One evening in March 1913, Arnold Schönberg stood before the orchestra in this hall. The program featured his own students and music that no longer held to any key.
The audience started laughing, then whistling, and halfway through it turned into a brawl between supporters and opponents. The concert was cut short, blows were exchanged, and ever since, that evening in Vienna has been known as the slap concert.
The best part came afterwards, because one of those involved dragged another into court, and at that hearing a doctor testified that this music was harmful to the nervous system of anyone who listened to it. The case was taken seriously.
This same hall is home to the orchestra that plays the New Year's Day waltzes watched by half the world, and those two things fit together better than you might think, because Vienna wanted the new and couldn't bear it at the same time.
Across the square, past the pond, your last stop is waiting.
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