APPLAUSE
Happy New Year from Vienna.
A decade ends, and a new one begins
here in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein.
In a world that seems to move ever faster,
predictability is rarely something that is seen as a positive.
And yet there is something deeply reassuring about the familiarity
of what lies ahead over the next few hours, our annual programme
of waltzes and other dances by the Strauss family and friends,
performed with rich elegance by the musicians
of the Vienna Philharmonic.
The Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Day Concert
in association with Rolex.
And making his debut this year, Andris Nelsons, the Latvian
conductor who is music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and
conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus.
But let's not forget it was Birmingham where he made his name,
with seven triumphant seasons at the helm of the CBSO.
Some anniversaries to celebrate this year -
150 years of this great, gilded concert hall,
100 years of the Salzburg Festival, and the 250th anniversary
of Beethoven's birth.
But we start with the music of Carl Michael Ziehrer -
the overture to his operetta The Vagabonds.
Andris Nelsons on the podium here to open the 2020
Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Day Concert.
MUSIC: Die Landstreicher, Overture by Carl Michael Ziehrer
APPLAUSE
The Overture to the Vagabonds, by Carl Michael Ziehrer.
Josef Strauss died 150 years ago this year,
and he is the first of the Strauss siblings we're going
to hear this morning.
This is his work Love's Greeting,
first heard at a firework concert in the Volksgarten here in Vienna,
in summer 1858.
MUSIC: Liebesgrusse, Walzer op.56 by Josef Strauss
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Josef Strauss' waltz, Love's Greetings, accompanied
by images of the Salzburg Festival, which will celebrate
its centenary this summer.
Next, a march that Josef Strauss wrote for the 50th anniversary
of the Royal Austrian Agricultural Society.
The society's president was the Prince of Liechtenstein
and this is the Liechtenstein March.
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The Liechtenstein March by Josef Strauss.
Apparently there are 30,000 flowers in the Musikverein,
nurtured by the municipal gardeners and staff.
And we have a Flower Festival Polka next, by Johann Strauss.
APPLAUSE
The Flower Festival Polka by Johann Strauss.
Andris Nelsons conducting the Vienna Philharmonic.
Volkhard Steude leading the orchestra this morning.
Let's talk for a second about Andris Nelsons' ensemble.
He has eschewed the tradition of wearing the same dress
as the players, black jacket and grey striped trousers,
and instead commissioned an outfit from Viennese designer Amra Bergman.
I think it's best described as a rich velvet smock in deep
purple, which he is wearing on the rostrum here in Vienna
this New Year's Day.
Johann Strauss was a great traveller.
For a decade, he and the orchestra gave an annual season at Pavlovsk,
just outside St Petersburg.
In the 1870s, they toured the United States where in Boston
he conducted over 1,000 performers in the Blue Danube Waltz.
He toured to Paris and London too, and Italy, where he wrote this
work for Turin in 1874, named after a line of Goethe s -
"Do you know the land where the Lemon Trees Blossom?"
MUSIC: Where The Lemon Trees Blossom, by Johann Strauss
APPLAUSE
Where The Lemon Trees Blossom, by Johann Strauss.
We've heard Johann and Josef.
Let's finish the first half of this 2020 New Year's Day Concert
here in Vienna with the third sibling, Eduard - the only brother
who lived into the 20th century.
This is his fast polka, Without Warning.
MUSIC: Knall und Fall Polka Op 132, by Eduard Strauss
APPLAUSE
Without Warning - the fast polka by Eduard Strauss.
Andris Nelsons conducting the Vienna Philharmonic.
Still to come, the Blue Danube, Beethoven, and the dancers
of the Vienna State Ballet.
But right now, Andris Nelsons is going to conduct the overture
to a tale of life in a country village, turned upside down
with the arrival of a regiment of Hungarian Hussars,
the overture to Franz von Suppe's operetta, Light Cavalry.
MUSIC: Overture zu Leichter Kavallerie
by Johann Strauss Jr.
MUSIC: Overture zu Leichter Kavallerie
by Johann Strauss Jr.
MUSIC: Overture zu Leichter Kavallerie
by Johann Strauss Jr.
APPLAUSE
Andris Nelsons conducting the Vienna Philharmonic
in the overture to the operetta Light Cavalry, by Franz von Suppe.
Brass players of the orchestra taking a bow.
Volkhard Steude leading the orchestra this morning.
This year marks the centenary of the Treaty of Trianon,
one of those events that led to a major redrawing of the maps
in central Europe after World War I.
The vast Austro-Hungarian Empire was no more.
Franz von Suppe was a good example of how it had once stretched.
He was born in Spalato, Dalmatia - now Split in Croatia -
a distant relative of the opera king Donizetti,
who helped with his education when his talent became evident.
Classical music lovers across Europe drawn together this morning.
It's broadcast live, this concert, on public TV and radio stations
right across the continent, a global audience of some 50 million
in 90 countries worldwide.
Josef Strauss next, writing for Fasching -
the time of carnivals that comes before Lenten penance.
This is his Cupid Polka.
MUSIC: Cupido, Polka Francaise Op 81 by Josef Strauss
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Cupid painted on the ceiling of the Musikverein.
That was the Cupid Polka by Josef Strauss.
Now we need a drum roll, because it's time for the dancers!
We find them at the Winter Palace of Prince Eugene of Savoy.
Strauss' waltz - Be Embraced, You Millions.
APPLAUSE
A great tale of musical friendship there -
Be Embraced, You Millions, a waltz by Strauss dedicated
to Brahms and given its premiere here in the Musikverein in 1892.
"Dedicated in friendship to Herr Dr Brahms," went
the inscription on the title page.
We saw six dancers from Vienna State Ballet, with choreography
by Jose Carlos Martinez, and costumes by the British
designer Emma Ryott.
Performing in Prince Eugene of Savoy's Winter
Palace here in Vienna.
He was President of the Court Council of War in the first three
decades of the 18th century, as well as being Governor
of the Austrian Netherlands.
The palace is now headquarters of the Austrian Finance Ministry.
They always get the best buildings, don't they?
It is a beautiful, sunny day in Vienna, with light pouring
in from the upper windows of the Musikverein,
but surprisingly mild - 5 Celsius.
No chance of a Frost Flower - that's our next work,
a polka by Eduard Strauss.
MUSIC: Eisblume, Polka Mazurka Op 55 by Eduard Strauss Jr.
APPLAUSE
Each of the Strauss brothers wrote a work for the inaugural
Musikverein Ball 150 years ago, in 1870.
That was Eduard's contribution - the polka Frost Flower.
Music by a former leader of the orchestra next -
Joseph Hellmesberger.
MUSIC: Gavotte by Joseph Hellmesberger Jr.
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That was a gavotte by a former leader of the Vienna Philharmonic,
Joseph Hellmesberger, who was its chief conductor
for two years at the start of the 20th century.
Nowadays, the orchestra doesn't have a regular conductor,
or a music director.
The players make all the decisions, including
who to invite to conduct them.
Andris Nelsons is clearly a favourite - in February and March
he will be back with the orchestra on tour in Paris, Hamburg
and Munich performing cycles of Beethoven Symphonies.
Now, I know many people keep account of the number of women
in the Vienna Philharmonic.
I have counted just seven this year, six string players and a harpist,
which is down on last year.
I think we got up to 12 last year, which many would say
is hardly remarkable.
It is still an issue for the orchestra, with many people
commenting on the absence of women in its ranks.
Andris Nelsons returns with a trumpet in his hands.
He was a trumpeter first of all before he became a conductor.
MUSIC: Postillon Galopp Op 16 No 2 by Hans Christian Lumbye
APPLAUSE
Andris Nelsons playing the trumpet and conducting
the Vienna Philharmonic in the Postillion Gallop
by Hans Christian Lumbye, known as the Strauss of Scandinavia,
music director at the famous Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen.
Handing his trumpet to Volkhard Steude, leading
the orchestra today.
I wonder if they're giving marks to each other there.
It's the music of Beethoven next.
Beethoven's 250th anniversary year is 2020.
We're going to hear six short dances he composed here in Vienna.
MUSIC: Aus den 12 Contre-Tanzen by Ludwig van Beethoven.
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Six dances that Beethoven wrote here in Vienna,
where he had had lessons with Joseph Haydn, who coached him
in the art of writing public dance music.
Contradances are a popular 18th century French musical form that
has its roots in the rustic country dances of England.
Choreographer Jose Carlos Martinez placing his dancers
from Vienna State Ballet in buildings, including Probusgasse
6, where Beethoven worked on the Eroica Symphony,
and wrote his Heiligenstadt Testament there, a letter
expressing despair over his progressive deafness.
Probusgasse 6 is now a museum exploring Beethoven's
time here in Vienna.
A lot of Beethoven ahead on BBC Radio 3 this year,
in his 250th anniversary year, including 125 hours
of Composer of the Week, telling his life story,
Monday to Friday, every other week at noon on Radio 3.
So, Beethoven 250 - the 150th anniversary of our home
this New Year's Day, the Musikverein, opened
on 15th January 1870.
For the inaugural ball, Strauss wrote this waltz, Enjoy Life.
MUSIC: Freut euch des Lebens Op (Enjoy Life Waltz)
by Johann Strauss Jr.
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Strauss's waltz Enjoy Life.
Celebrating 150 years of the Musikverein, the Golden Hall,
the Brahms Hall, and four new halls dug under the building,
completed in 2004 and used for education and outreach projects.
Jonas Kaufmann in the audience this New Year's Day.
Well, we've nearly reached the official end of the concert.
We finish by igniting the dynamite.
MUSIC: Dynamiden Waltz (Dynamite Waltz) by Josef Strauss Jr
MUSIC: Dynamiden Waltz by Josef Strauss Jr
MUSIC: Dynamiden Waltz - by Josef Strauss Jr
APPLAUSE
Andris Nelsons at the official end of his first Vienna Philharmonic
New Year's Day Concert.
But there is still much more to come.
That was the Dynamite Waltz by Josef Strauss, subtitled
Mysterious Powers of Magnetism.
Josef Strauss died 150 years ago this year.
More flowers, just a dozen or so, in a bouquet being presented
to Andris Nelsons, as opposed to the 30,000 blooms predominantly
in shades of pink, red and purple,
grown lovingly by Vienna's municipal gardeners and park keepers,
ready for today's concert.
Andris Nelsons, at 41, the second youngest New Year's Day conductor
ever after Gustavo Dudamel, who was 35 when he
conducted in 2017.
I imagine he might be thinking of his fellow
Latvian Mariss Jansons, who was his great mentor
as a conductor, and died just over a month ago.
Jansons conducted this concert three times,
always taking huge care in preparing the music.
Andris Nelsons first came to his attention when he substituted
in the trumpet section of the Oslo Philharmonic on a tour,
and the two men became firm friends.
Shaking hands with Volkhard Steude, Leader of the Vienna Philharmonic
at this New Year's Day Concert, one of three chorus masters whose
roles rotate takes each year.
Encore number one.
MUSIC: Im Fluge, Polka Schnell - by Josef Strauss
APPLAUSE
Im Fluge - In Flight, a polka by Josef Strauss,
evoking weightless and gliding swallows, who perhaps
were in the audience during the work's first performance,
at an open-air concert at the Volksgarten in 1867.
There's the superstar tenor Jonas Kaufmann again.
His home base in Munich, four hours away from Vienna by train.
We're going to sail on the Danube now.
APPLAUSE
LAUGHTER
APPLAUSE
TRANSLATION: The Vienna Philharmonic and I wish you...
A Happy New Year!
APPLAUSE
MUSIC: An der schonen blauen Donau - by Johann Strauss Jr
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The work that Strauss wrote for the Vienna Men's Choral
Association in 1866, that quickly became a de facto
anthem of Austria and this city.
The Blue Danube Waltz.
Andris Nelsons conducting the Vienna Philharmonic
this New Year's Day.
So, all that's left is the question of how the audience will do,
as Maestro Nelsons invites them to clap along in the Radetzky March.
Strauss Senior writing for a grand victory party in July 1848
after the Austrians had beaten Piemontese forces.
The Austrian military, led by the 82-year-old
Field Marshal Count Radetzky of Radetz.
Soldiers who first heard it clicked their heels
in time with the music, launching a tradition that,
for better or worse, continues until this day.
MUSIC: Radetzky Marsch - by Johann Strauss Sr
CHEERING
The Radetzky March, by Johann Strauss the father,
played by the Vienna Philharmonic,
launching 2020 in great, Viennese style.
Andris Nelsons, whose journey started in Riga,
continued to Birmingham and now reaches Vienna,
and perhaps the most famous concert in the world.
The Austrian president, Alexander Van der Bellen,
amongst the audience here.
That's it for now from Vienna.
Have a great day.
Happy New Year.
Goodbye.