Deserted by tourists, a hotel in Vienna gave itself a temporary one-night-only makeover, turning itself into an outdoor concert hall.

The guest bedrooms, which have stood empty during the coronavirus lockdown, were transformed into opera boxes for an evening, and the hotel courtyard into a stage to create a rare moment of joy in the city of music on Saturday.

Two opera singers and a string ensemble were invited to play at the Hotel Zeitgeist.

As they performed in the courtyard, the spectators looked on from the windows of 40 or so rooms which they had rented for the evening.

And they approved, showering applause on to the head of the tuxedoed conductor and his elegant soprano Monika Medek.

Paid bookings for the “window concert” were sold out in three days, said hotel director Andreas Purtscher.

He said the concert was intended to give the artists the opportunity to perform again and “to help people get out and find a sense of normality in their contact with others”.

Since mid-April, Austria has lifted many of the restrictions taken to combat the spread of the new coronavirus but cultural life is still at a standstill because of the ban on gatherings of more than 100 people.

The hotel plans to hold at least three more window concerts before August.