The New Year's concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, global event
CONCERT. Get ready once again to clap your hands to the famous "Radetski" march or let yourself be moved to the three-quarter beat of the world's most popular waltz, of the "Blue Danube": on the morning of January 1st, like every year, live from Musikverein Vienna, the city's Philharmonic Orchestra will continue an important musical tradition. This time, having the Austrian chief musician Franz Welser on the podium – Had to, who will conduct the New Year's Concert for the first time. Naturally, the light program does not change: Viennese waltzes, polka dots, journeys – especially for this year, Franz Liszt's "Mephisto Waltz" will be included, tribute to the Hungarian composer, as next year marks two hundred years since his birth.
This musical event was first established in dark times. The maiden concert was given on 31 of December 1939, with conductor Clemens Krauss. Throughout the war it was strictly local in character and served as a reminder of the good old days while expressing an optimism for the future.
Only Strauss
The program of the first concert included only works by Johann Strauss Jr, while there was no "biz" (performances outside the official program). "Blue Danube" was performed for the first time in 1945, as "biz", while the "Radetski" pitch 1946, also as "biz". Until 1958, these two compositions were often played, but not always. Since that year, however, they have been established as two inseparable "bizs" – with two exceptions: the 1967 Willy Boskowski performed "The Blue Danube" as part of the official program, while on January 1 of 2005 Lorin Maazel did not perform the festive "Radetski" out of respect for the victims of the Indonesian tsunami.
This year's concert will be televised in seventy countries and on three hundred radio stations worldwide. In our country it will be broadcast by ERT on 12.15 μ. μ. For the raffle of his concert tickets 2012, interested parties may contact from 2 to 23 January of 2011 on the website www. wienerphi larmoniker. gr.