The Vienna New Year's Concert () is an annual
concert
A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variet ...
of
classical music performed by the
Vienna Philharmonic
The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world.
The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. It ...
on the morning of
New Year's Day in Vienna, Austria. The concert occurs at the
Musikverein at 11:15. The orchestra performs the same concert programme on 30 December, 31 December, and 1 January but only the last concert is regularly broadcast on radio and television.
Music and setting
The concert programmes always include pieces from the Strauss family—
Johann Strauss I
Johann Baptist Strauss I (; also Johann Strauss Sr., the Elder, the Father; 14 March 1804 – 25 September 1849) was an Austrian composer of the Romantic Period. He was famous for his light music, namely waltzes, polkas, and galops, which he ...
,
Johann Strauss II,
Josef Strauss
Josef Strauss (20 August 1827 – 22 July 1870) was an Austrian composer.
He was born in Mariahilf (now Vienna), the son of Johann Strauss I and Maria Anna Streim, and brother of Johann Strauss II and Eduard Strauss. His father wanted him to ch ...
and
Eduard Strauss
Eduard "Edi" Strauss (15 March 1835 – 28 December 1916) was an Austrian composer who, together with his brothers Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss made up the Strauss musical dynasty. He was the son of Johann Strauss I and Maria Anna Streim ...
. On occasion, music principally of other Austrian composers, including
Joseph Hellmesberger Jr.,
Joseph Lanner
Joseph Franz Karl Lanner (12 April 1801 – 14 April 1843) was an Austrian dance music composer and dance orchestra conductor. He is best remembered as one of the earliest Viennese composers to reform the waltz from a simple peasant dance to s ...
,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
,
Otto Nicolai (the Vienna Philharmonic's founder),
Emil von Reznicek,
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...
,
Carl Zeller
Carl Adam Johann Nepomuk Zeller (19 June 1842 – 17 August 1898) was an Austrian composer of operettas.
Zeller was born in Sankt Peter in der Au, the only child of physician Johann Zeller and Maria Anna Elizabeth. Zeller's father died before hi ...
,
Carl Millöcker,
Franz von Suppé
Franz von Suppé (né Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo de Suppe) (18 April 181921 May 1895) was an Austrian composer of light operas and other theatre music. He came from the Kingdom of Dalmatia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now part of Croatia). A co ...
, and
Carl Michael Ziehrer
Carl Michael Ziehrer (more rarely spelled Karl Michael Ziehrer) (2 May 1843 – 14 November 1922) In the 8th edition the article title changed without comment to Ziehrer, Carl Michael. was an Austrian composer. In his lifetime, he was one of the ...
has featured in the programmes. In 2009, music by
Joseph Haydn was played for the first time, where the 4th movement of his
"Farewell" Symphony marked the 200th anniversary of his death. Other European composers such as
Hans Christian Lumbye
Hans Christian Lumbye (; 2 May 1810 – 20 March 1874) was a Danish composer of waltzes, polkas, mazurkas and galops, among other things.
Beginnings
As a child, he studied music in Randers and Odense, and by age 14 he was playing the trumpet in a ...
,
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ' ...
,
Émile Waldteufel
Charles Émile Waldteufel (9 December 1837 – 12 February 1915) was a French pianist, conductor and composer known for his numerous popular salon pieces.
Life
Émile Waldteufel (German for ''forest devil'') was born at 84 Grand'Rue in the c ...
,
Richard Strauss,
Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...
,
Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
, and
Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
have been featured in recent programmes. In 2020, music by
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
was played for the first time to mark the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth.
The announced programme contains approximately 14 to 20 compositions, and also three encores. The announced programme includes
waltz
The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position.
History
There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...
es,
polkas,
mazurkas, and
marches
In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a national "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diff ...
. Of the encores, the unannounced first encore is often a fast polka. The second is Johann Strauss II's waltz "
The Blue Danube
"The Blue Danube" is the common English title of "An der schönen blauen Donau", Op. 314 (German for "By the Beautiful Blue Danube"), a waltz by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, composed in 1866. Originally performed on 15 Februa ...
", whose introduction is interrupted by light applause of recognition and a New Year's greeting in German (originally added by
Willi Boskovsky
Willibald Karl Boskovsky (16 June 1909 – 21 April 1991) was an Austrian violinist and conductor, best known as the long-standing conductor of the Vienna New Year's Concert from 1955 to 1979.
Biography
Boskovsky was born in Vienna, and joined the ...
) from the conductor and orchestra to the audience. The origin of this tradition stems from the New Year's Concert of 1954, when the audience interrupted three pieces by enthusiastically applauding and cheering. The final encore is Johann Strauss I's
Radetzky March
"Radetzky March", Op. 228, is a march composed by Johann Strauss Sr. and dedicated to Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz. First performed on 31 August 1848 in Vienna, it soon became popular among regimented marching soldiers. It has bee ...
, during which the audience claps along under the conductor's direction. This did not start until 1958. In this last piece, tradition also calls for the conductor to start the orchestra as soon as they step onto the stage, before reaching the podium. The complete duration of the event is around two and a half hours.
The concerts have been held in the "" (Golden Hall) of the
Musikverein since 1939. The television broadcast is augmented by
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
performances in selected pieces during the second part of the programme. The dancers come from the
Vienna State Ballet
Vienna State Ballet, ''Wiener Staatsballett'', is considered one of the world's top ballet companies. It was formerly named the Vienna State Opera Ballet as it is based at the Vienna State Opera building. In 2005 the ballets of the Vienna State ...
and dance at different famous places in Austria, e. g.
Schönbrunn Palace
Schönbrunn Palace (german: Schloss Schönbrunn ; Central Bavarian: ''Schloss Scheenbrunn'') was the main summer residence of the Habsburg rulers, located in Hietzing, Vienna. The name ''Schönbrunn'' (meaning “beautiful spring”) has its root ...
,
Schloss Esterházy
Schloss Esterházy ( hu, Esterházy-kastély) is a palace in Eisenstadt, Austria, the capital of the Burgenland state. It was constructed in the late 13th century, and came under ownership of the Hungarian Esterházy family in 1622. Under Paul ...
, the
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August ...
or the Wiener Musikverein itself. In 2013, the costumes were designed by
Vivienne Westwood
Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood (née Swire; born 8 April 1941) is an English fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream.
Westwood came to public notice when she m ...
. From 1980 until 2013, the flowers that decorated the hall were a gift from the city of
Sanremo
Sanremo (; lij, Sanrémmo(ro) or , ) or San Remo is a city and comune on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination on the Italian Rivie ...
,
Liguria
it, Ligure
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
, Italy. In 2014, the orchestra itself provided the flowers. Since 2014, the flowers have been arranged by the ''Wiener Stadtgärten''. New attire by designers
Vivienne Westwood
Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood (née Swire; born 8 April 1941) is an English fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream.
Westwood came to public notice when she m ...
and
Andreas Kronthaler debuted in 2017.
History
There has been a tradition of concerts on New Year's Day in Vienna since 1838, but not with music of the Strauss family. From 1928 to 1933 there were six New Year's concerts in the Musikverein, conducted by
Johann Strauss III
Johann Maria Eduard Strauss III (16 February 18669 January 1939; german: Johann Strauß III) was an Austrian composer whose father was Eduard Strauss, whose uncles were Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss, and whose grandfather was Johann Straus ...
. These concerts were broadcast by the
RAVAG. In 1939,
Clemens Krauss
Clemens Heinrich Krauss (31 March 189316 May 1954) was an Austrian conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss and Richard Wagner.
Krauss was born in Vienna to Clementine Krauss, ...
, with the support of Vienna Gauleiter
Baldur von Schirach, devised a New Year's concert which the orchestra dedicated to ''Kriegswinterhilfswerk'' ('Winter War Relief'), to improve morale at the front lines. After World War II, this concert survived, as the Nazi origins were largely forgotten, until more recently.
The concert was first performed in 1939, and conducted by Clemens Krauss. For the first and only time, the concert was not given on New Year's Day, but instead on 31 December of that year. It was called then a special, or 'extraordinary' concert (). Johann Strauss II was the only composer performed, in a modest program:
*"
Morgenblätter", Op. 279, waltz
*"", Op. 117
*
Csárdás
Csárdás (, ; ), often seen as Czárdás, is a traditional Hungarian folk dance, the name derived from ' (old Hungarian term for roadside tavern and restaurant). It originated in Hungary and was popularized by bands in Hungary and neighboring l ...
, from the opera ''
Ritter Pázmán''
*"
Kaiser-Walzer", Op. 437
*"
Leichtes Blut", Polka schnell, Op. 319
*"
Egyptischer Marsch", Op. 335
*"
G'schichten aus dem Wienerwald", Walzer, Op. 325
*"
Pizzicato-Polka"
*"
Perpetuum mobile", ein musikalischer Scherz, Op. 257
*Overture to the operetta ''
Die Fledermaus
' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874.
Background
The original li ...
''
Encores
There were no encores in 1939, and sources indicate that encores were not instituted until 1945. Clemens Krauss almost always included "Perpetuum mobile" either on the concert or as an encore. The waltz ''The Blue Danube'' was not performed until 1945, and then as an encore. The
Radetzky March
"Radetzky March", Op. 228, is a march composed by Johann Strauss Sr. and dedicated to Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz. First performed on 31 August 1848 in Vienna, it soon became popular among regimented marching soldiers. It has bee ...
was first performed in 1946, as an encore. Until 1958, these last two pieces were often but not always given as encores. Since that year, their position as twin encores has become inviolable tradition, with two exceptions:
* In 1967,
Willi Boskovsky
Willibald Karl Boskovsky (16 June 1909 – 21 April 1991) was an Austrian violinist and conductor, best known as the long-standing conductor of the Vienna New Year's Concert from 1955 to 1979.
Biography
Boskovsky was born in Vienna, and joined the ...
made the ''Blue Danube'' part of his concert program to commemorate the work's centenary; its encore position was occupied by Johann Strauss II's ''Unter Donner und Blitz, polka schnell, Op. 324''. Additionally, an actor impersonating the composer of the work appeared during the concert.
* In 2005,
Lorin Maazel and the orchestra concluded the program with the ''Blue Danube'', omitting the ''Radetzky March'' as a mark of respect to the victims of the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.
One unannounced encore, a gallop or ''polka schnell'', is always placed before the ''Blue Danube'', and after the final announced work on the printed concert programme. It has also been a ''scherz''.
Conductors
ImageSize = width:230 height:920
PlotArea = width:180 height:800 left:50 bottom:100
Legend = columns:2 left:10 top:90 columnwidth:100
DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:1939 till:2023
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1940
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1939
# there is no automatic collision detection,
# so shift texts up or down manually to avoid overlap
Colors=
id:AUT value:rgb(0.929,0.161,0.224) legend:Austrian
id:USA value:rgb(0.235,0.231,0.431) legend:American
id:FRA value:rgb(0,0.137,0.584) legend:French
id:IND value:rgb(1,0.6,0.2) legend:Indian
id:ITA value:rgb(0,0.573,0.275) legend:Italian
id:ARG value:rgb(0.6,0.804,1) legend:Argentinian
id:JPN value:rgb(0.737,0,0.176) legend:Japanese
id:LAT value:rgb(0.62,0.188,0.224) legend:Latvian
id:VEN value:rgb(0.969,0.82,0.09) legend:Venezuelan
id:GER value:black legend:German
Define $dx = 25 # shift text to right side of bar
Define $dy = -4 # adjust height
PlotData=
bar:Conductors width:25 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S
from:1939 till:1940 shift:($dx,$dy) color:AUT text:Clemens Krauss
Clemens Heinrich Krauss (31 March 189316 May 1954) was an Austrian conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss and Richard Wagner.
Krauss was born in Vienna to Clementine Krauss, ...
from:1941 till:1946 shift:($dx,$dy) color:AUT text:Clemens Krauss
Clemens Heinrich Krauss (31 March 189316 May 1954) was an Austrian conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss and Richard Wagner.
Krauss was born in Vienna to Clementine Krauss, ...
from:1946 till:1948 shift:($dx,$dy) color:AUT text:Josef Krips
Josef Alois Krips (8 April 1902 – 13 October 1974) was an Austrian conductor and violinist.
Life and career
Krips was born in Vienna. His father was Josef Jakob Krips, a medical doctor and amateur singer, and his mother was Aloisia, née Seit ...
from:1948 till:1955 shift:($dx,$dy) color:AUT text:Clemens Krauss
Clemens Heinrich Krauss (31 March 189316 May 1954) was an Austrian conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss and Richard Wagner.
Krauss was born in Vienna to Clementine Krauss, ...
from:1955 till:1980 shift:($dx,$dy) color:AUT text:Willi Boskovsky
Willibald Karl Boskovsky (16 June 1909 – 21 April 1991) was an Austrian violinist and conductor, best known as the long-standing conductor of the Vienna New Year's Concert from 1955 to 1979.
Biography
Boskovsky was born in Vienna, and joined the ...
from:1980 till:1987 shift:($dx,$dy) color:USA text: Lorin Maazel
from:1987 till:1988 shift:($dx,$dy) color:AUT text:Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan (; born Heribert Ritter von Karajan; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, wit ...
from:1988 till:1989 shift:($dx,$dy) color:ITA text:Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony ...
from:1989 till:1990 shift:($dx,$dy) color:AUT text:Carlos Kleiber
Carlos Luis Bonifacio Kleiber (3 July 1930 – 13 July 2004) was an Austrian conductor who is widely regarded as among the greatest conductors of all time.
Early life
Kleiber was born as Karl Ludwig Bonifacius Kleiber in Berlin in 1930, the ...
from:1990 till:1991 shift:($dx,$dy) color:IND text:Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Mehta's father was the fou ...
from:1991 till:1992 shift:($dx,$dy) color:ITA text:Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony ...
from:1992 till:1993 shift:($dx,$dy) color:AUT text:Carlos Kleiber
Carlos Luis Bonifacio Kleiber (3 July 1930 – 13 July 2004) was an Austrian conductor who is widely regarded as among the greatest conductors of all time.
Early life
Kleiber was born as Karl Ludwig Bonifacius Kleiber in Berlin in 1930, the ...
from:1993 till:1994 shift:($dx,$dy) color:ITA text:Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He currently holds two music directorships, at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and at the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale ...
from:1994 till:1995 shift:($dx,$dy) color:USA text: Lorin Maazel
from:1995 till:1996 shift:($dx,$dy) color:IND text:Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Mehta's father was the fou ...
from:1996 till:1997 shift:($dx,$dy) color:USA text: Lorin Maazel
from:1997 till:1998 shift:($dx,$dy) color:ITA text:Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He currently holds two music directorships, at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and at the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale ...
from:1998 till:1999 shift:($dx,$dy) color:IND text:Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Mehta's father was the fou ...
from:1999 till:2000 shift:($dx,$dy) color:USA text: Lorin Maazel
from:2000 till:2001 shift:($dx,$dy) color:ITA text:Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He currently holds two music directorships, at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and at the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale ...
from:2001 till:2002 shift:($dx,$dy) color:AUT text: Nikolaus Harnoncourt
from:2002 till:2003 shift:($dx,$dy) color:JPN text: Seiji Ozawa
from:2003 till:2004 shift:($dx,$dy) color:AUT text: Nikolaus Harnoncourt
from:2004 till:2005 shift:($dx,$dy) color:ITA text:Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He currently holds two music directorships, at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and at the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale ...
from:2005 till:2006 shift:($dx,$dy) color:USA text: Lorin Maazel
from:2006 till:2007 shift:($dx,$dy) color:LAT text:Mariss Jansons
Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons (14 January 1943 – 1 December 2019) was a Latvian conductor best known for his interpretations of Mahler, Strauss and Russian composers such as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich. During his lifetime he w ...
from:2007 till:2008 shift:($dx,$dy) color:IND text:Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Mehta's father was the fou ...
from:2008 till:2009 shift:($dx,$dy) color:FRA text:Georges Prêtre
Georges Prêtre (; 14 August 1924 – 4 January 2017) was a French orchestral and opera conductor.
Biography
Prêtre was born in Waziers (Nord), and attended the Douai Conservatory and then studied harmony under Maurice Duruflé and conducting ...
from:2009 till:2010 shift:($dx,$dy) color:ARG text: Daniel Barenboim
from:2010 till:2011 shift:($dx,$dy) color:FRA text:Georges Prêtre
Georges Prêtre (; 14 August 1924 – 4 January 2017) was a French orchestral and opera conductor.
Biography
Prêtre was born in Waziers (Nord), and attended the Douai Conservatory and then studied harmony under Maurice Duruflé and conducting ...
from:2011 till:2012 shift:($dx,$dy) color:AUT text:Franz Welser-Möst
Franz Leopold Maria Möst (born 16 August 1960), known professionally as Franz Welser-Möst, is an Austrian conductor. He is currently music director of the Cleveland Orchestra.
Biography
Franz Leopold Maria Möst was born in Linz, Austria, ...
from:2012 till:2013 shift:($dx,$dy) color:LAT text:Mariss Jansons
Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons (14 January 1943 – 1 December 2019) was a Latvian conductor best known for his interpretations of Mahler, Strauss and Russian composers such as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich. During his lifetime he w ...
from:2013 till:2014 shift:($dx,$dy) color:AUT text:Franz Welser-Möst
Franz Leopold Maria Möst (born 16 August 1960), known professionally as Franz Welser-Möst, is an Austrian conductor. He is currently music director of the Cleveland Orchestra.
Biography
Franz Leopold Maria Möst was born in Linz, Austria, ...
from:2014 till:2015 shift:($dx,$dy) color:ARG text: Daniel Barenboim
from:2015 till:2016 shift:($dx,$dy) color:IND text:Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Mehta's father was the fou ...
from:2016 till:2017 shift:($dx,$dy) color:LAT text:Mariss Jansons
Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons (14 January 1943 – 1 December 2019) was a Latvian conductor best known for his interpretations of Mahler, Strauss and Russian composers such as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich. During his lifetime he w ...
from:2017 till:2018 shift:($dx,$dy) color:VEN text:Gustavo Dudamel
Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist who is the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Paris Opera.
Early life
Dudamel was ...
from:2018 till:2019 shift:($dx,$dy) color:ITA text:Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He currently holds two music directorships, at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and at the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale ...
from:2019 till:2020 shift:($dx,$dy) color:GER text:Christian Thielemann
Christian Thielemann (born 1 April 1959) is a German conductor. He is currently chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden. He was artistic director of the Salzburg Easter Festival from 2013 to 2022, and a regular conductor at the Bayreuth Fe ...
from:2020 till:2021 shift:($dx,$dy) color:LAT text:Andris Nelsons
Andris Nelsons (born 18 November 1978) is a Latvian conductor who is currently the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the ''Gewandhauskapellmeister'' of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He has previously served as music directo ...
from:2021 till:2022 shift:($dx,$dy) color:ITA text:Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He currently holds two music directorships, at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and at the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale ...
from:2022 till:2023 shift:($dx,$dy) color:ARG text: Daniel Barenboim
Boskovsky,
concertmaster
The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...
of the orchestra from 1939 until 1970, directed the Vienna New Year's concerts from 1955 to 1979. In 1980,
Lorin Maazel became the first non-Austrian conductor of the concert. The orchestra subsequently changed practice, to choose a different conductor every year. The first such choice was
Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan (; born Heribert Ritter von Karajan; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, wit ...
, for the 1987 concert.
*
Clemens Krauss
Clemens Heinrich Krauss (31 March 189316 May 1954) was an Austrian conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss and Richard Wagner.
Krauss was born in Vienna to Clementine Krauss, ...
: 1939, 1941–1945, 1948–1954
*
Josef Krips
Josef Alois Krips (8 April 1902 – 13 October 1974) was an Austrian conductor and violinist.
Life and career
Krips was born in Vienna. His father was Josef Jakob Krips, a medical doctor and amateur singer, and his mother was Aloisia, née Seit ...
: 1946–1947
*
Willi Boskovsky
Willibald Karl Boskovsky (16 June 1909 – 21 April 1991) was an Austrian violinist and conductor, best known as the long-standing conductor of the Vienna New Year's Concert from 1955 to 1979.
Biography
Boskovsky was born in Vienna, and joined the ...
: 1955–1979
*
Lorin Maazel: 1980–1986, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2005
*
Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan (; born Heribert Ritter von Karajan; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, wit ...
: 1987
*
Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony ...
: 1988, 1991
*
Carlos Kleiber
Carlos Luis Bonifacio Kleiber (3 July 1930 – 13 July 2004) was an Austrian conductor who is widely regarded as among the greatest conductors of all time.
Early life
Kleiber was born as Karl Ludwig Bonifacius Kleiber in Berlin in 1930, the ...
: 1989, 1992
*
Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Mehta's father was the fou ...
: 1990, 1995, 1998, 2007, 2015
*
Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He currently holds two music directorships, at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and at the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale ...
: 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2018, 2021
*
Nikolaus Harnoncourt: 2001, 2003
*
Seiji Ozawa: 2002
*
Mariss Jansons
Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons (14 January 1943 – 1 December 2019) was a Latvian conductor best known for his interpretations of Mahler, Strauss and Russian composers such as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich. During his lifetime he w ...
: 2006, 2012, 2016
*
Georges Prêtre
Georges Prêtre (; 14 August 1924 – 4 January 2017) was a French orchestral and opera conductor.
Biography
Prêtre was born in Waziers (Nord), and attended the Douai Conservatory and then studied harmony under Maurice Duruflé and conducting ...
: 2008, 2010
*
Daniel Barenboim: 2009, 2014, 2022
*
Franz Welser-Möst
Franz Leopold Maria Möst (born 16 August 1960), known professionally as Franz Welser-Möst, is an Austrian conductor. He is currently music director of the Cleveland Orchestra.
Biography
Franz Leopold Maria Möst was born in Linz, Austria, ...
: 2011, 2013, 2023 (scheduled)
*
Gustavo Dudamel
Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist who is the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Paris Opera.
Early life
Dudamel was ...
: 2017
*
Christian Thielemann
Christian Thielemann (born 1 April 1959) is a German conductor. He is currently chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden. He was artistic director of the Salzburg Easter Festival from 2013 to 2022, and a regular conductor at the Bayreuth Fe ...
: 2019
*
Andris Nelsons
Andris Nelsons (born 18 November 1978) is a Latvian conductor who is currently the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the ''Gewandhauskapellmeister'' of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He has previously served as music directo ...
: 2020
Audience and broadcast
The concert is popular throughout Europe, and more recently around the world. The demand for tickets is so high that people have to pre-register one year in advance in order to participate in the drawing of tickets for the following year. Some seats are pre-registered by certain Austrian families and are passed down from generation to generation.
The event is televised by the Austrian national broadcasting service
ORF
ORF or Orf may refer to:
* Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF
* Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute
* One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel
* Open reading frame, a portion of the ...
– from 1989 to 1993, 1997 to 2009, and again in 2011 under the direction of
Brian Large
Brian Large (born 16 February 1939 in London, England) is a television director and author. He is among the world's foremost TV directors specializing in opera and classical music.
Biography
Studies
Large studied at the Royal Academy of Music ...
– and relayed via the
European Broadcasting Union's
Eurovision network to most major broadcasting organizations in Europe. On 1 January 2013, for example, the concert was shown on
Één and
La Une
La Une () is a Belgian national television channel, owned and operated by the French-language public-service broadcasting organization RTBF. La Une is the equivalent of Flemish station Eén, of the Flemish broadcaster VRT.
History
INR
Ex ...
in Belgium,
ZDF
ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...
in Germany,
France 2
France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews.
Since 3:20 CET on 7 A ...
in France,
BBC Two in the United Kingdom,
Rai 2
Rai 2 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting ''TG2'' news bulletins, tal ...
in Italy (on some hours delay),
RSI La 1
RSI LA 1 (''la uno'', formerly TSI 1) is one of two television channels produced by Radiotelevisione Svizzera di lingua Italiana for the Italian-speaking community of Switzerland. LA 1, which can be received in all parts of the country, is a gen ...
in Switzerland,
La 1 in Spain,
ČT2
ČT2 (ČT Dva, Česká televize 2, "''Dvojka''") is Czech public television channel, operated by Česká televize. ČT2 broadcasts documentaries nature-oriented shows, frequently showing foreign films in the original versions with Czech subtitles ...
in the Czech Republic,
RTP1
RTP1 (''RTP um'') is a Portuguese free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP). It is the company's flagship television channel, and is known for broadcasting mainst ...
in Portugal, and
TVP2
TVP 2 (TVP Dwa, ''Program II Telewizji Polskiej'', ''"Dwójka"'') is a Polish public mainstream TV channel operated by TVP. Launched in October 1970, its varied line-up contains a variety of programming (documentary, history, talk-shows, game-sh ...
in Poland, among many other channels. The concert was again televised by ORF on 1 January 2015 and 1 January 2016. Estimated audience numbers are ~50 million, in 73 countries in 2012, 93 countries in 2017 and 95 countries in 2018. Past television presenters have included , who presented the concert for 25 years. The current presenter, since 2008, is .
Outside Europe, the concert is also shown on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
in the United States (beginning in 1985, as part of the performing arts anthology ''
Great Performances
''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise theatrical performances such as plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is p ...
'', in abridged form),
CCTV in China since 1987 (being telecast live since 1989, except in 1990) while also being broadcast live by
CNR in China since 2013,
NHK
, also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
NHK operates two terrestr ...
in Japan since 1973,
MetroTV
Metro TV is an Indonesian free-to-air television news network based in West Jakarta. It was established on 25 November 2000 and now has over 52 relay stations all over the country. It is owned by Surya Paloh who also owns the ''Media Indonesi ...
in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
,
KBS in South Korea, and
SBS in Australia (until 2018, on delay). Since 2006, the concert has also been broadcast to viewers in several African countries (
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...
,
Lesotho,
Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...
,
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
,
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
,
Swaziland,
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...
and
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
). In Latin America the concert is shown in Chile by
La Red, and in
Guatemala,
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
and
Bolivia. Indonesia's MetroTV broadcasts the concert although it is delayed by four to five days. The concert was broadcast for the first time in
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
,
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
,
Sri Lanka and
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
in 2010.
In 2021, the Vienna New Year's Concert took place without an audience, for the first time in the concert's history, because of public-health restrictions during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. The 2022 concert with
Daniel Barenboim featured a live audience limited to 1,000 patrons, and the ORF radio transmission on
Ö1
Österreich 1 (Ö1) is an Austrian radio station: one of the four national channels operated by Austria's public broadcaster ORF. It focuses on classical music and opera, jazz, documentaries and features, news, radio plays and dramas, ''Kabarett' ...
featured as presenter, the first female radio presenter for ORF in the history of the concert.
Commercial recordings
Decca Records made the first of the live commercial recordings, with the 1 January 1979 digital recording (their first digital LP releases) of the 25th time (and 24 years = 1979–1955) of the New Year's Concert with Willi Boskovsky conducting the Vienna Philharmonic.
Other New Year's concerts in Vienna
The
Vienna Hofburg Orchestra's traditional
New Year's Eve Concert takes place on 31 December in the halls of the
Hofburg Palace
The Hofburg is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty. Located in the centre of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century and expanded several times afterwards. It also served as the imperial winter residence, as Schönbrunn ...
. The program features waltz and operetta melodies by Johann Strauss,
Emmerich Kálmán
Emmerich Kálmán ( hu, Kálmán Imre; 24 October 1882 – 30 October 1953) was a Hungarian composer of operettas and a prominent figure in the development of Viennese operetta in the 20th century. Among his most popular works are ''Die Csárd� ...
,
Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár ( ; hu, Lehár Ferenc ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is ''The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe'').
Life a ...
and opera arias by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
References
External links
"The History of the New Year's Concert"by Dr.
Clemens Hellsberg, Vienna Philharmonic
"Neujahrskonzert der Wiener Philharmoniker 2011" ORF
ORF or Orf may refer to:
* Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF
* Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute
* One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel
* Open reading frame, a portion of the ...
(Austrian broadcaster) (in German)
Musikverein
{{Portal bar, Austria, Music
Classical music concerts
Vienna Philharmonic
New Year celebrations
Annual events in Vienna
1939 establishments in Austria
Recurring events established in 1939
Classical music in Austria
Winter events in Austria