Vienna has been a center for music for centuries. Vivaldi moved there from Venice, dying penniless there in 1741. Haydn, who as a boy sang at Vivaldi’s funeral, died in Vienna in 1808 to the sound of cannons as Napoleon was laying siege to the city. Vienna was home to the composers we now think of as the greatest legends, including Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms. This weekend, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra pays tribute to two composers who, in different ways, could be considered quintessentially Viennese.

One of them is Schubert, the only one of the universally acknowledged great composers to have actually been born in Vienna. The orchestra is performing Schubert’s Second Symphony, followed by a set of his German dances arranged for orchestra by Anton Webern.

Completing the concert are waltzes by Johann Strauss, the “Waltz King,” whose music recalls the glamorous days of 19th century Vienna and the old Habsburg emperors.

The evening rounds out the BPO’s two-week-long Viennese festival. Adding a special festive note will be guest conductor Michael Christie, a West Seneca native who is now the music director of the Phoenix Symphony, the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the Colorado Music Festival.

Performances are at 8 p. m. Saturday and 2:30 p. m. Sunday. Tickets are $29.50-$41.50. For information, call 885-5000.

—Mary Kunz Goldman