New | How a Chinese government decree could take the glimmer out of Vienna's Golden Music Hall

A Chinese concert has been cancelled at one of Europe’s most prestigious musical halls as China has vowed to crack down on the rampant  practice of performers travelling abroad on the government’s dime.  

Vienna’s Musikverein, the historic home of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, has scrapped a “Chinese pupils and choir concert” scheduled for July 29, according to its website.

The Society of Friends of the Music in Vienna, which operates the venue, did not specify the reason for the cancellation on its website and has not immediately replied to emailed questions.

The concert would have occurred only shortly after China’s Ministry of Culture  issued a notice on Wednesday restricting performances of Chinese musicians abroad on government expenses.

With its latest order, the ministry has reacted to years of increasingly embarrassing reports about Chinese delegations staging shows at historic overseas venues such as the Musikverein’s neoclassical Golden Hall and then parading their so-called international acclaim back home.  

“Rather than attempting to draw crowds and profits, they rent venues at their own expense and give away tickets for free or even pay the audience to attend,” the state-run Xinhua news agency said, reporting on the notice. “They will then advertise using slogans like ‘as staged in Vienna’, and declare themselves famous.”