Church concert: worth it?

The short answer

The concert earns its place if you want an hour of live chamber music in a historic church close to the Graben and you are content with pew seating. It is not worth it if you want an orchestra, a long evening or a seat with a back. Most visitors treat it as one part of an evening in the old centre, with dinner before or after, rather than as the whole night. The setting is the reason to go: a baroque interior with a painted dome. That balance is why it slots into a day: the venue is central, the music is familiar and the booking is flexible. Weighing it against a longer concert? The comparison guide has the details.

• Book it for a baroque church and a small ensemble
• Choose a concert hall if you want an orchestra and two hours
• Wear trousers or a skirt, since shorts are not allowed

What the concert is

The ticket is for a concert by Classic Ensemble Vienna in St Peter's Church, on Petersplatz in Vienna's first district. It lasts about one hour, and every date on the calendar carries its own start time. The ticket page names Vivaldi, Schubert, Beethoven and Haydn, and its longer description adds Mozart and Bach, with pieces such as Eine kleine Nachtmusik and The Four Seasons mentioned by name. The operator may alter the programme, so treat all of that as the kind of music to expect. Classic Ensemble Vienna is the provider named on the ticket page. The ticket is for a seat, so plan your own transport and dinner.

What you will hear

Chamber music means a small group, and the pieces named suit one. Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525, is a serenade for strings, and Wikipedia says Mozart finished it in Vienna in August 1787. The Four Seasons gives each season of the year its own violin concerto, printed in Amsterdam in 1725 inside Vivaldi's Opus 8. Haydn is often called the father of the string quartet. Whether any of these is played on your night depends on the programme, which can change. None of this needs any background. A chamber concert suits listeners with no background in the pieces: the tunes are familiar, and the playing is close enough that you can hear individual instruments. The composers guide sets out what each name has to do with Vienna.

Read next: The composers and Vienna

The church around you

Wikipedia says construction began around 1701, that Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt took over in 1703 and that the church was consecrated in 1733. It calls the church the first domed structure in baroque Vienna, with an oval interior that feels larger than its footprint suggests. The dome fresco is the work of Rottmayr, painted about 1713. Wikipedia describes its subject as the Coronation of Our Lady, while the Wien Geschichte Wiki calls it the Assumption of Mary, and the interior is clad in ochre and gold stucco. The Wien Geschichte Wiki gives the cost of the rebuilding as 175,000 Gulden and dates the dome decoration to 1713 to 1717. The baroque guide goes through the building in order.

Read next: The baroque church explained

A church that already makes music

The Wien Geschichte Wiki records good church music at St Peter's and a rich archive of music, and describes the organ as among the best in Vienna. That matters because a concert here is not a hall hired for the night: it is a room that has long been used for music. The gallery and organ front date from 1751, and the organ was rebuilt in 1903 with the original front kept. The ensemble on your ticket plays in that setting, at floor level, close to the pews.

How an hour fits an evening

An hour of music leaves the remainder of the night free. The streets around the church are pedestrian, and each date on the calendar lists a start time, so you can slot dinner in on either side. Dinner and drinks come separately from the ticket. Visitors who want a longer evening in a single place often choose a two-hour hall concert instead. The comparison guide sets the church concert beside the Musikverein, with the setting, the length and the seating side by side. A short concert also suits a day that already has a long sightseeing programme, because it asks for one hour and no more.

Read next: Church concert or Musikverein?

Seats, dress and filming

Seating is in church pews, which are wooden benches, and recent visitors mention that they can be hard. The ticket bans shorts, and it bans video recording. The ticket lists no other dress rule, and the venue is a church, so dress as you would for one. Arrive in good time and choose a pew with a clear line to the ensemble and the altar. If you are sensitive to hard seats, a folded scarf or jacket on the bench is a small, sensible help. The ticket's rule concerns video recording. For photographs of the church, follow any signs, and ask a steward if you are unsure.

Read next: What to wear and expect

Who it suits

The concert suits visitors on a first trip who want a short classical hour without committing an evening, couples looking for something quiet, and small groups who want one plan everyone can follow. It also suits people who like baroque interiors, since the room is half the reason to go. The ticket page lists no age rule that this guide can confirm, so if you plan to bring children, check the booking page and ask the operator. A long attention span is not required: an hour of chamber music moves between pieces quickly.

Getting to Petersplatz

St Peter's Church stands on Petersplatz, right next to the Graben, which Wikipedia says became Vienna's first pedestrian zone in November 1974. Stephansplatz meets the Graben at one end of that street, and the Stephansplatz U-Bahn station lies under the square. From the Graben, a lane leads to the church. The getting-there guide takes the route in order, from the cathedral square to the church door. The meeting point is Petersplatz, so that is the address to give a taxi or type into a map. Allow time to walk rather than rush, since the pedestrian streets are busy with people and shop windows.

Read next: Getting to Petersplatz

Who this isn't for

The concert is not for everyone. Skip it if any of these describes you, and look at a concert hall or another evening instead. The hour is short and the seating is simple, which suits many visitors and rules out others, so it is better to be sure before you book than to be disappointed in a pew. None of the points below is a criticism of the concert; they describe who it was never designed for.

• Anyone who wants a full orchestra and a long evening
• Anyone who needs a seat with a back for a long sit
• Anyone expecting a guided visit of the church, since the ticket is a concert
• Anyone who plans to film the performance, because video recording is not allowed

Booking and independence

Choose a date on the booking calendar, then the number of tickets. The booking lets you lock in a seat today and settle the bill afterwards, and a cancellation up to 24 hours ahead costs nothing on GetYourGuide. Your confirmation gives the start time, and the operator may change the programme, so read it once more the day before. This site is a separate, independent guide: it is not the church's website or the ensemble's, and has no affiliation with either. Bookings are made on GetYourGuide's page, which shows the price in your currency; this guide quotes none.