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Hurry up! Today is the first day to register for the lottery to buy tickets to next year's Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert. Tickets cost between 25 and 940 Euro -- plus airfare and accommodations.
According to http://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at, these concerts began in 1939.
"In the midst of barbarism, dictatorship, and war, at a time of constant worry regarding the lives of members and their families, as well as concern for the autonomy of the orchestra itself, the Philharmonic made an Austrian patriotic statement by performing music comprised exclusively of compositions by the Strauss family."
Why the Strauss family? The music of Johann Strauss Sr. and Johann Strauss Jr. was reminiscent of a Vienna that had ceased to exist at the end of World War I. However, Austria still existed as a country. By 1939, Austria was no longer Austria but was, instead, a part of Hitler's Germany.
The Strauss waltzes represent all that was good about Vienna. This music was the soundtrack to "The City of Dreams."
Dancing the waltz was and still is a special experience. The dance creates a slight feeling of dizziness. Add to that the giddiness of some champagne and you have a nice little buzz going. One can't help but laugh and forget the worries of the moment.
Clemens Krauss was the conductor and organizer of the first concert and conducted them every year until the end of the war when the Allies banned his conducting anywhere in Europe for two years. In 1948 he resumed his duties as New Year's conductor.
Kruass died unexpectedly in 1954. The Vienna Philharmonic does not have a principle conductor such as other orchestras so there was no obvious choice for a successor. The members of the orchestra decided that their concert master, Willi Boskovsky, should conduct on New Year's Day.
Boskovsky conducted the concerts for 25 years. Lorin Maazel took over from 1980 to 1986.
In 1987, The Philharmonic decided to use a different conductor each year.
The first superstar guest conductor was Austrian born Herbert von Karajan. With his health failing and a 40 year relationship with The Philharmonic, this was a singular concert. They rehearsed the music extensively. This was music they had been playing every year but they took the time to polish it and the result was a concert for the ages.
Other guest superstars include Zubin Mehta, Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, and this year's conductor Mariss Jansons.
Next year the conuctor will be Austrian, Franz Welser-Möst. Welser-Möst is currently the music director of The Cleveland Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6-jJ9cmY84
Hurry up! Today is the first day to register for the lottery to buy tickets to next year's Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert. Tickets cost between 25 and 940 Euro -- plus airfare and accommodations.
According to http://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at, these concerts began in 1939.
"In the midst of barbarism, dictatorship, and war, at a time of constant worry regarding the lives of members and their families, as well as concern for the autonomy of the orchestra itself, the Philharmonic made an Austrian patriotic statement by performing music comprised exclusively of compositions by the Strauss family."
Why the Strauss family? The music of Johann Strauss Sr. and Johann Strauss Jr. was reminiscent of a Vienna that had ceased to exist at the end of World War I. However, Austria still existed as a country. By 1939, Austria was no longer Austria but was, instead, a part of Hitler's Germany.
The Strauss waltzes represent all that was good about Vienna. This music was the soundtrack to "The City of Dreams."
Dancing the waltz was and still is a special experience. The dance creates a slight feeling of dizziness. Add to that the giddiness of some champagne and you have a nice little buzz going. One can't help but laugh and forget the worries of the moment.
Clemens Krauss was the conductor and organizer of the first concert and conducted them every year until the end of the war when the Allies banned his conducting anywhere in Europe for two years. In 1948 he resumed his duties as New Year's conductor.
Kruass died unexpectedly in 1954. The Vienna Philharmonic does not have a principle conductor such as other orchestras so there was no obvious choice for a successor. The members of the orchestra decided that their concert master, Willi Boskovsky, should conduct on New Year's Day.
Boskovsky conducted the concerts for 25 years. Lorin Maazel took over from 1980 to 1986.
In 1987, The Philharmonic decided to use a different conductor each year.
The first superstar guest conductor was Austrian born Herbert von Karajan. With his health failing and a 40 year relationship with The Philharmonic, this was a singular concert. They rehearsed the music extensively. This was music they had been playing every year but they took the time to polish it and the result was a concert for the ages.
Other guest superstars include Zubin Mehta, Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, and this year's conductor Mariss Jansons.
Next year the conuctor will be Austrian, Franz Welser-Möst. Welser-Möst is currently the music director of The Cleveland Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6-jJ9cmY84