Austria

Austria's classical music history is closely associated with Vienna, where Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven worked. The Vienna Philharmonic traces its beginnings to a concert conducted by Otto Nicolai on 28 March 1842, performed by musicians of the Court Opera. It began giving concerts in the Musikverein's Golden Hall in the 1870–71 season.

The opera house on the Ringstrasse opened on 25 May 1869 with Mozart's Don Giovanni, sung in German. After the monarchy ended, the former Court Opera eventually adopted the name Wiener Staatsoper. In Salzburg, the festival began on 22 August 1920 with Hugo von Hofmannsthal's Jedermann, directed by Max Reinhardt in front of the cathedral. Mozart and Richard Strauss subsequently became central to its operatic repertoire.