 2018

    Worth every penny! A must do if you’re here over the holidays. If I lived here I would come every holiday, especially becaue the program changes from year to year.

  • Leonie S, Australia

    Dec 2018

    Whilst the music was nice it was extremely cold and very late. I was expecting it to be much more ornate in the church. It was not as festive as I was hoping.

  • Catherine M, Ireland

    Dec 2018

    Very enjoyable performance and the setting was so good.

  • Gary B, USA

    Dec 2018

    Fantastic event. Wonderful way to put your mind and heart into the spirit of Christmas.

  • Sharon M, United Kingdom

    Dec 2018

    We really enjoyed the concert. Venue stunning and music sounded fantastic. The staff working at the event weren’t so helpful. As my husband and I walked to the entrance of the cathedral we had come in by (I wanted to light a candle in the cathedral) we were stopped by a member of staff who told us “You’ve paid for the show, not the tour” and we were abruptly told to leave by the side exit. We understand staff need to direct people to the correct exit however her manner was rude and brought our mood down after such a wonderful performance. Maybe staff would benefit from lessons in politeness/kindness?

  • Ioanna Y, Cyprus

    Dec 2018

    Truly magical!!

  • Yolanda B, United Kingdom

    Dec 2018

    Wonderful. An unforgettable experience. Soprano soloist was outstanding and trumpet player also. It is a pity so many people were holding up camera phones to film and spoiling the view. I could not see very much in the second sector. But musically a very enjoyable experience.

  • Erhard Z, Deutschland

    Dec 2018

    Hervorragend

  • Christine G

    Dec 2018

    great singers, realy good at all

  • ANCA CRENGUTA B, Romania

    Dec 2018

    Great

  • Stephen M, United Kingdom

    Dec 2018

    Great setting for a great concert.

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Address

Stephansdom, Stephansplatz 1 , Vienna, Austria — Google Maps

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