100.000-visitors classical music concert: Sommernachtskonzert

Summer Night Concert (German: Sommernachtskonzert) is an annual, biggest outdoor concert of the classical music in the world organized and performed by the Vienna Philharmonic. The first concert was held on 25 May 2004, on the occasion of the enlargement of the European Union, and was for the time being titled "Concert for Europe". It is being held in the Schönbrunn Palace Park in Vienna. This beautiful venue offers unforgettable experience for all visitors. Since last year the stage has been located next to the palace and from the large parterre in front of the palace and the hill below Gloriette you can observe the concrete.

With the free admission concert attracts more than 100.000 visitors every year. Since its beginning Sommer night concert has been very popular. In 2016 the concert was broadcast by 83 TV stations in 82 countries. In addition, live public viewing took place in the cities of London, Madrid, Monza and Bucharest.

Summer night concert is a present of the Vienna Philharmonics to its city. Vienna Philharmonic is composed of members of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and is considered one of the world's leading orchestras. They are known to the wider audience by its traditional New Year’s Concert, which takes place on January 1st, i.e. on New Year's Day. Last year Summer Night Concert was dedicated to 175th anniversary of the Vienna Philharmonic.

2018 concert

This year, the traditional summer night concert in Schönbrunn Palace Park will be held with the motto "Italian Night". The conductor is Russian Valery Gergiev, general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic and artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.

The special guest is Anna Netrebko a Russian operatic soprano. Netrebko is one of the most famous sopranos today, adored by the audience. The journal Musical America as identified her as "a genuine superstar for the 21st century" and she made it to the Time 100 list in 2007 of the most influential people by the Time magazine. There is even asteroid carrying her name.

The repertoire will be arias of Italian classics like Giacomo Puccini, Francesco Cilea or Ruggero Leoncavallo. However, some pieces of the Russian ballet repertoire are also on the program, such as Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" and Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake."

Many tourists plan their visit to Vienna with the goal to enjoy this unique concert, find out why!