Golden Hall Concert

Concert at Vienna's Musikverein by HighlanderImages

The Musikverein concert hall in Vienna, Austria is a magnificent venue and it certainly lives up to its "Golden Hall" name. The concert I attended was a classical concert of "favorite hits" played by the musicians in period costume which added a certain grandeur to the whole event. Hit the SoundCloud button above and enjoy some of the concert.

Wiener Musikverein, (English: "Viennese Music Association"), commonly shortened to The Musikverein, has a twofold meaning: it is the name of a famous Vienna concert hall, as well as the short name for the music society, Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde [Society of Music Friends], that owns the building. This building is located on Dumbastraße behind the Imperial Hotel, between Bösendorferstraße and Karlsplatz. However, because Bösendorferstraße is so small a street, the building is better known as being between Karlsplatz and Kärntner Ring (part of Ringstraße loop). The back of the building faces Canovagasse [Canova lane].

The concert hall was built by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, on a piece of land given by Emperor Franz Joseph, and it was opened on January 6, 1870. A historic organ was installed in it by the Austrian firm Rieger, in 1907. The Musikverein is famous for its acoustics and is considered to be one of the five finest concert/opera venues in the world. None of these halls was built in the modern era with the application of acoustics science, and, with the partial exception of the horseshoe-shaped Colon, all share a long, tall, and narrow shape. It is the home to the Vienna Philharmonic. The Große Musikvereinssaal, or Goldene Saal (Golden Hall), is forty-eight metres long, nineteen metres wide, and eighteen metres high. It has 1,744 seats and standing room for 300. Every year, the Vienna New Year's Concert is held here.