What is the Vienna New Year’s Day concert?

By Jeremy Pound

Published: Friday, 26 November 2021 at 12:00 am

The famous Vienna New Year’s Day concert takes place on – surprise, surprise – 1 January at the Austrian capital’s Musikverein concert hall. Performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the best orchestras in the world, it begins at 11.15pm and is broadcast on TV across the world.

What music does the Vienna New Year’s Day concert include?

The programme every year consists largely of familiar waltzes, polkas and other dances by the Strauss family – especially Johann Strauss I and Johann Strauss II – but also includes other composers. Today, Johann Strauss II’s much-loved Blue Danube Waltz always features as one of the encores.

When was the first Vienna New Year’s Day concert?

Ironically, the first ever Vienna New Year’s Day Concert took place not on 1 January but on 31 December, 1939, when it was intended primarily as a wartime morale-booster. Clemens Krauss conducted the music on that occasion and continued to lead the majority of the concerts until 1954. At that point, it was taken over by violinist and conductor Willi Boskovsky, who, from 1955-79, played a large part in making it the much-loved occasion that it has become today.

Today, famous maestros from across the world take it in turn to enjoy the spotlight of what is one of the most popular events in the musical calendar. And for those who want to relive the action once 1 January is past, a recording of each year’s concert is quickly released.

Who has conducted the Vienna New Year’s Day concert throughout its history?

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Is the 2021 Vienna New Year’s Concert going ahead?

The 2021 Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Concert is scheduled to take place on 1 January, conducted by Riccardo Muti in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein. This is the conductor’s sixth New Year’s Concert with the orchestra. As usual, the concert will be broadcast in over 90 countries, but this year there will be no live audience in the hall.

Since Austria has gone back into lockdown, there has been no update from the Vienna Philharmonic as to whether this year’s concert is going ahead. We’ll keep you updated with any further news.

Who is conducting the 2021 Vienna New Year’s Concert?

Riccardo Muti is scheduled to conduct this year’s New Year’s Concert in Vienna, his first appearance at this iconic event. He previously led the orchestra at the New Year’s Concert in 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2018, and is a regular conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic.