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Mozart wrote his opera The Marriage of Figaro here.

Underground club with a lively Indie scene.

Schubert (1797–1828) was the twelfth child born in the family home at Nussdorfer Strasse 54. Although he composed many symphonies, it is for his songs that he is best remembered.

One of the walls in Vienna’s oldest inn is adorned with Mozart’s signature.

Mahler (1860–1911) composed 10 symphonies and song cycles, yet during his lifetime he was better known as a conductor. He was the musical director of the Staatsoper (1897–1907) and led the opera into its golden age.

Another jazz club, this time traditionally orientated. Since its foundation in 1972, international and national artists have been performing in the cellar venue.

Vienna’s “Waltz King” (1825–99) was the most successful of a dynasty of composers and musicians. He wrote more than 500 dance pieces, among them the Blue Danube Waltz (1876), which became Austria’s unofficial national anthem. He is buried at Zentralfriedhof (see p124).

Brahms (1833–97) was born in Hamburg but became the musical director of the Vienna Singakademie, a choral society, in 1862. For three seasons he directed the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, but from 1878 he devoted all of his time to composition. Brahms is also buried at the Zentralfriedhof.

Along with Mozart and Beethoven, Haydn (1732–1809) is the third important composer of the Vienna Classic period (1770–1830). Haydn moved to Vienna from the countryside, aged eight, to become a choir boy at Stephansdom cathedral. In his house at Haydngasse 19 he wrote his greatest works, such as the oratory The Creation (1796–8).

The Kammeroper, founded in 1954, is dedicated to promoting young singers. The four main productions a year include classic and Baroque operas, musicals and operettas. The Kammeroper moves to the Schloss Schönbrunn theatre in July and August.