Lovers of classical music eagerly await the New Year’s Concert. One of the most famous is, of course, the New Year’s Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert, orchestra and conductor are known across the globe, with more than 50 million viewers watching the live broadcast every year. This unique concert is broadcast in around 90 countries and thus reaches a huge audience. 

In the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein there are 2000 happy guests, there are 2000 lucky spectators who are drawn by lot. This means that nobody can buy a ticket to the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Concert. The only way to get one of the popular tickets is therefore via the lottery, which draws the lucky winners by e-mail and informs them of the results. 

Vienna in Love with the Strauss dynasty

The New Year’s Concert is dedicated to the collected works of the Strauss dynasty, which includes the father, sons and grandsons of the famous Johann Strauss. The first New Year’s Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic did not take place on 1 January, but on 31 December 1939. 

The concert has followed a musical tradition since 1958. This is because the performance has always been followed by a voluntary encore – depending on the enthusiastic applause of the audience. If another encore follows, it is the waltz ‘On the Beautiful Blue Danube’, written by Johann Strauss (the son), op.314. The Danube Waltz is also one of the encores at the New Year’s Concert. If the audience is still enthusiastic and shows this with strong applause, the conductor decides to play a third encore, which is celebrated with thunderous applause: The famous Radetzky March by Johann Strauss (father) op. 228. The audience knows the rituals of the New Year’s Concert and traditionally claps along to the Radetzky March. 

Conductors of the Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s Concert 

In the first five decades, the conductors did not change positions every year. It was not until Herbert von Karajan took over in 1987 that conductors changed almost every year, although this does not mean that conductors only appear on the stage of the Vienna Musikverein once. Willi Boskovski, Lorin Maazel, Clemens Krauss and Riccardo Muti are some of the conductors who have conducted the New Year’s Concert most frequently. 

Further New Year’s concerts by the Vienna orchestras

However, the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Concert is not the only one of its kind. In keeping with Viennese tradition, further concerts will be held at the Vienna Konzerthaus on 30 and 31 December and 1 January. At these concerts, the audience is treated to Ludwig van Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. 

The Vienna Hofburg Orchestra also holds its traditional New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day concerts on 31 December and 1 January. This is not just a musical attraction, as visitors enjoy a wonderful view of the magnificent halls while listening to the famous pieces by Johann Strauss, Franz Lehár and the opera arias of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. 

The Vienna Volksoper also invites friends of classical music to a programme consisting of famous Viennese marches and dances. As the orchestra is travelling to the Far East at the end of December, this concert will take place on 27 December in Oberschützen, Burgenland. 

Featured image, symbolic image: Foto von Diego Romeo auf Unsplash