Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert 2024

**LMcD** · 26-12-23, 10:49

Originally posted by bluestateprommer View Post

Time for the annual thread on the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert, 2024 edition. First, the standard links:

VPO: https://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/...concert/10466/

ORF:
Part 1: https://oe1.orf.at/programm/20240101...Philharmoniker
Part 2: https://oe1.orf.at/programm/20240101...Philharmoniker

BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001ts93

For ORF, Eva Temiel is in the presenter's box, as ORF seems finally to have realized that it's no harm to have a female radio presenter on more than one occasion, after her emergency successful step-in a few years back. One last barrier remains, with the orchestra rather than ORF, where hopefully within something like the next 15 years (before human civilization totally collapses), at a guess totally without foundation and keeping in mind my bad record at historical predictions like these, Joana Mallwitz gets the call.

For the BBC, Petroc is back as presenter, as per usual for the last several years, and also presumably on site in Vienna, hopefully without any COVID or other issues. The program(me), extracted and mashed up from the various links, is as follows, with (*) indicating a New Year's Concert first performance, and of course missing the one unknown and two standard known encores:

Karl Komzák: Erzherzog Albrecht-Marsch (Archduke Albrecht March), op. 136 (*)
Johann Strauss II: Wiener Bonbons - Walzer, op. 307
Johann Strauss II: Figaro-Polka - Polka française, op. 320 (*)
Joseph Hellmesberger Jr.: Für die ganze Welt (For the entire world), Walzer (*)
Eduard Strauss: Ohne Bremse - Polka schnell, op. 238

Johann Strauss II: Ouvertüre zur Operette Waldmeister
Johann Strauss II: Ischler Walzer - (Nachgelassener Walzer Nr. 2 / Posthumous Waltz No. 2) (*)
Johann Strauss II: Nachtigall-Polka (Nightingale Polka), op. 222 (*)
Eduard Strauss: Die Hochquelle (The Mountain Spring), Polka mazur, op. 114 (*)
Johann Strauss II: Neue Pizzicato-Polka, op. 449
Joseph Hellmesberger Jr.: 'Estudiantina'-Polka from the ballet Die Perle von Iberien (*)
Carl Michael Ziehrer: Wiener Bürger - Walzer, op. 419
Anton Bruckner: Quadrille, WAB 121 (arrangement: Wolfgang Dörner) (*)
Hans Christian Lumbye: Glædeligt Nytaar! Galop (*)
Josef Strauss: Delirien - Walzer, op. 212

By comparison with last year's concert, it's definitely a pullback in terms of the number of 'new' works to the New Year's Concert (even granted that the 2023 concert was pretty extreme in that regard), but 9 such works out of a total of 18 is still a hefty challenge. Regardless, this should make for an enjoyable listen to start the new year. Since I can't listen to the concert in real time, my ritual is to listen to the ORF archived audio first (including the "Intermezzo" interval feature, even though I won't understand much, if anything, about it), and the BBC R3 Sounds archive audio some days later. Cheers to all.

I was pleased to discover that I was able to read this much more easily, because it magically appeared in a much larger font size, when I clicked on "Quote.

**richardfinegold** · 26-12-23, 13:26

Maybe I missed it due to font size,but is there a conductor this year?

**Historian** · 26-12-23, 13:32

Originally posted by richardfinegold View Post

Maybe I missed it due to font size,but is there a conductor this year?

Christian Thielemann, rfg.

**smittims** · 26-12-23, 14:41

Ah, well, if Thielmann is conducting I might look in. I treasure memories of Herbert's and Barenboim's years. Maybe I'm cynical , but I've come to think of this as a social rather than a musical occasion; I imagine many if not most of the audience are guests. Yes. I know it sounds ungrateful for a live concert by the Vienna Philharmonic.

**LMcD** · 26-12-23, 17:16

Originally posted by smittims View Post

Ah, well, if Thielmann is conducting I might look in. I treasure memories of Herbert's and Barenboim's years. Maybe I'm cynical , but I've come to think of this as a social rather than a musical occasion; I imagine many if not most of the audience are guests. Yes. I know it sounds ungrateful for a live concert by the Vienna Philharmonic.

Tickets for year-end concerts are drawn by lot exclusively on the VPO website. Applications are normally invited in February.

**Petrushka** · 26-12-23, 17:26

This looks an enticing programme and good to see another of Ziehrer's exuberant waltzes featured again.

Just hope that Thielemann is less stiff and more attuned to the occasion than when he last did this concert.

**CallMePaul** · 26-12-23, 19:14

Originally posted by bluestateprommer View Post

[SIZE=9px][FONT=Arial][COLOR=#000000]Time for the annual thread on the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert, 2024 edition.

For the BBC, Petroc is back as presenter, as per usual for the last several years, and also presumably on site in Vienna, hopefully without any COVID or other issues. The program(me), extracted and mashed up from the various links, is as follows, with (*) indicating a New Year's Concert first performance, and of course missing the one unknown and two standard known encores:

Petroc confirmed on Breakfast onFriday last week that he will be going to Vienna to present the concert.
I will look forward to seeing and hearing Thielemann conduct the concert but hope that for 2025 the Vienna Phil will consider inviting a conductor new to these concerts (how about Sir Simon?)

**Barbirollians** · 27-12-23, 14:01

Or Mirga - her J Strauss encores were excellent at the CBSO

**kernelbogey** · 29-12-23, 18:42

Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post

Or Mirga - her J Strauss encores were excellent at the CBSO

Has there ever been a woman conducting this concert? I cannot recall one.

**Petrushka** · 29-12-23, 20:35

Originally posted by kernelbogey View Post

Has there ever been a woman conducting this concert? I cannot recall one.

No. It's worth reminding of the fact that a conductor has to have had, at least, a ten year relationship with the Wiener Philharmoniker to be considered for this concert.

I doubt if any woman has come anywhere near to fulfilling this criteria and I can't see it happening, to be honest.

**kernelbogey** · 30-12-23, 09:47

Thanks Pet: I didn't know all that - but of course it is in keeping with VPO's stance on personnel!

**bluestateprommer** · 31-12-23, 00:40

Originally posted by Petrushka View Post

It's worth reminding of the fact that a conductor has to have had, at least, a ten year relationship with the Wiener Philharmoniker to be considered for this concert.

I doubt if any woman has come anywhere near to fulfilling this criteria and I can't see it happening, to be honest.

I recall reading about the "10-year rule" regarding conductors for the VPO's New Year's Concert. From a cross-check of the VPO's archive and the list of conductors post-Boskovsky and Maazel, here's a roster of the conductors since 1987, with the year of the VPO debut:

Karajan (1987), VPO debut = 1946
Abbado (1988, 1991), VPO debut = 1965
Carlos Kleiber (1989, 1992), VPO debut = 1974
Mehta (1990, 1995, 1998, 2007, 2015), VPO debut = 1961
Muti (1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2018, 2021), VPO debut = 1971
Harnoncourt (2001, 2003), VPO debut = 1984
Ozawa (2002), VPO debut = 1966
Jansons (2006, 2012, 2016), VPO debut = 1992
Prêtre (2008, 2010), VPO debut = 1963
Barenboim (2009, 2014, 2022), VPO debut = 1965
Welser-Möst (2011, 2013, 2023), VPO debut = 1998
Dudamel (2017), VPO debut = 2007
Thielemann (2019, 2024), VPO debut = 2000
Nelsons (2020), VPO debut = 2010

So for the two youngest conductors on the list, El Dude and Nelsons, the "10-year rule" really does seem to apply.

Mirga has never conducted the VPO, although I agree with Barbirollians that she would be an excellent choice in general, but this is obviously not going to happen any time soon (*), since she needs to make her subscription debut with them at some point. If the day does happen, then, I'll double-down on my going-out-on-a-limb prediction of Joana Mallwitz, if and when she eventually makes her subscription debut with the VPO at some point. (If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. We'll find out in a few decades or so.) JM has conducted the VPO in three seasons at the Salzburg Festival, which is a pretty substantial chance for them, or at least a select subset of the VPO, to get to know her and decide whether they like her or not. Of course, she's focusing on her new Konzerthausorchester Berlin post, where the hype has been pretty strong, AFAICT. Hopefully she keeps a level head about it all and doesn't flame out.

(*) See later post for update on MG-T & VPO

**Sir Velo** · 31-12-23, 08:08

Originally posted by bluestateprommer View Post

I recall reading about the "10-year rule" regarding conductors for the VPO's New Year's Concert. From a cross-check of the VPO's archive and the list of conductors post-Boskovsky and Maazel, here's a roster of the conductors since 1987, with the year of the VPO debut:

So for the two youngest conductors on the list, El Dude and Nelsons, the "10-year rule" really does seem to apply.

.

Excellent bit of research BSP. I was wondering the same as to you as to whether the facts backed up the assertion, but was too lazy to check! On a VPO "fanclub" forum, this subject not surprisingly rouses strong emotions. The potential choice of JM, for example, had some members apparently threatening to cancel their subscriptions. The irony that only a few posts earlier one of them was claiming that the choice of conductor had no discernible effect on the performances seemed to elude them..

**LMcD** · 31-12-23, 10:52

I doubt if any woman has come anywhere near to fulfilling this criteria and I can't see it happening, to be honest.

Perhaps Marin Alsop could blag her way onto the podium - I'd certainly sign up for the ticket ballot if that were to happen!

Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert 2024

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