Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert 2024

[Nick Armstrong]

To be fair he wasn’t wearing a tuxedo

Fair enough!

(I’ve never been sure what a ‘tuxedo’ actually means, our ‘DJ / black tie’ or more generally, formal dress of any kind - I suspect the former… so you’re right and I withdraw the allegation )

[smittims]

I think that in America a Tuxedo is simply a dinner jacket. But in England the word is often used to mean a white or cream dinner jacket, pioneered on the podium, in my recollection, by Colin Davis c.1967. His detractors called him 'the ice-cream man'.

[HighlandDougie]

I’ve just finished dipping into the TV recording I set while I was away…

but I found there’s something fascinatingly awful about Thielemann. I can’t put my finger on it, just subtly grotesque. And when it got to his antics in the Radetzky March, it struck me he was like a tuxedo’d musical Donald Trump, patronising popularism in his gurning and gestures (including to players - twiddling fingers pointlessly indicating trills, etc). I found it an unsettling and creepy experience

Put much more eloquently than I might manage ("unsettling and creepy", indeed). I'm sure that there is repertoire in which his reputed talents as a conductor blaze forth (Schumann symphonies?) but Strauss, Josef and Johann et al, don't seem to me to be part of it. Maybe I am being unfair - and his fans will leap to his defence - but I cannot but think of him as other than the Clemens Krauss de nos jours.

[Nick Armstrong]

Put much more eloquently than I might manage ("unsettling and creepy", indeed). I'm sure that there is repertoire in which his reputed talents as a conductor blaze forth (Schumann symphonies?) but Strauss, Josef and Johann et al, don't seem to me to be part of it. Maybe I am being unfair - and his fans will leap to his defence - but I cannot but think of him as other than the Clemens Krauss de nos jours.

I’m glad I’m not alone!

I once sat Stalls front row centre at the ROH 6 feet behind him while he conducted Der Rosenkavalier - a sumptuous performance but the main thing I remember is being damn near asphyxiated by his astonishingly pungent cologne, wafts of which hit my nostrils with his every gesture! I admit this might colour my view of Herr T!!

[oddoneout]

I wonder if Thielemann decided that he needed to be "fun" for this occasion, but is rubbish at acting? Tory MPs and PMs come to mind for some reason...

[Alison]

I’ve enjoyed this concert rather more ‘audio only’ via the stream available from today. No spurious applause in Waldmeister nor any complaints with the recorded sound. Part two really did need a better programme imho.

[Prommer]

He excels in Strauss (R.) and Wagner.

The ROH Rosenkavalier was notable for the length of the pause before he launched the trio.

[Nick Armstrong]

He excels in Strauss (R.) and Wagner.

The ROH Rosenkavalier was notable for the length of the pause before he launched the trio.

That pause was excellent… I could breathe for a few seconds!

[Barbirollians]

Put much more eloquently than I might manage ("unsettling and creepy", indeed). I'm sure that there is repertoire in which his reputed talents as a conductor blaze forth (Schumann symphonies?) but Strauss, Josef and Johann et al, don't seem to me to be part of it. Maybe I am being unfair - and his fans will leap to his defence - but I cannot but think of him as other than the Clemens Krauss de nos jours.

Except Clemens Krauss was a far better conductor of Johann Strauss and Richard for that matter.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I received the 2-CD set of this concert this morning, and I seem to be finding it every bit as good as most earlier NYD concerts. Yet I was less than impressed during the concert itself, which I watched live on TV.