The Summer Night Concert 2024 was performed this year on June 7. It is an annual open-air event, which has been held since 2004 in the magical setting of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna/Austria.

The focus of this year’s programme was on popular works from the 19th and 20th centuries from Europe’s rich musical heritage. Bedřich Smetana, one of the most important Czech composers, was honoured with three works to mark the 200th anniversary of his birth. Andris Nelsons conducted the concert for the second time, while Norwegian opera and lieder singer Lise Davidsen made her début with the orchestra. She sang two arias – from Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser and Giuseppe Verdi’s La forza del destino.

Thanks to its UNESCO World Heritage setting in the Baroque Park of Schönbrunn with the palace as a backdrop, the Summer Night Concert adds great visual charm to its superb musical quality. The idea of making classical music at its very best available for everyone and thus giving a gift to all music lovers still characterises the event today. Millions of viewers and listeners in more than 80 countries can follow the concert online, on TV and radio. The illustrious conductors who have previously led the orchestra at this event are Georges Prêtre, Daniel Barenboim, Franz Welser-Möst, Lorin Maazel, Christoph Eschenbach, Zubin Mehta, Semyon Bychkov, Gustavo Dudamel, Daniel Harding, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Andris Nelsons.