There are few concerts in the world that are awaited with as much excitement as the New Year’s Concert from Vienna. Under the direction of Christian Thielemann, the Vienna Philharmonic ushers in the New Year with a concert in the magnificent Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein.
The concert is relayed to over ninety countries all round the world, reaching an audience of more than fifty million.
The 2019 New Year’s Concert will be conducted for the first time by Christian Thielemann. A native of Berlin, Thielemann has been a regular and welcome guest of the Vienna Philharmonic since 2000, with the result that his first New Year’s Concert may be seen as setting an example and providing an appropriate tribute to his previous work with the orchestra. According to the orchestra’s chairman, Daniel Froschauer, orchestra and musicians trust each other completely: “The profound musical understanding and trust that have existed from the outset and that have always functioned perfectly have subsequently borne remarkable fruit in the symphonic repertory as well.”
Among the works that will be heard at the 2019 New Year’s Concert is the Transactions Waltz by Josef Strauß. Its title could serve as a motto for the 150th anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations between Austria and Japan. Since 1987 the New Year’s Concert has been shown live on Japanese television. Among the works by Johann Strauß that Christian Thielemann is conducting are his Express Polka, his waltz Pictures of the North Sea, excerpts from his only fully-fledged opera, Knight Pázmán, and the overture to The Gypsy Baron. In addition to works by other members of the Strauß family, the concert also features music by Josef Hellmesberger (ii) and Carl Michael Ziehrer.
The tradition of presenting New Year’s Concerts began in 1941. The first concert marking the New Year was given in 1939, albeit on 31 December. The first conductor was Clemens Krauss. Willi Boskovsky took over in 1955 and conducted no fewer than twenty-five New Year’s Concerts between then and 1979. The list of musicians who have conducted New Year’s Concerts reads like a who’s who of leading maestros. The New Year’s Concert was first broadcast live on television in 1959. The Vienna Philharmonic regards this now traditional event as a way of wishing the world a Happy New Year through the medium of music in a spirit of hope, friendship and peace.
