Strauss, J, II: Unter Donner und Blitz, Op. 324 (Thunder & Lightning) - DVD & Blu-ray videos

DVD and Blu-Ray will include a live version of the New Year’s Concert as well as bonus footage: A special tour through Vienna, guided by members of the Vienna Philharmonic plus 3 ballet bonus tracks.

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 live recording encompasses releases on CD, DVD and Blu-ray.

The annual New Year's Day Concert in the stunning Vienna Musikverein 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.

The programme traditionally revolves around waltzes and polkas by the Strauss family (Johann father and son as well as Josef and Eduard Strauss) whose music has enjoyed a recent resurgence due to the success of André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra. In 2012 the programme is once again a skilful blend of well-known classics and six New Year’s Concert premieres. As always the concert is bound to end with two traditional encores – the famous waltz The Blue Danube and the Radetzky March.

“It is something quite special: a wonderful opportunity to listen to this music and get to know it. This atmosphere, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Golden Hall of the Musikverein – all that adds up to a long and wonderful tradition resulting in fantastic, very specific music.” Mariss Jansons

This compilation DVD features the best performances of Viennese classics from the BBC television archive, spanning a vintage period in the history of the Viennese Night Proms concerts: 1974 – 1979.

Audiences at the Viennese Nights rival the enthusiasm of Last Night Prom audiences, a tradition that has been part of the Proms concert season since 1947 and which draws concert goers from all over the world.

Classics featured on this DVD include the Blue Danube Waltz, Radetsky March and the Csardas and Laughing Song from Die Fledermaus, performed by Sheila Armstrong, who made her Covent Garden debut four years prior to the performances recorded here.

The characteristic Viennese waltzes, polkas and overtures are performed with exuberance, good humour and panache by these three great conductors. Both Susskind and Loughran recorded Strauss and other Viennese composers for EMI, with Loughran succeeding Sir John Barbirolli at the Hallé where Viennese Nights are still a strong tradition.

These performances, released for the first time on DVD, will appeal to a wide cross section of the public with branding targeted at the large Viennese/Strauss market, currently dominated by André Rieu.

1DVD

Sound format: LPCM stereo/enhanced mono

Picture format: 4:3

Running time: 86’

Subtitles: n/a

Menu languages: English

Booklet languages: E/F/G

Region code: 0

Territory Restrictions: None

Based on the amphitheatre in the ancient Greek city of Epidaurus, and nestled in a natural valley, the Waldbühne theatre seats 22,000 in leafy comfort and remains one of Berlin‘s favourite open air concert venues, with magnificent views of the stage. World class conductors lead the Berlin Philharmonic in evening concerts of popular favourites.

At the Waldbühnen concert in 1994, the Berlin Philharmonic put a programme together under the heading ‚A Night of Dances and Rhapsodies‘, which presented the works of central European composers. The dance and folk pieces of music from the 19th century, which the orchestra performed under the baton of Mariss Jansons, emphasised the different styles and trends from this musically significant era.

Sound Format: PCM STEREO, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: DVD 9, PAL

Running Time: 101 mins

FSK: 0

Region Code: 0

Worldwide available excluding USA/CA, Japan

The New Year's Concert in Vienna has been a glorious tradition for over six decades. A best-selling classical event year on year, the concert has unique global appeal. It is broadcast on TV and radio to over 50 countries, and is viewed by tens of millions of people all over the world.

The 2009 New Year's Day Concert will be conducted by the Argentinean-Israeli pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim for the first time. From 1991-2006 Barenboim was the principal conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and since 1992 has been the General Music Director of the State Opera Unter den Linden in Berlin. Barenboim's debut with the Vienna Philharmonic took place in 1989, and he has since been a regular guest.

In 1999, Barenboim and the late Palestinian academic Edward Säid founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, in which young musicians from the Middle East and Israel perform together. Among the many awards Barenboim has received, was the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in Vienna in 2006. In September 2007 Barenboim was named as United Nations Peace Envoy.

The concert programme for 1st January 2009 will be the customary collection of Viennese delights, with six first time performances.

The first part of the concert is inspired by the conductor’s biography. For example, the waltz Märchen aus dem Orient (Tales from the Orient), alludes to a modern “fairy tale” – the founding of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, a symbol of inter-cultural tolerance. Other first performances in the first half include J. Strauss II’s Schnellpost-Polka (Express Mail Polka) and J. Hellmesberger’s Valse Espagnole (Spanish Waltz).

The second part of the concert makes constant allusions to the life and work of Joseph Haydn, culminating with the final movement of Haydn’s Symphony No.45 - 'Farewell Symphony'. This is the first time a work by Haydn has featured in the New Year’s Concert programme, and it will launch a year of events marking the bicentenary of the death of this great Austrian composerwho died in Vienna in May 1809. Other first appearances in the second half of the concert include J. Strauss I's Zampa-Galopp and J. Strauss II’s Alexandrine's Polka.

The New Year's Concert in Vienna has been a glorious tradition for over six decades. A best-selling classical event year on year, the concert has unique global appeal. It is broadcast on TV and radio to over 50 countries, and is viewed by tens of millions of people all over the world.

The 2009 New Year's Day Concert will be conducted by the Argentinean-Israeli pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim for the first time. From 1991-2006 Barenboim was the principal conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and since 1992 has been the General Music Director of the State Opera Unter den Linden in Berlin. Barenboim's debut with the Vienna Philharmonic took place in 1989, and he has since been a regular guest.

In 1999, Barenboim and the late Palestinian academic Edward Säid founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, in which young musicians from the Middle East and Israel perform together. Among the many awards Barenboim has received, was the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in Vienna in 2006. In September 2007 Barenboim was named as United Nations Peace Envoy.

The concert programme for 1st January 2009 will be the customary collection of Viennese delights, with six first time performances.

The first part of the concert is inspired by the conductor’s biography. For example, the waltz Märchen aus dem Orient (Tales from the Orient), alludes to a modern “fairy tale” – the founding of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, a symbol of inter-cultural tolerance. Other first performances in the first half include J. Strauss II’s Schnellpost-Polka (Express Mail Polka) and J. Hellmesberger’s Valse Espagnole (Spanish Waltz).

The second part of the concert makes constant allusions to the life and work of Joseph Haydn, culminating with the final movement of Haydn’s Symphony No.45 - 'Farewell Symphony'. This is the first time a work by Haydn has featured in the New Year’s Concert programme, and it will launch a year of events marking the bicentenary of the death of this great Austrian composerwho died in Vienna in May 1809. Other first appearances in the second half of the concert include J. Strauss I's Zampa-Galopp and J. Strauss II’s Alexandrine's Polka.

Berlin music lovers know there is no better way of celebrating the New Year than with the Berlin Philharmonic.The concerts sell out instantaly and people all around the world are glued to their screens during the live transmissions. Invitation to the dance is a journey through 300 years of dance which should leave the listener beaming with joy.

"There is no one quite like Daniel Barenboim today in the music world. General music director of the Berlin State Opera and its orchestra, the Berlin Staatskapelle; principal guest conductor at the Teatro Alla Scala in Milan; formerly music director of the Chicago Symphony and the Orchestre de Paris; for years a conductor at the Bayreuth and Salzburg festivals; a champion of new music since the 1950s; a chamber musician who has performed with every great singer and instrumentalist in half a century" The New York Times