Good morning from Vienna.
May I wish you a very Happy New Year and welcome you to the Golden Hall
of the Musikverein for this annual musical garland presented to us
by the Vienna Philharmonic.
Last night revellers filled the Graben and Stephansplatz
to hear the Pummerin bell of St Stephen's Cathedral,
ring the new year in.
As its last echoes faded away, crashes and bangs of multicoloured
fireworks filled the sky.
A grand city party, with hundreds
of thousands out to celebrate, and a return to some kind
of normality after the hold put such public celebrations by the pandemic.
Here inside an international audience is back too,
ready to hear Franz Welser-Most conduct the Vienna Philharmonic.
I don't think I am spoiling the plot too much when I say that one
of the encores will be Johann Strauss's Blue Danube,
perhaps the most familiar work on today's programme.
Maestro Welser-Most ringing the changes this year,
the majority of the 18 works ahead never before performed in this
history of this concert.
And another first, members of the Vienna Girls Choir,
singing alongside the famous Boys Choir.
We start with an invitation in the form of a question.
A fast polka by the youngest of the Strauss brothers, Eduard,
Who'll Join The Dance?
The question that Eduard Strauss asks. The Musikverein filled with
glorious flowers in pastel shades, lovingly tended by the gardeners and
park keepers of Vienna. A celebrity audience including Hugh Bonneville.
Here is Franz Welser-Most to open our new
our new the -- New Year's Day programme. This is Who'll Join The
Dance.
MUSIC: Wer Tanzt Mit? Fast Polka, Op 251 by Eduard Strauss
APPLAUSE
Who'll Join The Dance by Eduard Strauss.
Next, a waltz Josef Strauss wrote in 1860 to accompany
the unveiling of an equestrian statue of Archduke Karl
Heldengedicte - Heroic Poems.
APPLAUSE
Heldengedicte, Heroic Poems, a waltz written for the unveiling
of a statue in Heldenplatz to mark Archduke Karl's victory
against Napoleon.
The resounding defeat of Napoleon in the battle of Aspern in May 1809. I
actually walked past that statue looking for a place to watch the
fireworks in Vienna.
After its premiere in 1860 the score was placed
in the Strauss Orchestra archives, forgotten about, and
eventually listed as lost.
However, one copy had survived from which new parts have been made
for today's performance.
Big focus on Josef Strauss this year.
Eight of his works in the programme and 14 works in total
getting their first ever New Year's Day outing.
A good indicator of the sheer quantity of fine orchestral dance
music that came out of this city in the 19th century.
I think it also says a bit about the determination of Franz Welser-Most
but even this most traditional of concert should be allowed to ring
the changes.
Next, music by Johann Strauss - the Gypsy Baron Quadrille.
The stage work from which it comes, in German, Der Zigeunerbaron,
had its premiere a ten minute walk from here across Karlsplatz
at the Theater an der Wien in October 1885.
It was an immediate success.
Although billed as an operetta it shows Strauss's ambition that one
day he would write a grand opera.
It took two years of his time, in part because he suffered a bout
of nicotine poisoning which forced him to take
time off to recuperate.
A lot of love amongst the audience to date for Franz Welser-Most, the
only Austrian musician who is a regular conductor of this event.
Welser-Most was born in Linz in Austria.
He spends much of his time in Cleveland, Ohio, where this
season marks his 20th anniversary as Musical Director
of the Cleveland Orchestra.
Volkhard Steude leading the orchestra this New Year's Day.
APPLAUSE
The Gypsy Baron Quadrille by Johann Strauss Junior. You might be
thinking of the quieter evening tonight as you watch this from your
sofa.
Carl Michael Ziehrer, who in his lifetime saw the Strauss
brothers as his greatest rivals, proposes a cosy night in.
APPLAUSE
On A Cosy Night by Carl Michael Ziehrer. We end part one with a Fast
Polka by Johann Strauss Jr. It's time to Come On In.
APPLAUSE
A fast polka by Johann Strauss, Come On In.
It was written for the ball of the writers and journalists Association
here in Vienna in 1880. Franz Welser-Most conducting from Vienna.
Along the way celebrating his quarter century long relationship
with this orchestra.
Still to come, we go Up and Away with Eduard Strauss,
Josef Strauss promises Pearls of Love, and encores from
Johann Strausses junior and senior.
The Blue Danube and the Radetsky March.
Plus the dancers of the Vienna State Ballet,
and the Vienna Boys Choir joined for the first time by
the Vienna Girls Choir.
This is the 65th television broadcast of the Vienna
New Years Concert.
Part two will begin at 11:15, UK time.
First, for the interval, we travel back to 1873,
the year of the first and only Vienna World Exhibition
on the Prater grounds, where, Vienna, the city of imperial
residence became a cosmopolitan metropolis.
From the Emperor of Japan to the King of Hawaii,
everyone was there at the time.
And thanks to the intensive commitment of the Strauss Capelle,
the Viennese waltz was spread all over the world.
The conductor Franz Welser-Most now makes his debut as a participant
in the intermission film.
He takes us to the magical locations of the Expo 1873,
with the Vienna Philharmonic's active musical participation.
Welcome back to the Musikverein, this Viennese concert hall,
the acoustic of which is revered around the world.
An ideal space in which to hear an orchestra.
The Vienna Philharmonic have gathered here each January 1st
for over 80 years to serenade the new year with a rich
programme of waltzes, polkas, and overtures by the Strauss family
and their contemporaries.
The black and grey of the Vienna Philharmonic uniform, the work of
Vivienne Westwood who died on Thursday and her husband. An army of
florists arranged these magnificent decorations. The flowers tended
lovingly by the staff of Vienna's municipal parks and gardens, such
brightness on a January day. The gilded columns evoking a Grecian
temple of music. Allegorical paintings in the ceiling above. This
really is a Palace in which to start the New Year. Each and every year.
It's a great tradition, the Vienna is a media concert stretching back
over eight decades.
The concert continues with the overture to the comic opera
Isaballa by Franz von Suppe.
Suppe was born in Split in 1819, now in Croatia, then part
of the Austrian empire.
His mother was Viennese, his father of Italian
and Belgian ancestry.
The great Italian opera composer Donizetti was one of his teachers.
He was in his mid 20s when he became chief conductor
at the Theatre an der Wien, and began his career
as a phenomenally successful stage composer.
France Welser-Most back on the stage, Overture to Isabella from
Franz von Suppe.
APPLAUSE
A tale of jealousy that takes place in Spain.
One of the treats for television viewers of the Vienna New Year's
gala is the annual appearance of members of the
Vienna State Ballet.
And today we find them first at the Laxenburgh Palace,
and in its gardens, complete with bridges and romantic pavilions.
The music is by Josef Strauss, his waltz Pearls of Love.
APPLAUSE
Pearls of Love by Josef Strauss, with dancers from the Vienna State
Ballet recorded back in the August sunshine.
That was in the rooms and gardens of the Laxenburgh Palace.
A big UK hand in that.
This year's choreographer is Ashley Page, a star dancer
at the Royal Ballet and later artistic director of
Scottish Ballet for a decade.
Costumes by Leeds born Emma Ryot, whose distinguished career has
seen her work for leading opera, ballet and theatre companies
across Europe and beyond.
If you are listening on Radio 3 and imagining the glorious sights TV
viewers have just seen, don't forget there's a chance
to watch this concert at 8pm this evening on BBC Four or on the
BBC iPlayer.
Petroc Trelawny with you live in Vienna this New Year's Day. More
dance in a few minutes, next we are going to hear the Angelica polka.
Strauss wrote this in 1862, his brother Johann was away. Franz
Welser-Most's wife is called Angelica and he dedicates this
performance to her.
APPLAUSE
That was the Angelica Polka by Josef Strauss.
Next we travel to the Garden pavilion at Melk Abbey for the tale
of a clever butterfly told
by two of Vienna State Ballet's stars,
Maria Yakoleva and Davide Dato.
The dance to Eduard Strauss's polka Up And Away.
APPLAUSE
Up and Away, a Fast Polka by Eduard Strauss.
Dancers filmed last summer at Melk Abbey
an hour so west of Vienna by car.
Maria Yakoleva and Davide Dato just back from Buenos Aires
where they were the guest stars of Teatro Colon's production
of The Nutcracker, performances that seemed to
became part of Argentina's national celebrations
after its World Cup victory.
This is Davide's ninth New Year's Day appearance.
They sing words by Anna Mabo set to Josef Strauss's
polka Blithe Spirits,
A butterfly observing the seasons past.
THEY SING IN GERMAN
APPLAUSE
The butterfly observes the years passed by, the encroaching darkness
of Wharton, the snow of winter and the hope of spring.
Members of the Vienna Boys Choir, joined for the first time
by the Vienna Girls Choir.
The girls choir founded in 2004.
The singers aged between nine and 14. They attend the choir's three
schools here in Vienna.
schools here in Vienna. They were singing to Josef Strauss's Blithe
Spirits. His father wanted him to join the army. He trained as an
engineer and eventually joined the family business. Next his Fast Polka
Forever, written for a benefit ball here in Vienna in January 1866. He
joined the family business but didn't get much thanks. He always
felt he was rather patronised by his brother and his mother.
APPLAUSE
Forever, a fast polka by Josef Strauss.
Next the sound of birds chirping - the waltz Siskins.
The siskin is a small, lively member of the finch family.
APPLAUSE
The sound of the cinch in the walks Siskins by Josef Strauss.
Goldfinches, which was written in 1861,.
Siskins written by Josef Strauss in 1861 for a ball at a casino
in what is now the 17th District of Vienna, which stretches out
from the heart of the city towards the Vienna Woods.
It was immediately popular and remained in the orchestra's
programme for the rest of the season.
But that was its first ever New Year's Day appearance.
All but four works this year are new to these
January 1st concerts.
Franz Welser-Most has spoken about wanting to show off
the variety of music written by the Strauss family.
He is proving how incredibly prolific they were!
Welser-Most reckons that though Johann was the more
famous of the brothers, Josef was the most talented.
Two more of his works to come today.
But first a piece by Joseph Hellmesberger,
who was music director of the Vienna Philharmonic
in the first decade of the last century.
He composed 22 operettas and six ballets.
One of those had the name Excelsior, and included this,
the Bells Polka and Galop.
A celebration of the Telegraph and Morse code.
APPLAUSE
Percussionist Oliver Madas getting to utilise the full spectrum
of percussion instruments today.
He provided the birdsong as well.
And back to Josef Strauss next for an orchestral fantasy.
It shows off the brilliance of the Vienna Philharmonic
and also reminds us what superb musicians
were in the Strausses' own orchestra a century and a half ago.
APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
An orchestral fantasy by Josef Strauss. So we approach the official
end of the programme. One last piece by Josef Strauss, asked to write a
peaceable beat Artists Association Ball in 1869 and he chose as his
subject Watercolours.
APPLAUSE
Franz Welser-Most conducting the Vienna Philharmonic
on this first day of 2023.
Watercolours by Josef Strauss.
The Vienna Girls Choir member comes onto stage to present him with a
bouquet of flowers, representing the thousands of blooms on display here
at the Musikverein today. Welser-Most has been working with
this orchestra for 25 years and it was at first a rather tricky
relationship. By no means love at first sight. Now he says it has
developed into a warm and committed friendship.
His name now firmly attached to this event -
which has been conducted by great musicians over the years -
Daniel Barenboim, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta
and Mariss Jansons.
Though no-one beats the record of Willi Boskovsky -
who directed this concert for 25 consecutive years until
his retirement in 1979.
We are standing by for the Blue Danube and Radetzky March.
The first of this year's encores - music from a rather forgotten
Johann Strauss operetta, Prince Methusalem, which opened
here in Vienna at New Year in 1877.
This is the Bandits Galop.
In a tiny Ruritanian kingdom somewhere in central Europe,
a bandit gang is intent on overthrowing the reigning Prince.
Welser-Most conducts the Vienna Philharmonic this New Year's Day.
APPLAUSE
The Bandit's Galop by Johann Strauss -
I don't know if you've picked this up this morning but there does seem
to be something of a sense of return to normality this year. It's been
three years since I was last in Vienna.
That strange Covid time-warp means it seems like it was only yesterday.
Walking down the Graben yesterday - I passed one of Vienna's
must-see sights - the richly elaborate column that stands
in memorial to those who died when Austria suffered
a major plague epidemic in 1679.
Seen again this year, it seems to take on new meaning.
As we realise the fragility of so much we have long taken for granted.
Perhaps that explains why the familiarity of this concert
becomes ever more reassuring.
That is never more felt than in the Blue Danube.
We are returning to Melk Abbey for the dancers of the Vienna State
Ballet.
APPLAUSE
Life without music would be an error. Every year the Vienna
Philharmonic gives hope and reason to the world with this concert. With
great optimism, the Vienna Philharmonic... THE CHANT IN GERMAN.
APPLAUSE
MUSIC: The Blue Danube Waltz, Op 314 by Johann Struss Jr.
APPLAUSE
The river that rises in the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg -
flows on through ten countries, marking the border between Romania
and Ukraine, before pouring out into the Black Sea.
The Blue Danube vaults by Johann Strauss Jr. Franz Welser-Most
directing the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra this New Year's Day. If
this concert has made you think that classical music should be a big part
of your life, perhaps that is your New Year's resolution, radio three
has a concert every night of the week, and lunchtimes. Opera at
lunchtime onto the last encore.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Franz Welser-Most conducting the Radetsky March
by Johann Strauss Sr.
The Vienna Philharmonic New Year Concert is supported by Rolex.
How splendid to have the New Year celebrations back in full
force in this great city.
Thank you to our European Broadcasting Union colleagues
at ORF, the Austrian public broadcaster for facilitating
today's coverage.
The applause continues here on the 1st of January 2023.
This is Petroc Trelawny in Vienna
wishing you an excellent day - and a happy New Year.