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Riccardo Muti & Wiener Philharmoniker - New Year's Concert 2021 makes WQXR's Latest - Greatest: Best Albums of February 2021
Posted At : February 12, 2021 12:00 AM
WQXR writes.....Hundreds of new classical recordings, each spectacular in its own way, have already been released in 2021. This month on Latest / Greatest, host Zev Kane shares his January favorites, featuring a look back at the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Day Concert, a buoyant account of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Clarinet Quintet, and an exquisite performance of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition that will make you feel like you're face to face with the paintings themselves! Hear all of these recordings and more on Latest / Greatest, Monday night (Feb. 15) at 10 pm.
Sony Classical. A truly unforgettable New Year's Concert 2021, conducted by Riccardo Muti, in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. Because of the pandemic the concert on Jan 1st 2021 had to take place without an in-hall audience. Through a special campaign there was interactive live applause from home by approximately 7000 people who had registered online worldwide and whose photos appeared on the screen. The TV broadcast gained a market share of 54% in its home country Austria with 1,2 million viewers.
SEE THE WQXR: New York PAGE
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The 2021 New Year's Concert in Vienna, conducted by Riccardo Muti, was a truly memorable event / WFMT 'Featured New Release'
Posted At : January 25, 2021 12:00 AM
Because of the pandemic, the concert had to take place without an audience in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein. The performance was broadcast to over 90 countries all over the world and watched by more than 50 million viewers on TV. The program contained works by members of the Strauss family, including seven premieres of works not previously heard at a New Year's Concert.
For January 25 2020, the WFMT: Chicago 'Featured New Release' is The 2021 New Year's Concert in Vienna, conducted by Riccardo Muti. SEE THE PAGE
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Vienna Philharmonic: Andris Nelsons - 2020 New Year's Concert is the WFMT: Featured New Release
Posted At : February 21, 2020 12:00 AM
There are few concerts in the world that are awaited with as much excitement as the annual New Year's Concert from Vienna. Directed by Andris Nelsons, the Vienna Philharmonic ushered in 2020 with music from the Strauss family and more in the magnificent Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein. In celebration of the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven's birth, the 2020 Concert marked the first time that a work by Beethoven was performed at a New Year's Concert.
For Friday, January 21, 2020 the Vienna Philharmonic - 2020 New Year's Concert is the WFMT: Chicago 'Featured New Release'
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Under Andris Nelsons' direction, there's an infectious bounce and sparkle to 'Vienna Philharmonic 2020 New Year's Concert' / Classical Music Sentinel
Posted At : February 15, 2020 12:00 AM
Everyone enjoys a great New Year's party, especially when the music's rockin'. And this year's New Year's Concert in Vienna with conductor Andris Nelsons on the podium was no exception, as it included a few hitherto unheard pieces during this 80 years running event.
There's an infectious bounce and sparkle to Nelsons' direction that impels the members of the orchestra to produce a sound marked by precise attacks, sharp accents, and punctilious rhythms and dynamics. At once gracious, velvety rich, highly nuanced and energetic, this is one of the best interpretations of the Blue Danube Waltz I've heard in a long time. And one of my all-time favorites, the Light Cavalry Overture by Franz von Suppé (1819-1895) is given a dramatic touch in this riveting account. The brass ensemble work in particular is a thrill to hear. It builds to such a powerfully well-attained coda that even the applause at the end is spectacular. This is a party not to miss, 'cause the music is a rockin'.
READ THE FULL Classical Music Sentinel REVIEW
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Vienna Philharmonic - 2020 New Year's Concert is the KDFC: Album of the Week
Posted At : January 20, 2020 12:00 AM
There are few concerts in the world that are awaited with as much excitement as the New Year's Concert from Vienna. Under the direction of Andris Nelsons, the Vienna Philharmonic ushers in the New Year with a concert in the magnificent Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein. The concert is relayed to over ninety countries all round the world, reaching an audience of more than fifty million.
The 2020 New Year's Concert was the first time Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons participated. Nelsons first worked with the Vienna Philharmonic in October 2010 and who has been a regular and invariably welcome guest since then, not only at the orchestra's subscription concerts in the Vienna Musikverein and at the Salzburg Festival but also on tours of Asia, the United States and Europe. So far he has appeared more than sixty times on the podium of the Vienna Philharmonic.
The Vienna Philharmonic - 2020 New Year's Concert is the KDFC: San Francisco 'Album of the Week'
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Vienna Philharmonic - 2020 New Year's Concert is the KUSC: Album of the Week
Posted At : January 20, 2020 12:00 AM
There are few concerts in the world that are awaited with as much excitement as the New Year's Concert from Vienna. Under the direction of Andris Nelsons, the Vienna Philharmonic ushers in the New Year with a concert in the magnificent Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein. The concert is relayed to over ninety countries all round the world, reaching an audience of more than fifty million.
The 2020 New Year's Concert was the first time Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons participated. Nelsons first worked with the Vienna Philharmonic in October 2010 and who has been a regular and invariably welcome guest since then, not only at the orchestra's subscription concerts in the Vienna Musikverein and at the Salzburg Festival but also on tours of Asia, the United States and Europe. So far he has appeared more than sixty times on the podium of the Vienna Philharmonic.
The Vienna Philharmonic - 2020 New Year's Concert is the KUSC: Los Angeles 'Album of the Week'
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Vienna Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel & Yuja Wang - Summer Night Concert 2019 is the CLASSIC fM: Drive Discovery
Posted At : July 8, 2019 12:00 AM
Throughout the week Classic FM's presenters bring you the best new recordings, including world exclusives and premiere broadcasts of latest releases. John Brunning plays a track from his featured Drive Discovery at 6.20pm every weekday. The Vienna Philharmonic returned for another annual Summer open-air concert in the stunning Schönbrun Palace, Vienna, this year, under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel. This album captures the energy from the live concert with its brilliant recordings of Bernstein's Candide: Overture, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with soloist Yuja Wang, and a waltz or two from Strauss II.
SEE THE FULL CLASSIC fM PAGE
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KDFC selects Vienna Philharmonic - 2019 New Year's Day Concert as 'Album Of the Week'
Posted At : January 13, 2019 12:00 AM
Talk about quick turn-around! Here already is the recording of this year's New Year's Day concert from the Vienna Philharmonic. A tradition since 1941, the concert is broadcast on radio and TV to more than 90 countries worldwide. Christian Thielemann is this year's conductor, of a program of mostly Strauss family favorites with a few surprises tossed in.
For the Week of January 14th, KDFC: San Francisco selects the Vienna Philharmonic - 2019 New Year's Day Concert as 'Album Of the Week.
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KUSC selects Vienna Philharmonic - 2019 New Year's Day Concert as 'Album Of the Week'
Posted At : January 13, 2019 12:00 AM
Talk about quick turn-around! Here already is the recording of this year's New Year's Day concert from the Vienna Philharmonic. A tradition since 1941, the concert is broadcast on radio and TV to more than 90 countries worldwide. Christian Thielemann is this year's conductor, of a program of mostly Strauss family favorites with a few surprises tossed in.
For the Week of January 14th, KUSC: Los Angeles selects the Vienna Philharmonic - 2019 New Year's Day Concert as 'Album Of the Week.
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CLASSIC fM: New Releases celebrates The Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert 2019 & 120 Years of Deutsche Grammophon
Posted At : January 7, 2019 12:00 AM
Throughout the week Classic FM's presenters bring you the best new recordings, including world exclusives and premiere broadcasts of latest releases. John Suchet plays a track from his featured Album of the Week at 10.15am every weekday.
This week, CLASSIC fM: New Releases celebrates the New Year's Concert 2019 by the Vienna Philharmonic led by Christian Thielemann. The arrival of the new year wouldn't be complete without the traditional New Year's Day concert in Vienna. This year, Christian Thielemann took to the podium of Vienna's Musikverein for the first time to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic. In true Viennese style the concert programme is heavily based on music from the Strauss family, including 'Express – Polka schnell' by Johann Strauss II, 'Transactions Waltz' by Josef Strauss, and 'Opera Soirée' by Eduard Strauss.
John Brunning's Drive Discovery celebrates 120 Years of Deutsche Grammophon: The Tokyo Gala Concert – Seiji Ozawa & Anne-Sophie Mutter. Deutsche Grammophon celebrated its 120th anniversary in 2018 and with it came a special concert in December. World-renowned conductor Seiji Ozawa joined violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, conductor Diego Matheuz and the Saito Kinen Orchestra to mark the record label's milestone birthday at Suntory Hall in Tokyo. The recording comprises the sprightly Polonaise from Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5 also by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven's Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 1, and Saint-Saëns' Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A minor.
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SEE THE CLASSIC fM PAGE
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Vienna Philharmonic - New Year's Concert 2018 / New Classical Tracks
Posted At : February 14, 2018 12:00 AM
New Classical Tracks is a Syndicated Feature heard Nationally on Classical 24 & Statewide on Minnesota Public Radio.
READ TRANSCRIPT - "I can conduct a waltza, but I cannot dance a waltza. Many years ago, my wife tried to convince me to. But then I was dancing on her feet so she said, that's enough, and we stopped."
It's a good thing being able to dance the waltz wasn't in the job description when Italian conductor Riccardo Muti was asked to lead the Vienna Philharmonic in its traditional New Year's Day concert. It's been a long Jan. 1 tradition for the orchestra to present a program of lively, nostalgic music from the family of Johann Strauss and his contemporaries. Muti has conducted this historic event not once but five times, and the 2018 performance has just been released on a two-CD set filled with Viennese waltzes, polkas and marches.
Had Muti followed his instincts when he was first asked to conduct the concert 25 years ago, you wouldn't be listening to this recording right now.
"When I was asked in 1993 to do the first New Year's concert, for several weeks, I said no. I refused to accept. Because I thought this concert should be conducted by conductors who have the music of the Strauss family or Lanner or Suppé in their blood," he recalls.
"But the president of the Vienna Philharmonic said to me, 'From the way you conduct Schubert, that is the typical Viennese composer, we think - the musicians of the Vienna Philharmonic think - you are the right person to do this music.'"
Muti says there really is an art to conducting the waltzes of the Strauss family.
"The waltza is always in three: 1, 2, 3; 1, 2, 3. And the Viennese, joking, they say the Viennese waltz is 1, 2 and maybe 3. There's a sort of hesitation, of rubato, that is not easy. You can … try to imitate, but then it becomes a caricature of what in Vienna, for the Viennese, is so natural."
Muti has been music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 2010, and he recently announced that he has extended his contract through 2022. He says adding the New Year's Day concert into his busy schedule isn't easy. Every spare minute is spent in preparing for the big event at the end of December. The first concert is on New Year's Eve, and then, Muti says, you might want to celebrate a little.
"You cannot drink too much, just a glass of champagne, possibly of good quality. And then you go to bed at 1 o'clock. And the next morning at 8 o'clock, you have to be ready and in good health, in good spirits, in good energy, because at 11 o'clock sharp, the concert starts."
And what a concert it is! Many look forward to New Year's Day in Vienna, broadcast live on public radio stations across the country. Here's why Muti believes this music is so intertwined with ringing in the new year.
"We must not forget that this music has a nostalgia and a melancholy. … We are near the end of an empire. And not only you feel this in the music of Bruckner and Mahler but also, before that, the music of the Strauss family that something is going to disappear. And that is the most difficult part," he says.
"Maybe this is one of the reasons why this music the first of January enters every country in the world and fits perfectly with the atmosphere of the first of January, because there is a hope for the future that is coming and there is a nostalgia for the past that is gone."
Hear the New Classical Tracks podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can enter for a chance to win a copy of this week's featured CD on New Classical Tracks. Winners will be drawn at random. Be sure to enter by 9 a.m. CST on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018.
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Muti offers six new items to an already illustrious New Year's Concert of waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and marches / Audiophile Audition
Posted At : January 29, 2018 12:00 AM
An ardent collector of the recorded Vienna Philharmonic New Year's concerts since 1951-led by Clemens Krauss-I have followed the progression of the stellar conductors who have inaugurated Vienna's New Year with the graceful and often scintillating melodies and rhythms of the Strauss family and their worthy colleagues. Riccardo Muti leads this year's jubilant concert, offering six new items to an already illustrious gathering of waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and marches. Muti's affinity for the Viennese lilt comes across with lush authenticity, especially in the perennial 1868 Tales from the Vienna Woods and the equally hypnotic 1880 Roses from the South, but no less so in a marvelous novelty, the 1881 Myrthenblueten of Johann Strauss II, meant to celebrate Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and Princess Stephanie of Belgium, whose tragic story became the subject of the several film versions of Mayerling.
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The various marches each projects a direct nobility and pomp requisite to the occasion, opening with Entrance March from Der Zigeunerbaron. Lesser known, the 1893 Festmarsch celebrates the wedding of Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria and Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma. For an unusual-though brief-romp, try Johann Strauss Senior's 1829 William Tell Galopp, which provides only the "Lone Ranger" finale of the Rossini overture, amended with sixteen new measures. Meanwhile, the Johann Strauss II Quadrille on themes from Verdi's A Masked Ball (1862) has a courtly energy and natural Italian buoyancy. The gifted Franz von Suppe (1819-1895) finds his infectious Boccaccio Overture (1879) in its debut at these concerts. Alfons Czibulka (1842-1893), a military bandmaster whose work had been unfamiliar, likewise pays homage to Crown Prince Rudolf in his charming Stephanie-Gavotte. Not to forget the talented Josef Strauss (1827-1870), we have a rarity, Wiener Fresken, an effective reminder that Josef had a talent for painting as well as music.
READ THE FULL Audiophile Audition REVIEW
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Vienna Philharmonic, Muti - New Year's Concert 2018 is WFMT: Featured New Release
Posted At : January 26, 2018 12:00 AM
Few concerts can claim to generate such tremendous international interest as the New Year's Concert from Vienna. Under the baton of the world's leading conductors, the Vienna Philharmonic rings in the New Year with a gala concert from the magnificent setting of the Golden Hall in Vienna's Musikverein. The event is broadcast to over 90 countries all over the world and watched by more than 50 million viewers. In 2018, Riccardo Muti conducted the prestigious New Year's concert for the 5th time. The conductor's close artistic relationship with the orchestra dates back to 1971.
The Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert 2018 is the WFMT: Chicago 'Featured New Release' for Friday January 26, 2018
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Vienna Philharmonic - New Year's Concert is KUSC: Album Of the Week
Posted At : January 22, 2018 12:00 AM
Each year, the Vienna Philharmonic rings in the new year with a gala concert led by one of the world's leading conductors. This year's New Year's Day concert was conducted by Riccardo Muti, returning to helm the event for the fifth time. As always, the Strauss family was well represented on the program which also included some surprises. The live recording of the concert (hot off the presses) is our Album of the week.
For the Week of January 22nd, KUSC: Los Angeles selects the Vienna Philharmonic: 2018 New Year's Concert as their Album Of the Week.
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Vienna Philharmonic - New Year's Concert is KDFC: Album Of the Week
Posted At : January 21, 2018 12:00 AM
Each year, the Vienna Philharmonic rings in the new year with a gala concert led by one of the world's leading conductors. This year's New Year's Day concert was conducted by Riccardo Muti, returning to helm the event for the fifth time. As always, the Strauss family was well represented on the program which also included some surprises. The live recording of the concert (hot off the presses) is our Album of the week.
For the Week of January 22nd, KDFC: San Francisco selects the Vienna Philharmonic - 2018 New Year's Concert as it's 'Album Of the Week'
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Vienna Phil, Muti - New Year's Day Concert is CLASSIC fM: Album Of the Week
Posted At : January 8, 2018 12:00 AM
The 2018 Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert took place on January 1, 2018, under the baton of Riccardo Muti in the Musikverein in Vienna. This year's concert marked the fifth time - after 1993, 1997, 2000 and 2004 - that Riccardo Muti, whose close ties with the Vienna Philharmonic extend over several decades, conducted this prestigious event. The 2018 New Year's Concert was broadcast in over 90 countries and followed by as many as 50 million television viewers around the world.
SEE CLASSIC fM PAGE
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Vienna Philharmonic waltzes live to over 90 nations ringing in 2018 / thejapantimes
Posted At : January 2, 2018 12:00 AM
The Vienna Philharmonic did its best to give a troubled world a soothing start to 2018 on Monday with its traditional New Year's Concert, broadcast live in over 90 countries. The annual extravaganza, heavy on light-hearted waltzes by the Strauss dynasty harking back to Vienna's 19th-century golden era, is watched by some 50 million people, the Philharmonic said. His graying hair flopping in time to the music, the conductor this year was Italian maestro Riccardo Muti, waving the baton in the hallowed Golden Hall of the Musikverein for the fifth time since 1993. PHOTO: HANS PUNZ / APA / VIA AFP-JIJI
READ THE FULL japantimes ARTICLE
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PBS: Great Performances rings in the new year with the Vienna Philharmonic led by Riccardo Muti
Posted At : December 31, 2017 12:00 AM
Great Performances continues the cherished tradition of ringing in the new year with the Vienna Philharmonic at the opulent Musikverein, under the baton of Italian conductor and Chicago Symphony Orchestra Music Director Riccardo Muti. This year's program welcomes new host Hugh Bonneville, best known as Robert, Earl of Grantham, in Masterpiece's global phenomenon, Downton Abbey. From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2018 premieres on Great Performances Monday, January 1, 2018, 8:00 pm.
WATCH THE VIDEO
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Join WRTI for 78th annual Vienna Philharmonic concert broadcast
Posted At : December 25, 2017 12:00 AM
What are you doing on New Year's Day? Join WRTI: Philadelphia at 11 am for the 78th annual Vienna Philharmonic concert broadcast featuring the upbeat music of the Strauss family and their contemporaries, brought to you LIVE from the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria!
Maestro Riccardo Muti conducts works by Edward Strauss, Josef Strauss, Johann Strauss, sen., Johann Strauss, Jr., Josef Hellmesberger, Jr., Richard Strauss, Franz von Suppé, and more.
Originating during the darkest chapter in Austria's history, these concerts have continually grown in popularity in the decades since, which can be attributed to the verve and creative energy of the compositions of the Strauss family. Today, millions of people throughout the world draw joy and optimism for the New Year ahead through the light-hearted yet subtly profound character of this music. This concert is the largest worldwide event in classical music, reaching millions of people every year through radio and television. Monday, January 1st, 11 am to 1 pm on WRTI 90.1.
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Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert 2018 will be telecast live outdoors in Southern Taiwan / Taiwan News
Posted At : December 17, 2017 12:00 AM
A live telecast of the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert 2018 will again be available in Taiwan for public viewing by Taiwan Television Enterprise Ltd. (TTV) on Jan. 1 at two venues, including a globally unparalleled outdoor setting, the park of the Wei Wu Ying Center for the Arts in Kaohsiung, and the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum.
The Vienna New Year's Concert is a concert of classical music performed by the Vienna Philharmonic that takes place each year in the morning of New Year's Day in Vienna, Austria. The New Year's Concert is regarded by many as the most important classical concert worldwide. The 2017 concert which took place at the beginning of this year was broadcast live around the world to an estimated audience of more than 50 million in 73 countries. In the coming new year of 2018, Italian conductor Riccardo Muti will conduct the traditional New Year's Concert in Vienna, which will be his fifth New Year's Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
READ THE FULL Taiwan News ARTICLE
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It's a holly, jolly classical music season with the Vienna Phil on 90.1 WRTI
Posted At : December 1, 2017 12:00 AM
Dashing through the snow, to your radio you shall go! WRTI 90.1 brings you the holidays in all their sonic glory. Click on the link below for highlights from our carefully chosen selection of classical holiday favorites through January 1, 2018. Here's to a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and a healthy, happy, peaceful 2018. Season's greetings from all of your friends at WRTI!
Highlights include: The Nutcracker in its entirety starting at 11 am on Friday, December 22nd. On Christmas Day, you'll hear a series of very special programs-the perfect soundtrack for opening presents and Christmas feasts! And of course, on New Year's Day at 3 pm it's New Year's Day from Vienna, the annual New Year's concert of the Vienna Philharmonic, in works by the Strauss family from the Musikverein, Vienna, conducted by Riccardo Muti.
Here's a sampling from our schedule:
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Vienna Philharmonic in splendid hi-res recording of Franz Schmidt's Symphony No.2 / stereophile
Posted At : September 11, 2017 12:00 AM
Semyon Bychkov and the Vienna Philharmonic's splendid recording of Franz Schmidt's Symphony No.2, recently released by Sony in CD and hi-rez formats, is dazzling in its pastoral splendor. The music is lush and liquid, with one gorgeous orchestral effusion after the other. Which is not to say that Schmidt's ideas, as verdant as they be, flow organically in a manner that creates a coherent whole.
Truth be told, the Second Symphony tends to careen from idea to idea, and from one key change to another, sometimes without apparent regard for the big picture. It opens with music so densely scored and deliciously performed that it sounds like spring in full flower. Around 8:50, as it continues to wander through fields, valleys, and lush forests, it reaches a big. juicy climax. (Don't quote me on that timing, because I was too overwhelmed by the impact of it all to think about opening my eyes to check my dCS Paganini transport's read-out until after the fact.) But after more flowing music, Schmidt seems unsure where to go.
Happily, once he drives a new idea forward, it is invariably pleasing, and often dazzling. Some themes may be a bit pedantic, but once everybody in the Vienna Philharmonic starts playing at once, the visceral experience is so overwhelming that the head tends not to care. As long as you can allow for the fact that Schmidt is wont to shift gears midstream, and that the endings of his first and third (final) movements are strangely anti-climactic, you may find yourself in love with his Second Symphony.
READ THE FULL stereophile REVIEW
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Vienna Philharmonic - Summer Night Concert 2017 is KDFC: Album Of the Week
Posted At : September 4, 2017 12:00 AM
Since 2008, the Summer Night Concert has been held in the sunning gardens of the Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna. This year's free concert attracted a huge crowd (100,000) and featured soprano Renee Fleming and conductor Christoph Eschenbach leading the Vienna Philharmonic. The program included Dvorak's Carnival Overtureand Song to the Moon (Fleming), The Firebird Suite by Stravinsky, as well as works by John Williams, Rachmaninoff, Smetana, and more. Hear selections from the live recording this week on the air.
The KDFC: San Francisco Album Of the Week for September 4th is the Summer Night Concert 2017 from the Vienna Philharmonic, led by Christoph Eschenbach, and featuring Renee Fleming.
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Vienna Philharmonic - Summer Night Concert 2017 is WFMT: Featured Release
Posted At : August 26, 2017 12:00 AM
Vienna's Summer Night Concert is an annual open-air event, which has been held since 2008 in the Baroque park of Schönbrunn palace. Central to the Vienna Philharmonic's 2017 Summer Night Concert are German, French, Russian and Czech fairy tales, which have inspired composers from time immemorial.
The Vienna Philharmonic - Summer Night Concert 2017 on Sony Classical is the WFMT: Chicago 'Featured New Release for. AUGUST 26, 2017. Featured tracks are
Dvořák: Carnival Overture, Op 92 (9:54);
Rusalka: Song to the Moon (7:08)
Renée Fleming, soprano; Vienna Philharmonic / Christoph Eschenbach
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The Vienna Philharmonic's 'Summer Night concert' is really the most beautiful way to spend an evening / CLASSIC fM
Posted At : August 24, 2017 12:00 AM
When the nights in Vienna get lovely and balmy, it's time for a very special concert from the city's most famous orchestra. The Vienna Philharmonic, the greatest classical music, and palatial dreamlike scenery – this really is a beautiful way to spend an evening. The Summer Night Concert at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna is really one of the most heart-stopping things on the classical calendar enjoyed by around 100,000 concert goers and picnickers in the park, and also television viewers around the world. In 2017, Maestro Christoph Eschenbach took to the podium to lead this famous orchestra, with star soprano Renée Fleming taking to the stage. The night featured music by Tchaikovsky, Dvorak and Rachmaninov and more with the theme "fairy tales and myths" Here's a taste of the enchanting mood as the sun set over the palace garden
SEE THE CLASSIC fM PAGE
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New Vienna Philharmonic - Bychkov account of Franz Schmidt's Sym no. 2 is more than welcome / The Arts Fuse
Posted At : July 11, 2017 12:00 AM
Schmidt's four symphonies are each immensely difficult to pull together and, as a result, rare events to catch live. Recordings are few and far between, so the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra's (VPO) new account of the Symphony no. 2 with Semyon Bychkov for Sony Classical is more than welcome.
Its main rival in the discography is Neeme Järvi's classic account with the Chicago Symphony (CSO) on Chandos. Taped near the end of Sir Georg Solti's long tenure with the ensemble, that's a brawny and exuberant affair, featuring intense playing from the CSO capped by a stellar chorale from the Bud Herseth-led brass section.
In comparison, Bychkov's performance sounds altogether more refined. The Viennese have Schimdt's style – a cross between the rhetoric of Bruckner, the orchestral virtuosity of Strauss, and the harmonic progressions of Scriabin and Max Reger – in their collective blood (and vice versa: Schmidt was a member of the orchestra's cello section early in his career). Accordingly, you hear everything in a different way in this reading. All the Symphony's busy counterpoint is layered with exquisite transparency, both volume-wise and tonally.
READ THE FULL Arts Fuse REVIEW
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Vienna Philharmonic - Schmidt & Strauss is WFMT: Featured New Release
Posted At : June 11, 2017 12:00 AM
The current revival of interest in Austrian composer Franz Schmidt receives a big boost with a new recording of his lesser-known Second Symphony, which premiered in 1913 on the eve of the cataclysm of World War I. This optimistic work is performed by the Vienna Philharmonic, in which Schmidt himself played as a cellist.
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Vienna Philharmonic - Schmidt & Strauss on Sony Classical is the WFMT: Chicago - Featured CD for June 11, 2017.
Featured track is Schmidt: Symphony No 2 in E-flat major: First movement (15:52) Vienna Philharmonic / Semyon Bychkov
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Vienna Philharmonic set for Summer Night Concert Schonbrunn / New York Times
Posted At : May 31, 2017 12:00 AM
When the Vienna Philharmonic first performed on the park grounds of the Schönbrunn Palace in 2004, the event was intended as a one-time celebration of the European Union's expansion in Eastern Europe. The "Concert for Europe" was such a success, however, that it became an annual fixture, attracting local audiences, tourists and television viewers around the world. Like the famed New Year's Concert at the Musikverein, the Summer Night Concert Schönbrunn, as it is now called, has become an important part of the Philharmonic's brand. The open-air event, which is on Thursday this year, attracts an audience of up to 100,000 and is broadcast to over 80 countries, not far behind the 90 countries reached by the New Year's Concert.
READ THE FULL New York Times ARTICLE
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Vienna Philharmonic stars at Prague Spring International Music Festival / Radio Prague
Posted At : May 15, 2017 12:00 AM
The Prague Spring international music festival gets underway on Friday at Prague's Obecní dům. The festival will traditionally open with Bedřich Smetana's My Country, this time featuring the world famous Vienna Philharmonic. Ruth Franková spoke to the head of Prague Spring, Roman Bělor, and asked him what was on the menu for the 72nd edition of the event. "Of course I have to mention the fact that we succeeded some years ago to persuade the Vienna Philharmonic to play Smetana's Má Vlast and this excellent orchestra is going to be conducted by maestro Daniel Barenboim. So it is a fantastic opportunity to hear our own musical monument being presented by one of the world's leading orchestra under the baton of one the most important conductors. "But the festival contains almost 50 performances – recitals, early music concerts, as well as contemporary and experimental music. There will also be a special event at the National Technical Museum, so it is a really wide choice, I would say."
LISTEN TO THE Radio Prague SEGMENT
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Annual Vienna Philharmonic Carnegie Hall visit brings historical, musical and educational bonuses / The New York Times
Posted At : March 1, 2017 12:00 AM
The annual visit of the Vienna Philharmonic to Carnegie Hall, with Franz Welser-Möst conducting three splendid concerts over the weekend, brought bonuses historical, musical and educational. Like the New York Philharmonic, the Vienna is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year, and the two orchestras have assembled a compact joint exhibition of archival documents and photographs, which opened on Feb. 22 at the Austrian Cultural Forum in Midtown and will travel to Vienna on March 28.
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An opening reception at the forum came with music: a performance of Mozart's lovely Clarinet Quintet, with the superb Vienna principal clarinetist Daniel Ottensamer joined by two stellar string players from Vienna and two from New York (the Philharmonic's principal violist, Cynthia Phelps, and principal cellist, Carter Brey). And on Feb. 23, three Vienna principals - Tamás Varga, cellist; Dieter Flury, flutist; and Dietmar Küblböck, trombonist - led master classes for young alumni of Carnegie's National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America in the hall's Resnick Education Wing. PHOTO: V. Agins/The New York Times
READ THE FULL New York Times REVIEW
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Vienna Philharmonic | Dudamel - NYConcert is KDFC 'Album of the Week'
Posted At : February 6, 2017 12:00 AM
Tune in throughout the week for tracks from KDFC's Album of the Week. For the Week of February 6th we have the 2017 New Year's Concert from the Vienna Philharmonic/Gustavo Dudamel.
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The annual New Year's concert by the Vienna Philharmonic has been a tradition since 1939. Each year, a different world-class conductor is invited to lead the orchestra in this celebration of the music of the Strauss family (Johann not Richard) and other Viennese stand-outs. Gustavo Dudamel did the honors for the 2017 concert, recorded live in the flower-festooned Golden Hall of Vienna's Musikverein. Happy New Year!
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Vienna Philharmonic - Carnegie Hall concert will broadcast on WQXR & WFMT Radio
Posted At : February 2, 2017 12:00 AM
The venerable Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, celebrating its 175th anniversary this season, returns to Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage for three concerts, each featuring a work by Schubert, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst February 24-26.
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On Friday, February 24 at 8:00 p.m., the orchestra will perform the overture to Schubert's melodrama Die Zauberharfe, Strauss's tone poem Ein Heldenleben, and the U.S. premiere of Time Recycling composed by René Staar, longtime violinist with the orchestra. The second program, on Saturday, February 25 at 8:00 p.m., features Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder in Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 1, Schubert's Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished," and Bartók's The Miraculous Mandarin Suite; and on Sunday, February 26 at 2:00 p.m., the Vienna Philharmonic will perform Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4 and Schubert's Symphony No. 9 in C Major, "Great." This final concert will be broadcast live on Classical 105.9 FM WQXR, and streamed on wqxr.org and carnegiehall.org/wqxr as part of the Carnegie Hall Live series. It will be heard later on radio stations across the country through the WFMT Radio Network.
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This Week's CLASSIC fM Chart
Posted At : January 30, 2017 12:00 AM
The Classical Album, which has stayed within the top two spots since it re-entered the chart two weeks ago, has returned to No.1. Last week, Hans Zimmer's The Classics entered the chart straight into first place, however in its second week it has dropped a huge ten places to No.11. There are six re-enteries this week, including albums from mezzo-soprano Joyce Didonato, tenor Jonathan Antoine, composer Max Richter, Alan Menken's score for The Little Mermaid, and Hans Zimmer's collaboration with Lisa Gerrard for Gladiator. Elsewhere in the chart, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel's New Year's Concert 2017 has fallen fourteen places from within the top five to No.18, and is overtaken by this week's highest climber, The Lost Songs of St Kilda, which climbed thirteen places.
SEE THE FULL CLASSICfM CHART
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Polka into the new year with Gustavo Dudamel, the Vienna Philharmonic & WQXR
Posted At : January 1, 2017 12:00 AM
At 11 am on Jan. 1, waltz - and polka - into the new year with the Vienna Philharmonic and conductor Gustavo Dudamel during a live broadcast from the Golden Hall of the Musikverein. Dudamel is the youngest conductor in the history of the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's concert, now in its 76th year. In 2007, Dudamel conducted the orchestrea for the first time at the Lucerne Festival and made his debut at the Vienna Philharmonic subscription concerts in 2011. The New Year's concert is broadcast in more than 90 countries.
Program:
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Vienna Philharmonic
Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien (chorus)
Franz Lehár: Nechledil Marsch aus der Operette Wiener Frauen
Émile:Les Patineurs. Walzer, op. 183
Johann Strauss, Jr.: S' gibt nur a Kaiserstadt,s' gibt nur a Wien. Polka, op. 291
Josef Strauss: Winterlust. Polka (schnell), op. 121
Johann Strauss, Jr.: Mephistos Höllenrufe. Walzer, op. 101, So ängstlich sind wir nicht! Schnell-Polka, op. 413
Franz von Suppé: Ouvertüre zu Pique Dame
Carl Michael Ziehrer: Hereinspaziert! Walzer aus der Operette „Der Schätzmeister", op. 518
Otto Nicolai: Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (The Merry Wives of Windsor), Moon Choir
Johann Strauss, Jr.: Pepita-Polka, op. 138 , Rotunde-Quadrille, op. 360, Die Extravaganten. Walzer, op. 205
Johann Strauss, sen.: Indianer-Galopp. op. 111
Josef Strauss: Die Nasswalderin. Polka mazur,op. 267
Johann Strauss, Jr.: Auf zum Tanze! Polka schnell, op. 436 , Tausend und eine Nacht. Walzer nach Motiven der Operette "Indigo", Tik-Tak. Polka schnell, op. 365
SEE THE WQXR: New York PAGE
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Vienna Philharmonic - 2016 New Year's Concert / WFMT: Featured Release
Posted At : January 31, 2016 12:00 AM
Since 1939, the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert has become a tradition and the world's most famous classical music event. The list of names of leading conductors who have led the annual concert reads like a veritable who's who of great maestros: Herbert von Karajan, Lorin Maazel, Claudio Abbado and Riccardo Muti to name a few. For the 2016 New Year's Concert, world-renowned conductor Mariss Jansons returned to the podium for the third time for this extraordinary event.
Led by Mariss Jansons, the Johann Strauss, Jr: Emperor Waltz (11:33) from the Vienna Philharmonic - 2016 New Year's Concert on Sony Classical is a WFMT: Chicago - Featured Release
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Vienna Philharmonic - New Year's Concert 2016 / KDFC: CD of the Week
Posted At : January 25, 2016 12:00 AM
Tune in throughout the week and Discover New Music with KDFC: San Francisco - CD of the Week. More to discover. For the Week of January 25 it's the Sony Classical New Year's Concert 2016 recording by the Vienna Philharmonic led by Mariss Jansons.
It's a tradition that has spanned 75 years! The New Year's Day Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic. Each year, the Vienna Philharmonic rings in the New Year with a gala concert that is broadcast to over 90 countries around the world and watched by more than 50 million viewers. The program, per tradition, is made up of a mix of works by members of the Strauss dynasty (particularly from the so-called Waltz King, Johann, Jr.), and their contemporaries. This year's concert, which was conducted by Mariss Jansons, featured 8 works never before heard on the New Year's concert, plus many returning favorites.
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Vienna Philharmonic 2015 New Year's Concert / WETA: CD Pick Of the Week
Posted At : June 22, 2015 12:00 AM
Now that summer is here, with its typical 3H (hazy, hot and humid) DC area weather wilting us all by 8 am every morning, this might be a good time to remember the cold January 1, 2015. With highs in the 40s that Thursday, we were looking forward to a cold, wet, breezy weekend.
At which time we were probably also longing for the kind of weather we will have this week in Washington. And, we were looking forward to the annual broadcast of the New Year's Day Concert from Vienna at 8 pm that evening on Classical WETA.
That concert, the official recording of which is our CD Pick of the Week, was the fifth time Maestro Zubin Mehta was the conductor of the traditional event. Only three others have conducted it as many times or more. Since 2009, these concerts have paid tribute in the musical selections to the career of the conductor. Since Mehta's musical home has always been Vienna (although he was born in Mumbai in 1936), it wasn't much of a stretch to include music about student life, and musical life, in the Austrian capital.
And with the usual double finale of the Blue Danube and Radetsky March, it was a fine celebration of the new year. Tune in this week for this joyful music, from a recording that features excellent program notes by Professor Clemens Hellsberg of the first violin section, and beautiful photos of the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna, where the concert is held each year.
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Vienna Philharmonic | Zubin Mehta - New Year's Concert 2015 / WFMT: New Release Of the Week
Posted At : February 1, 2015 12:00 AM
Since 1939, the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert has become a tradition and the world's most famous classical music event. In 2015, for the fifth time, Zubin Mehta returned to the podium for this extraordinary event. Mehta and the Vienna Philharmonic share a long history together. In 1961, he conducted his first concert with the orchestra, and in 2001, after forty years of artistic collaboration as the orchestra's longest-serving conductor, he was awarded an Honorary Membership.
Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Zubin Mehta - New Year's Concert 2015 on Sony Classical is the WFMT: Chicago - New Release Of the Week. Featured tracks are:
J Strauss, Jr: Accelerationen Waltz, Op 234 (9:22); Electro-magnetische Polka, Op 110 (3:00)
E Strauss: Mit Dampf Polka, Op 70 (2:25)
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Vienna Philharmonic - 2015 New Year's Concert / KDFC: CD Of the Week
Posted At : January 19, 2015 12:00 AM
Since 1939, the Vienna Philharmonic has performed a concert on New Year's Day under the direction of one of the world's great conductors. 2015 saw the return of Zubin Mehta to the podium of the venerable Musikverein for a concert filled, as usual, with the sounds of the Strauss family, as well as some surprises. Listen for tracks from this "fresh-off-the-presses" recording throughout the week on KDFC.
The Vienna Philharmonic with Conductor Zubin Mehta - 2015 New Year's Concert is the KDFC: San Francisco CD Of the Week for January 19
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2015 New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic is KDFC - Download Of the Week
Posted At : January 14, 2015 12:00 AM
Each week KDFC: San Francisco members can download a free mp3 from some of the biggest releases in the world of Classical music. The New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic is one of the world's longest-standing and most prestigious music events. In a history covering more than 70 years, many famous conductors have conducted the concert, and over 50 million people in more than 80 countries enjoy the live broadcasts on TV. In 2015 the concert will be directed by one of the most distinguished conductors, Zubin Mehta.
On New Year's Day, from the legendary venue of Vienna's flower-filled Musikverein, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra presents a heart-warming program drawn mainly from the waltzes and polkas of the Strauss dynasty – Johann father and son, as well as Josef and Eduard Strauss – and their contemporaries.
Download a free mp3 of the Vienna Philharmonic performing Wine, Women, and Song.
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TODAY'S 74th annual Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert is under the baton of Daniel Barenboim
Posted At : December 31, 2013 12:00 AM
The 74th annual New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic takes place TODAY!! January 1, 2014, under the baton of Daniel Barenboim in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein. Again this year the concert will be televised in over 80 countries with 16 cameras in use to capture the broadcast images. In the year 2014, the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I will be commemorated. Therefore the Vienna Philharmonic considered it to be essentially relevant to invite peace activist Daniel Barenboim for the New Year's Concert 2014 and to set a corresponding emphasis in the program.
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Vienna Phil.'s Legendary 2012 New Year's Concert
Posted At : August 20, 2012 1:45 PM
Sony Classical is pleased to announce the release of the recording of one of the world's most famous classical music events: the 2012 New Year's Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic. Latvian conductor Mariss Jansons returns to direct the 2012 celebrations after his acclaimed debut in 2006.
The annual New Year's Day Concert in Vienna has been an exalted tradition for more than seven decades, and the resulting recordings with works from the Strauss dynasty and their contemporaries are among the classical market's most important releases. The concert will be broadcast on TV and radio to over 70 countries around the world with an estimate of more than 40 million viewers.
This new collaboration between the Vienna Philharmonic and Sony Classical revives a fine tradition - the legendary New Year's Concerts conducted by Herbert von Karajan and Carlos Kleiber..