2018 - Highlights New Year's Day Concert

APPLAUSE.

Happy New Year and good morning

to you from Vienna, where hundreds

of flowers tended by

the municipal gardeners

and park-keepers of this city

complement the gilded ceiling,

the golden caryatids and glittering

chandeliers of the large

hall of the Musikverein.

For the next few hours waltzes

and polkas, marches, mazurkas,

quadrilles and gavottes

by the Strauss family will provide

a perfect start to 2018 -

a model unchanged in eight decades.

Its reassuring familiarity perhaps

key to the popularity

of this great annual event.

The Vienna Philharmonic

New Year's Day Concert

in association with Rolex.

On the conductor's podium this year,

Riccardo Muti who is an honorary

member of the Vienna Philharmonic

having conducted them

more than 500 times.

This is his fifth

New Year's Day Concert.

To get here this morning I walked

past the Theatre An Der Wien

associated with Mozart and Beethoven

and also with Johann Strauss Junior,

whose operetta The Gypsy Baron

premiered there in 1885.

A comedy set in both rural Hungary

and imperial Vienna,

Strauss thus cleverly bringing

together both parts

of the old Dual Monarchy.

Riccardo Muti makes his way

onto the platform to open the 2018

Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Day

Concert with the Entrance March

from The Gypsy Baron.

MUSIC: Johann Strauss, Sohn -

Einzugsmarsch aus der Operette

"Der Zigeunerbaron"

The Entrance March from the Gypsy

Baron by Strauss launching the 2018

Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Day

Concert.

Johann's younger brother Josef next,

celebrating the rich murals

and ceiling paintings found

in the churches and palaces of this

city in his waltz "Vienna Frescoes".

MUSIC: Josef Strauss -

Wiener Fresken, Walzer, op249.

APPLAUSE

Vienna Frescoes by Josef Strauss,

with images of the Austrian National

Library in the Hofburg,

the old Imperial Palace.

This is the third performance

of the concert, the Vienna

Philharmonic ended the old year

with a performance last night

and on Saturday morning

the Austrian Armed Forces made up

a substantial chunk of the audience,

their olive drab uniforms

contrasting with the golden glow

of this hall.

We opened with The Gypsy Baron.

Such was its success that Strauss

wrote a series of works

on it, including this.

MUSIC: Johann Strauss, Sohn

Brautschau, Polka francaise op.417

APPLAUSE

Strauss' polka Bridal Parade.

In 1866, Austria was defeated

at Koniggratz in the decisive battle

of the Austro-Prussian War.

As a result, the country lost

much of her political

influence in Europe.

Carnival season the next year

desperately needed music

that would bring cheer,

one of the works Strauss

provided was his fast

polka "Leichtes Blut" -

"Light of Heart".

MUSIC: Johann Strauss -

Sohn Leichtes Blut,

Polka schnell op.319

APPLAUSE

Light of Heart.

Johann Strauss writing

for the 1867 Carnival Season,

for which he also wrote

the Blue Danube which we will

hear much later in this

New Year's Day Concert.

Also ahead later, dancers

from Vienna State Ballet taking us

to a railway station designed

by the architect Otto Wagner,

who died a century ago this year.

Johann Strauss, Vater Wilhelm

Tell-Galopp, Polka schnell, op.29b

APPLAUSE

The William Tell Gallop

by Johann Strauss Senior,

ending the first part of the 2017

Vienna Philharmonic

New Year's Day Concert.

Managed with some speed

by Riccardo Muti who will be

back on the platform

in about 25 minutes' time.

We"ll return to the Strauss family

shortly - after another

composer of the Austro -

Hungarian Empire, Franz von Suppe,

who came from Dalmatia,

in what is now Croatia.

A prolific writer of operettas -

four dozen in total -

he was also a fine bass singer.

His operetta Boccaccio opened

here in Vienna in 1879.

The Italian conductor

Riccardo Muti takes us

to his homeland for a drama set

during Renaissance times.

APPLAUSE.

APPLAUSE.

Giovanni Boccaccio an Italian poet,

writer and parliamentarian active

in Florence and Naples,

Muti's hometown, author

of the Decameron, in

which he criticlally

and sarcastically portrayed 14th

century Florentine society.

1881 wedding music next.

Empress Elizabeth, the much-loved

Sisi Belgian Princess was just 16.

Long-term it was not

to be a happy partnership

but the wedding was a grand affair,

like the hall this morning,

every available space

decked with flowers.

The people of Vienna welcomed

the new Princess with open arms.

As part of the celebrations,

Strauss provided his waltz.

MUSIC: Johann Strauss -

Sohn Myrthenbluten, Walzer op.395

APPLAUSE

Riccardo Muti, conducting the Vienna

Philharmonic.

Myrtle Blossom, written for

the marriage of Crown Prince Rudolph

and Princess Stephanie.

Our next work also written for that

Grand Royal Wedding,

the Stephanie Gavotte,

by the Imperial Bandmaster

Alfons Czibulka.

And this is the moment

where we first meet dancers

from the Vienna State Ballet.

This year, Vienna marks a centenary

since the death of the great

Austrian modernist architect Otto

Wagner.

Many of his buildings

survive, including stations

that he built for the Stadtbahn,

a new Metropolitan Railway

constructed as the 19th century

turned into the 20th.

Emperor Franz Joseph

had his own pavilion

at its station at Heitzing,

which is where we will

find the dancers.

Not a favourite amongst

the Emperor's buildings -

he only used it twice.

Not that that worried Otto Wagner,

He got the royal seal of approval.

MUSIC: Alphons Czibulka -

"Stephanie-Gavotte" op 312.

APPLAUSE

The Stephanie Gavotte -

and a celebration of Otto Wagner,

the architect who died a century ago

and left a vital legacy

with his buildings in Vienna.

Davide Bombana choreographing

the Vienna State Ballet

for his third New Year's Concert.

MUSIC: Johann Strauss -

Sohn Freikugeln,

Polka schnell op.326

APPLAUSE

A polka premiered 150

years ago in 1868.

Magic Bullets, written for the 3rd

German Federal Shooting Contest

in the Prater Park.

The event attracted no less

than 10,000 marksmen

from many parts of the world.

Work that Strauss took to America -

he conducted it in Boston

to an audience of tens of thousands

with an orchestra of 809,

including 200 first violins.

Another work Strauss composed 150

years ago was "Tales

from the Vienna Woods",

premiered under the collonades

of the Paradise Cafe.

Alongside excerpts from Wagner's

brand new opera, The Mastersingers

of Nuremburg.

A pause for a table to accommodate a

zither.

The oldest instruments of the family

are found in China, there are many

different national variations.

The Austrian Zither grew

in size during the C19,

and zither virtuosi started

to emerge around the 1850s.

The Shrammel brothers were the most

celebrated players in Strauss' day,

though he only used the instrument

occasionally and Tales

from the Vienna Woods the only time

he gave it a prominent solo passage.

An instrument that became synonymous

with Vienna in the 20th century,

thanks to the film the Third Man.

Soloist Barbara Laister Ebner

Strauss gave the zither a prominent

role in his Tales from the Vienna

Woods.

MUSIC: Johann Strauss -

Jr Tales from Vienna

Woods, waltz, op 325.

APPLAUSE

Strauss' Waltz Tales

From the Vienna Woods.

The zither player Barbara Laister

Ebner, born here in Vienna

and studied the instrument

at the State Conservatoire,

one of 16 zither players auditioned

for this prestigious concert.

She is one of just six

women on stage today.

We were up to nine or ten, so it's

a backwards journey this year.

Riccardo Muti, born in Naples.

Another Italian connection next

chosen by Maestro Muti,

a march written for a wedding that

took place in a villa on the coast

near Lucca in 1893 -

the wedding of Prince Ferdinand

of Bulgaria, who later became

the Tsar of Bulgaria.

He held the role for a decade before

he abdicated in favour

of his son in 1918, in order

to save the Bulgarian throne.

Ferdinand lived on until 1948,

long enough to see his nine-year-old

grandson deposed in 1946

when the communists

abolished the monarchy.

For the first half of this year it

will hold the Presidency of the EU,

hence the inclusion

of the march today.

Austria will then take

over for the second six

months of the year.

Ferdinand was from Vienna.

The King is completely captivated

by you and your music,

Strauss was told.

The grandson had a brief stab

at being Tsar as a boy and returned

as Prime Minister of Bulgaria

in 2001 and it was he who was in

part responsible for bringing

about Bulgaria's membership

of the European Union.

So we await the return

of Riccardo Muti.

The music director of

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

He has conducted the Philharmonic

500 times, in a relationship that

spans nearly half a century. The

Festival March, written for a royal

wedding.

MUSIC: Johann Strauss -

Sohn Festmarsch op.452

APPLAUSE

Strauss's Festival March.

It was at a charity

concert in the Floral Hall

of the Vienna Horticultural Society

that Strauss introduced his

polka Stadt und Land -

town and country, a title that

rather reflected his lifestyle

after he purchased a yellow

sandstone villa in the green suburb

of Hietzing.

MUSIC: Johann Strauss -

Town and Country,

polka mazurka, op 322.

APPLAUSE

Town and country.

Like his father, Strauss always

took a keen interest

in musical happenings abroad -

the first nights of new

operas in particular.

He managed to work a little Verdi

into his Masked Ball Quadrille,

which we'll hear next.

Verdi's opera heard it

in St Petersburg in 1862.

MUSIC: Johann Strauss - Sohn Un

ballo in maschera, Quadrille op.272

APPLAUSE

The Masked Ball Quadrille -

Riccardo Muti conducting

the Vienna Philharmonic.

2018 will the mark

the centenary of the end

of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In November that year,

Karl, the last emperor,

renounced his participation

in affairs of state and left Vienna.

A convoy of seven vehicles set off

from the Schonbrunn Palace

in the dead of night,

carrying the Emperor and his family

to Schloss Eckartsau,

a hunting lodge in Lower Austria.

The Lodge was close

the to the Hungarian border -

for a brief moment Karl thought

he might be able to maintain

sovereignty over Hungary at least.

But just two days after he arrived,

a delegation arrived from Budapest,

demanding he make a formal

abdication as King of Hungary.

We go to Schoss Eckartsau now, with

dancers from Vienna State Ballet,

and Strauss' great waltz Roses

from the South.

Premiered here in the

Golden Hall in 1880.

Johann Strauss, Sohn Rosen aus dem

Suden, Walzer, op.388

APPLAUSE

Strauss' waltz Roses from the South.

Dancers of Vienna State Ballet

at Schloss Eckartsau

where the deposed last

Austro-Hungarian Emperor, Karl,

spent four months before he went

into exile in Switzerland.

This year the centenary of the end

of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Viennese high spirits to finish

the publically billed

element of this concert.

MUSIC: Josef Strauss -

Eingesendet, Polka schnell op.240

APPLAUSE

Letters to the Editor

by Jozef Strauss.

Riccardo Muti conducting the Vienna

Philharmonic.

As I said earlier,

something reassuringly familiar

about this annual event,

much has changed since

we were here last year.

A new president"s in office

in the US and France,

in Liberia and Zimbabwe,

an election in Britain we were not

expecting 12 months ago,

and major political change

here in Austria as well.

Turbulent times globally,

but as the world moves on,

what is clear is that for many of us

there is a pleasing sense

of continuity about this concert,

the way it offers the perfect

opportunity to reflect on times

past, and consider the new year that

lies invitingly ahead of us

with resolutions to break aplenty.

Riccardo Muti returns to the

platform and brings the orchestra to

their feet.

MUSIC: Johann Strauss -

Sohn Unter Donner

und Blitz, Polka schnell op.324

APPLAUSE

The Thunder and Lightening Polka

by Johann Strauss -

Riccardo Muti conducting the Vienna

Philharmonic.

An Italian maestro and

many links with Italy,

which Strauss toured in 1874.

He played in cities including

Venice, Milan and Florence. He

played in such a manner that washes

away all internal and external

cares.

Back home, Viennese papers raved

about the success of the tour.

"Strauss creates near fanatical

reactions in Italy",

ran one headline.

Is the Blue Danube,

Strauss' masterpiece.

The relationship with Italy two way.

The Strauss family

championing Italian opera.

APPLAUSE

LAUGHTER

APPLAUSE

HE SPEAKS IN GERMAN

APPLAUSE

MUSIC: Johann Strauss -

Sohn An der schonen blauen Donau.

APPLAUSE

Riccardo Muti conducting

the Vienna Philharmonic.

The Blue Danube.

As broadcast at midnight last night

on Austrian television,

along with the sound of the Pummerin

bell, literally the boomer bell

of St Stephens Cathedral at nearly

45,000 pounds in weight,

cast behind by Ottoman invaders.

Also on TV, Dinner for One,

that 20 minute English sketch,

almost unknown in England,

but a staple part of new year

in German speaking lands

and countries across Northern

Europe.

The March, composed

by Johann Strauss Sr and dedicated

to Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky.

Now the orchestra get

to enjoy their New Year's Day.

They will be in the Golden Hall

in a fortnight when the 77th

Vienna Philharmonic Hall.

As for the audience,

now something of a bunfight.

Same procedure as last year,

same procedure as every year,

we will do it all again in 2019.

But there is 2018 to enjoy first.

Goodbye from Vienna

and happy New Year.