what are the best concerts

We want to see a typical Vienna concerts what would you reccomend?

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Others with vastly more experience there will doubtless respond, but as no one yet has, here%26#39;s what we found during our brief visit last month:

As a practical matter, there are two types of concerts -- the %26quot;serious%26quot; concerts that music-loving Viennese attend, similar to other great cities and often featuring internationally reknowned performers, and %26quot;tourist%26quot; concerts. What may be confusing is that some of the latter are presented in the same venues as the former. If you%26#39;re a devoted classical music lover, you%26#39;ll want to focus on the first type. If not, the %26quot;tourist%26quot; concerts may fill the bill.

The %26quot;tourist%26quot; concerts feature musicians in 18th century costume, for the most part playing the most well-known pieces by Mozart and Strauss (or excerpts from them). This does not necessarily mean the performance quality is poor -- there are lots of talented but struggling young musicians trying to earn a living in Vienna. Only those who%26#39;ve actually heard them can say.

The one program we attended that%26#39;s promoted as a %26quot;tourist%26quot; concert could have qualified as a %26quot;serious%26quot; program, and the performances were excellent -- a string quartet at the Deutschordenkirche in Singerstrasse (Thurs-Sunday at 7:30). The promotional flyers for the concert call this %26quot;Mozart Haus%26quot; because he once slept here -- do not confuse it with the %26quot;real%26quot; Mozart Haus a couple of blocks away, as we first did. (The real one currently is closed for renovation.)

Tickets to all the %26quot;tourist%26quot; concerts are available from your hotel, and also from an army of street hawkers, also in period costume. One recent poster here cautioned against unauthorized hawkers selling counterfeit/unauthorized %26quot;tickets%26quot; and recommended going through your hotel.

For %26quot;serious%26quot; concerts, consult the websites for the Staatsoper, Volksoper, Musikverein, and Konzerthaus for program information on the dates you%26#39;ll be there, or www.culturall.at for all the State-owned venues. Tickets can be purchased there online, if available. Hotel concierges also can obtain good tickets, sometimes at a premium if availability is tight.

Websites showing consolidated performance schedules are www.nethotels.com and www.viennaconcerts.com (both are operated by commercial ticket brokers and have English versions).

Good luck, and good listening.