Symphonies in Style

Have you ever planned an event at a formal concert hall? Or, as inspired by one of my recent trips to Austria, a conzert hall? If you read my blog Another Holiday?, you know that I vacationed with my sister and her family in Salzburg, Austria. One of our missions was to visit some of the landmarks from the movie The Sound of Music.¹ At the end of the movie, the family (who are the main characters of the film), perform a vocal show at an amazing outdoor conzert hall, then secretly defect to Switzerland to avoid the Nazis and the recruitment of their father into the German Navy.¹

That theater still exists. It’s been encapsulated within a much, much larger conzert venue which we toured when we were there. It’s called the Felsenreitschule (Summer Riding School – also known as the Rock Riding School)² and it’s built directly into the Monschsberg mountain. Today the building consists of three separate conzert halls: the original Felsenreitschule, the Haus Fur Mozart (House for Mozart, also known as the Kleine Festspielhaus or Small Festival Hall),³ and the Grosses Festspielhaus (Large Festival Hall).⁴ All of the halls are connected with atriums and foyers. I could only imagine the number of events you could have in this space. I was so impressed with how organized everything was, I even took a photo of their coat check area (see the end of the blog). I bet they could check 5000 coats at once if they had enough attendants. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

You could tell by the large hallways, massive atriums, and lengthy bars that people moving and large crowds were on the minds of the architects when designing the spaces. The number of entrances rivaled an arena, and I’ve never seen this number of stalls in a restroom before. Well done Salzburg. I have included links to each of the different conzert halls within this venue in the references at the end of this blog. I highly recommend you take a moment to look at some of their professional photo galleries. They’re stunning.

The Haus Fur Mozart is the smaller of the two venues attached to the Felsenreitschule, but it can still seat 1495 guests. The Grosses Festspielhaus is a visual marvel in its own right and can seat 2179 guests. The Felsenreitschule can seat 1437 guests and originally had a retractable ceiling which was incredibly unique for the size of the venue back in 1926. The cavernous space was initially quarried to build the local cathedral, and eventually the tell-tale caves in the wall were carved out so that equestrian displays and animal fights could be observed from a better vantage point.²

We decided at the last minute to take an official guided tour of the venue, but because it was last minute, the only tour spaces left during our time in Salzburg were on the German-spoken tour, not an English-spoken tour. So, we signed up! My German has not been tested like this in years. My husband and I navigate in German often when we visit Germany and Austria, however, this was 100% in German, no English thrown in for good measure. Luckily my niece also speaks German too.

Even though the tour guide talked fast (as we all do, we just don’t realize how fast until talking with someone who doesn’t natively speak our language), I managed to catch enough information to translate interesting tidbits to the rest of the group. Honestly, we didn’t need many words to be wowed by the majesty of everything we saw.

I would LOVE to have the opportunity to plan an event in a space of this magnitude. I can imagine the precision with which the staff must operate. The meticulous operation of the kitchen, the speed at which the ticket counters must move, and the talent of the production team members have to all be top notch. It would be an honor to plan an event where some of the most famous names in music and theater have walked the halls before me.

Have you had the pleasure of planning an event in a large, formal concert hall? Share one thing you learned with us here, or send me an email!

Be sure to comment, like, and share this blog with your friends and family who travel to Austria!

New to traveling? Visit Tracy’s Traveler’s Tidbits for helpful tips for unseasoned travelers.

1.Wise, Robert (director). The Sound of Music. Twentieth Century Fox, 1965.
2.Felsenreitschule. Rock Riding School. Information and photos by the Salzburger Festspiele. https://www.salzburgerfestspiele.at/l/felsenreitschule.
3.Haus Fur Mozart. Salzburg, Stage of the World. 2026. TSG. Tourismus Salzburg GmbH. https://www.salzburg.info/en/events/event-venues/house-for-mozart.
4. Grosses Festspielhaus. Information and photos by the Salzburger Festspiele. https://www.salzburgerfestspiele.at/en/l/grosses-festspielhaus.