Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert 2021

[Prommer]

Also fantastic that due to rigorous testing, they could sit and play as normal, with no masks. However, I did raise a quizzical eyebrow (in these aerosol-averse days) at the traditional bellowing by orchestra members during the Ohne Sorgen polka.

[Alison]

Some of my favourite young men missing this year at the same time as my dad noted several ‘super babes’.

[Prommer]

Some of my favourite young men missing this year at the same time as my dad noted several ‘super babes’.

Sad for you, but important to keep Dad happy!

[Ein Heldenleben]

Muti unsurprisingly most at home with that quadrille featuring snippets of Italian opera - and the Suppé overture.

Yes they really played the Suppé well- must have been the schnapps at halftime. Highlight for me was really the gypsy violin of Tibor Kovac in the interval feature ...

[Petrushka]

Not much comment on the music here!

It was a quality programme with nothing out of place, happily concentrating on the music of the Strauss family and friends. It was a particular pleasure to have Komzak's waltz, Bad'ner Mad'ln (a favourite of Hans Knappertsbusch which he recorded with the VPO), and it would be good to hear more of Komzak, Millöcker and Ziehrer at future NYDCs.

Terrific performances of Voices of Spring and the Emperor Waltz with an especially eloquent cello solo at the end of the latter.

[hmvman]

Not much comment on the music here!

It was a quality programme with nothing out of place, happily concentrating on the music of the Strauss family and friends. It was a particular pleasure to have Komzak's waltz, Bad'ner Mad'ln (a favourite of Hans Knappertsbusch which he recorded with the VPO), and it would be good to hear more of Komzak, Millöcker and Ziehrer at future NYDCs.

Terrific performances of Voices of Spring and the Emperor Waltz with an especially eloquent cello solo at the end of the latter.

Agree with all of that! A lovely way to start an uncertain year.

Happy New Year to you all

[oddoneout]

Also fantastic that due to rigorous testing, they could sit and play as normal, with no masks. However, I did raise a quizzical eyebrow (in these aerosol-averse days) at the traditional bellowing by orchestra members during the Ohne Sorgen polka.

But weren't they all thoroughly sanitised by the covid measures - I caught a snippet of the preamble about daily checks etc - so no germs there? But yes, it was a double take moment.

[Prommer]

But weren't they all thoroughly sanitised by the covid measures - I caught a snippet of the preamble about daily checks etc - so no germs there? But yes, it was a double take moment.

True. But the precautions involved around singing (if one can call this that) are generally even more rigorous than for playing.

Anyway, I'm not being a scold, thought it was fun - it was just an interesting and slightly brave selection in the circs.

[Richard Barrett]

As the Austrian population is over 90% white, it’s perhaps not surprising that the VPO is not very ethnically diverse.

Although orchestra members are of more than 20 different nationalities, so that isn't really much of an excuse! In 2010, "Asian students comprise 25 per cent of music students in Vienna yet the Philharmonic's only non-white musician, tuba player Yasuto Sugiyama, was fired before he completed his trial year in 2003." (The Independent)

[Alison]

Barenboim next year.

[Petrushka]

Barenboim next year.

Any thoughts on today's programme, Alison? As I say above, I think it was a high quality programme, not a duff item in it, and found it thoroughly enjoyable. Given the circumstances we should be glad to have had it at all.

Not fussed about Barenboim next year (the ones he did in 2009 and 2014 were ok) but the orchestra do need to think about the future. I'm still waiting for Manfred Honeck to take it on, or, failing that for a member of the orchestra itself to step up as Boskovsky did in 1955.

[gradus]

Not much comment on the music here!

It was a quality programme with nothing out of place, happily concentrating on the music of the Strauss family and friends. It was a particular pleasure to have Komzak's waltz, Bad'ner Mad'ln (a favourite of Hans Knappertsbusch which he recorded with the VPO), and it would be good to hear more of Komzak, Millöcker and Ziehrer at future NYDCs.

Terrific performances of Voices of Spring and the Emperor Waltz with an especially eloquent cello solo at the end of the latter.

That's what I thought too, the Komzak waltz with that memorably lush lower string passage was just lovely.

[Petrushka]

That's what I thought too, the Komzak waltz with that memorably lush lower string passage was just lovely.

Boskovsky included Bad'ner Mad'ln along with other pieces by Komzak, Millöcker, Ziehrer, Suppe and the Strauss family here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Waltzes-Mar...9526906&sr=8-3

Ziehrer's waltz Faschingskinder is an absolute gem as is Josef Strauss' Perlen der Liebe.

[Paulie55]

Interval Music

Does anyone have the schedule for what was played in the interval on BBC2? Thought I recognised some pieces more than others(esp. Haydn's Emperor Quartet).

Yes, extremely early in the game, but I was in the mood, so here goes with the annual thread for the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Day concert, 2021 version. First, standard links:

VPO: https://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/...s-concert-main
ORF: https://oe1.orf.at/programm/20210101/622196
BBC R3: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000qncs

The most important aspect of this year's concert is due to the obvious, and is reflected in this statement from the VPOs page on the NJK:



So the only people in the Great Hall of the Musikverein, besides the VPO and Muti, will be the camera crews and the various TV/radio announcers. For R3, as has been standard for the past several years, Petroc gets the announcer's call. Presumably he will be able to travel to Vienna, as opposed to just sitting in London to do a remote relay, as the interval feature on R3 usually features him doing a Vienna-themed feature with recording material on-site in Vienna.

Here is the program(me), minus the 1 unknown and 2 standard encores (blank line indicates the interval):

https://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/concerts/concert-detail/event-id/10229

Franz von Suppé: Fatinitza-Marsch (*)
Johann Strauss II:
a. Schallwellen, Walzer, op. 148 (*)
b. Niko-Polka, op. 228
Josef Strauss: Ohne Sorgen, Polka schnell, op. 271
Carl Zeller: Grubenlichter, Walzer (*)
Karl Millöcker: In Saus und Braus, Galop (*)

Franz von Suppé: Poet and Peasant Overture (Ouvertüre zu Dichter und Bauer)
Karl Komzák: Bad'ner Mad'ln, Walzer, op. 257 (*)
Josef Strauss: Margherita-Polka, op. 244
Johann Strauss I: Venetianer-Galopp, op. 74 (*)
Johann Strauss II:
c. Frühlingsstimmen, Walzer, op. 410
d. Im Krapfenwaldl, Polka française, op. 336
e. Neue Melodien-Quadrille, op. 254
f. Kaiser-Walzer, op. 437
g. Stürmisch in Lieb' und Tanz (Tempestuous in Love and Dance), Polka schnell, op. 393

From the cross-check of my Excel spreadsheet, it looks like 6 new works for this year's New Year's Concert, marked with a (*), with 3 completely new composer names to the roster, Carl Zeller, Karl Millöcker, and Karl Komzák.

It's obviously going to be very weird all around for the VPO to be playing to an empty hall, for this concert of all their concerts. What's even weirder is that the VPO's site still shows the standard preview concerts on Dec. 30 and Dec. 31 on their calendar as well, even though no audience can be present for those performances either. IMHO, it seems pointless to give the same program 3 times to an empty hall, unless the plan is to film all 3 readings to be ready for enough footage to edit into the final commercial video and album later, to cover any blips from January 1. Anyway, if all 3 performances are indeed really happening as usual, the reasons are obviously way above my pay grade. It will still make for enjoyable listening, even if with a very different vibe this time.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Does anyone have the schedule for what was played in the interval on BBC2? Thought I recognised some pieces more than others(esp. Haydn's Emperor Quartet).

The interval performers and instruments were credited on screen but not the pieces so I had to work out it was Kovacs playing the Gypsy music from the group description. The only piece I identified like you was the Emperor Quartet. I like the showcasing of the individual talents - strikes me many of them could have substantial solo careers - indeed Kovacs does - he is some player ...