Singing the Praises of Unforgettable Vienna : The city has mastered diverse domains from music to the coffeehouse.

When the taxi driver’s cassette player engulfs you in the heroic tones of a Beethoven overture, or the elevator music is a frothy Strauss or Lehar waltz, or Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” drifts from the hotel room stereo, it’s easy enough to know that the city can only be Vienna.

After almost seven centuries of music patronage under the Hapsburgs, little wonder that this unbelievably beautiful town became Europe’s mecca for composers and performers, a place that Brahms called “the musicians’ Holy City.”

After living here for two years, and after periodic return visits for the past three decades, we see little reason to change our impression of Alt Wien: It’s instant 18th Century, an operetta posing as a city. And the Viennese are born to play their roles well.

A restaurant’s head waiter might very well address one as Herr Baron if the cut of the gentleman’s suit suggest that he really should be a baron. Or perhaps as Grafen if the lady holds her teacup as he thinks a “countess” should. Certainly as Herr Hofrat if one carries a black briefcase and the concerned look of a true “adviser to the palace.”

Of course, there’s nobody in the palace to advise these days. And Hapsburg barons aren’t all that plentiful, what with the once-far-flung Austro-Hungarian Empire reduced from 40 million souls to about 7 million. But for goodness sake, don’t let mere reality take the fun out of your stay in Vienna.

It’s innumerable lovely parks and gardens (more than in any city we know) are wondrous to behold. Even the Viennese patois remains the same: a soft and lilting German that smoothes the sharp Teutonic edges one hears in Stuttgart or Berlin.

Yet baroque architecture, great music, coffeehouses and gemutlichkeit (genteel coziness) are still Vienna’s stocks-in-trade. You’ll find the first sprinkled around the Ringstrasse, a horseshoe-shaped boulevard lined with chestnut trees that begins and ends on the Danube Canal. It’s almost impossible to escape the second in Vienna any time of year. And we’ll try to lead you to the other two, keeping in mind that the one sure place to find the homey comfort of gemutlichkeit is in an old-fashioned coffeehouse. Alas, there aren’t too many of them left.

How long/how much? Give the old town at least two full days, preferably three. Lodging and dining costs are right up there with most European major cities, although more moderate than those of London, Paris and Rome.

Getting settled in: All of these lodgings are within the First District, described by the Ringstrasse and the Danube Canal and very convenient to most sights.

Hotel Karntnerhof, near St. Stephen Cathedral (Stephansdom), has long been a favorite of ours. Nothing fancy here, and some of the 43 bedrooms can be on the small side, but it’s on a quiet little square and the staff is very helpful. Decor is right out of 19th-Century Vienna, and the breakfasts are sumptuous.

Pension Pertschy has perhaps the best location in town, just a step off the Graben, the medieval “ditch” that encircled the city then, and a short walk from the opera house, Hofburg palace and the main shopping street, the Karntnerstrasse. The Pertschy people also have Pension Christina, another neat little place between St. Stephen and the Danube Canal. Like the Pertschy, the Christina has TV and mini-bars in all rooms, plus a bountiful buffet breakfast included in the room rate.

A step up in price is the very lovely Konig von Ungarn hotel, within a 16th-Century building at mid-city and a hotel since 1815. Everything about the “King of Hungary” will take you back to the empire’s glory days, and there’s a charming little courtyard bar-lounge, plus a full restaurant.

Regional food and drink: Few chefs in other countries know how to do credit to a breaded veal cutlet, but the true wienerschnitzel is as light as a paper napkin, may be cut with a fork and is a joy to the palate. Naturschnitzel is served with a simple sauce, while paprikaschnitzel or zigeunerschnitzel has the color and tart Gypsy flavor of Hungarian peppers. Tafelspitz is a best cut of beef simmered slowly and usually served with appropriate flair from a rolling cart. It’s a real treat, best ordered at lunch. There’s also a variety of seasonal game here, with rehrucken and hasenrucken (saddle of venison and hare) distinct triumphs when served with a cream or wild berry sauce.

Desserts are both sin and deliverance to the sweet-toothed Austrians, and if Vienna isn’t the pastry capital of the world, then we’ll gladly pay the zollen (check) at meal’s end. Austria’s white wines seem to have become less fruity of late, but few of the reds go much beyond vin ordinaire .

Good local dining: Although Figlmuller’s (Wollzeile 5) is a small place up a narrow passage just 50 yards from St. Stephen, it rates lofty honors with locals for its heavenly schnitzels, the house specialty for six decades. The decor is Tirolean rustic, the service brisk. Have a go at the small wienerschnitzel for $5.80, a huge one the size of a large dinner plate for $11.50, but bring along a partner for the latter.

Restaurant Salzamt (Ruprechtsplatz 1) is in the heart of the Bermuda Triangle, Vienna’s lively center of bars and cafes. A good spot for lunch, Salzamt is a no-nonsense place offering such as spareribs and green salad for $9.25, schnitzel with salad at $13.50, chicken salad with chicory and curried mayonnaise for $7.50. No frills here, just excellent food.

Hietzinger Brau (Auhofstrasse 1) is an upscale restaurant on the edge of the city just off the road to Linz. You might start with farmhouse ham and melon ($10.50) and move on to the house-specialty tafelspitz ($21.50), veal goulash with dumplings ($17.50) or a kaiserschnitzel with risi-bisi (peas and rice) for $18.50. It’s difficult to find a place with a more typical Viennese decor and menu than Hietzinger Brau.

Going first-class: While the regal Imperial is the town’s most renowned hotel, the less expensive Bristol rates higher with us for its marvelous location just across from the State Opera House and the hotel’s superb, Michelin-starred Korso restaurant. Built in 1916, the Bristol has played host to more than its share of royalty, heads of state and assorted celebrities of the music and arts world. A stay here gives one a heady dose of fin-de-siecle Vienna, plus every possible amenity of today’s five-star hotels.

On your own: The Hapsburgs ruled “by marriage not war,” so start with the Kunsthistorisches Museum for a look at the stunning collection of Breughel, Velazquez and other masterworks those blond Hapsburg princesses brought home in their luggage for 600 years. Then visit the Hofburg palace, perhaps to hear the Vienna Choir Boys, see the Spanish Riding School perform or land a ticket to an unforgettable performance of Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro” in the rococo Redoutensaal. Next comes an evening with the Vienna Symphony or at the Staatsoper or Volksoper music houses, both now rather pricey but worth every schilling.

Take tram No. 38 to Grinzing in the Vienna Woods for an evening of food, wine and singing at a Heuriger , the small wine gardens serving this year’s wine. Many Heurigen have outgrown their intimacy and cozy charm since we lived in Grinzing, but a measure of both may be found at Heuriger Reinprecht (Cobenzelgasse 22) and Hauermandl next door. And Raimund Berger’s small place still keeps the old spirit at Himmelstrasse 29.

Back in town, visit at least one old-style coffeehouse. Cafe Hawelka (Dorotheergasse 6) is a mid-city haven for young artists and writers, where Josefine Hawelka still makes the pastries every night at 10, despite her 80 years. Or spend a leisurely hour or more with the newspapers at Cafe Landtmann (Dr. Karl Lueger Ring, opposite City Hall), or Cafe Schwarzenburg (Karntner Ring). Try that Viennese favorite, the Einspanner , a black coffee topped with whipped cream and named for a black carriage drawn by one white horse.

And try to end at least one evening in a typical Viennese keller . Urbani Keller (am Hof 12) will break your heart with soulful schrammel music (maudlin at best) and the requisite wine. After a few verses of “My Mother Was a Viennese,” you begin to believe it, even if she was from Fresno. Grown men cry.

GUIDEBOOK

Vintage Vienna

Getting there: Fly Lufthansa, Delta, TWA, KLM, British Airways or Swissair from LAX to Vienna. An advance-purchase, round-trip ticket will cost around $1,170.

A few fast facts: Austria’s schilling recently sold for 10.48 to the dollar, about 9 cents each. Vienna’s summers can be glorious, the winters polar frigid but crammed with more music, opera and other cultural events than one can imagine.

Where to stay: Hotel Karntnerhof (Grashofgasse 4; $111-$136 B&B; double, $76 without private bath); Pension Pertschy (Hapsburgergasse 5; $100-$109 double B&B;); Pension Christina (Hafnersteig 7; $92-$98 B&B; double); Konig von Ungarn (Schulerstrasse 10; $154-$172 B&B; double); Hotel Bristol (Kartner Ring 1; $158-$220 double B&B;).

For more information: Call the Austrian National Tourist Office at (310) 477-3332, or write (11601 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 2480, Los Angeles 90025) for a brochure on Vienna, with city map and sights.