The Vienna tuba has been part of the "Vienna sound" and the Vienna Opera (Vienna Philharmonic) for 160 years.

The Theater of the Carinthian Gate (the "Kärntnertortheater", the new name for the former court opera) was built by the City of Vienna with imperial sanction and was inaugurated on November 30, 1709. In 1712 the theater was used by the "old German Folk Theater". Then in 1765, after having been destroyed by fire in 1762, the court bought back the building. It was first administered by the gentry, and then, in 1776, was open to anyone (by virtue of "freedom of performance") until 1785 when the court again took over management and engaged its own orchestra.