'Everything is allowed': Vienna's dementia-friendly classical concerts

Spectators in wheelchairs attend a concert specifically tailored to people living with dementia at the Wiener Musikverein in Vienna. Photo: AFP

The elegant audiences for its world-famous New Year's Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic may be the epitome of buttoned-up reserve, all tailcoats and taffeta.

But the gilded columns of Vienna's grand old Musikverein are now home to concerts where something very different happens - where older people, often living with dementia, can let it all hang out and just go with the music.