Palais of Lights - Candlelight Concert

Palais of Lights – Romantic Nights at Palais Auersperg

An evening of music, candlelight and quiet elegance

Palais of Lights invites you to leave everyday life behind and immerse yourself in a world of romance, sound and warm candlelight. In the impressive setting of the Rosenkavalier Hall at Palais Auersperg, countless candles illuminate the space, creating an intimate, almost timeless atmosphere in which music makes every moment special.

The concert is a musical journey through the many facets of love, presented by five exceptional musicians — including piano and an expressive vocalist. Classical masterpieces meet modern love songs in a harmonious program that unites passion, longing and emotion.

The evening is divided into two acts:

• Tender Beginnings: Gentle, lyrical melodies full of closeness and feeling
• Light & Fire: More intense arrangements with emotional highlights
• Compositions by Saint-Saëns, Piazzolla, Yiruma, Einaudi and modern classics by Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Christina Perri and Lady Gaga combine to create an unforgettable concert experience.

This event is perfect for couples, special occasions or anyone who wishes to be enchanted by music and light.

Dinner – A Sensory Beginning

Enhance your experience with an exclusive Romantic 5-course dinner before the candlelight concert begins:

• On request: vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free or other special menus — please indicate when booking.

Classic Menu

• Bread service: Oven-fresh organic bread with salted butter and homemade sauces
• Starter: Mozzarella bites on basil salad with juicy cherry tomatoes & roasted pine nuts (balsamic-honey-mustard dressing)
• Soup: Creamy Toscano tomato soup with sun-ripened tomatoes, olive oil & fresh basil
• Main course: Roast beef steak with pepper sauce, grilled asparagus and potatoes
• Dessert: Chocolate fondant with fresh berries and raspberry sauce

Vegetarian Menu

• Bread service: Oven-fresh organic bread with salted butter and homemade sauces
• Starter: Mozzarella bites on basil salad with juicy cherry tomatoes & roasted pine nuts (balsamic-honey-mustard dressing)
• Soup: Creamy Toscano tomato soup with sun-ripened tomatoes, olive oil & fresh basil
• Main course: Creamy beetroot risotto with arugula and Parmesan
• Dessert: Chocolate fondant with fresh berries and raspberry sauce

Book your tickets now and experience this extraordinary evening of music, light and emotion.

Place

The Palais Auersperg, earlier called Palais Rosenkavalier, is a baroque palace at Auerspergstraße 1 in Vienna's Josefstadt district.


HISTORY

The Palais Auersperg was built in the years between 1706 and 1710 on the plot of the former Rottenhof with the plans of the two well-known architects Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt for Hieronymus Capece de Rofrano, to whom the former name "Rosenkavalier" refers. The middle part of the Palais was altered between 1720 and 1723 by Johann Christian Neupauer.

In 1749 Prince Joseph of Saxe-Hildburghausen started to use the Palais as his winter residence. He hired Giuseppe Bonno as musical conductor of the palais. Between 1754 and 1761 weekly music courses were held during the winter months. From 1759, he rented the Palais and hired Christoph Willibald Gluck as head conductor of the concerts held there.

In 1777 Prince Johann Adam of Auersperg, friend and confidant of Emperor Francis I and Maria Theresia, bought the Palais, at that time still called Palais Rofrano. From 1786 the Palais was renamed Palais Auersperg and was the setting for a series of important and well-known musical events, notably Idomeneo by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Sieben Worte des Erlösers am Kreuze by Joseph Haydn were performed there. As Johann Adam of Auersperg's second marriage stayed childless and the children of his first marriage had already died, he adopted his nephew Carl Auersperg (1750–1822). Carl accepted his inheritance in 1795. Unforunately, the marriage of Carl and his wife Josepha also remaineded childless, so in 1812 they adopted Prince Vinzens Auersperg, who accepted his inheritance in 1817. In the time between 1827 and 1837 Prince Wasa stayed at the Palais Auersperg with the Swedish Royal Family because his inheritance had been contested in Sweden. In 1864, on the orders of Vinzens Auersperg, a ballroom building was built along the Lerchenfelderstrasse. After his death in 1872 his widow Wilhelmine commissioned further alterations to the ballroom building in order to rent the facilities to the Geometric Institute. In 1878 Franz Joseph Emanuel (1856–1938), son of Wilhelmine Auersperg, and his wife Wilhelmine Kinsky took possession of the Palais Auersperg. Wilhelmine Kinsky organized many charity events for the benefit of the organization called Vereinigung zur Errettung verwahrloster Kinder. Pieces of theatre and music were performed in the Rosenkavaliersaal, partially with the participation of members of the aristocracy. In 1901 Franz Joseph Auersperg returned the ballroom building to its initial use. Unfortunately, in the course of the Second World War the ballroom building was completely destroyed and the remains were therefore removed.

Between 1923 and 1935 the Palais Auersperg was temporarily rented to the Bundesdenkmalamt and a film company. In 1940 Ferdinand Auersperg (1887–1942) inherited the Palais and in 1942 his sister Christiane Croy accepted her inheritance. She lived with her family in the upper rooms of the Palais during the Second World War. They also hid members of the resistance there during the Second World War and there is a sign near the entrance of the Palais which commemorates this. In 1944 the organization „Provisorische österreichische Nationalkomitee“, better known as O5, was established in the Palais. In 1945 the Palais was seized by the Alliierte Kommandantur, the police force of the Allied Control Council, and was subsequently used as their headquarters.

Konsul Alfred Weiss, founder of Arabia Kaffee, bought the Palais in 1953. In 1953 and 1954 it was extended by the architect Oswald Haerdtl who added the orangery, the winter garden and more functional rooms. Alfred Weiss opened a large café for 600 guests in the Palais, with a terrace next to it. After his death, his descendants sold the Palais to a company called General Partners A.G..

In the beginning of 2006 the Palais was sold again to an old European family. The State Apartments remained the same and are still used for musical purposes. In the upper floor most areas have been changed into office rooms. In the next few years the Palais will be restored and a small museum is planned. Currently the Palais is used for balls and musical events of various kinds; it has eleven rooms and can accommodate up to 1000 guests.