This is the moment an opera singer in the city that was home to Beethoven and Mozart opens the window as part of a global moment of solidarity to sing down onto the street – and is quickly told to shut up.

The man, who was being filmed by a pal on the street, was one of hundreds of people around the world taking up a social media challenges to sing or play music from their windows to strengthen communities isolated by the coronavirus.

Austria has been on lockdown since this week with people forbidden to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary.

But as the video posted on Instagram by konzertagentur.artphonia shows, no sooner had the man broken into song than from down below at another window, a Viennese woman, speaking in the thick Viennese dialect, shouts out repeatedly: “Be quiet” followed by “You are not that good anyway” – (Ruhe! So schee ist des net!).

The opera singer was one of those who decided to join the global social media movement of solidarity at exactly 6pm. In the posting it said: “All musicians in Austria at exactly 6pm are invited to start playing in order to create a huge free concert for the population.”

Most people however seems to have ignored it, and those that did ended up playing alone, and the opera singer did not even begin to get into his stride before the grumpy neighbour demanded he stop.

Local media noted that at least the appeal had done better in Italy where people seem to be more tuned in to the love of fine music, despite Vienna boasting of its connections with composers like Mozart and Beethoven as well as Franz Schubert, Joseph Hayden, Johann Strauss Jr and Johann Strauss senior as well as Johannes Brahms. It is also home to the Vienna boys choir and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

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