Strauss, J, II: Pizzicato Polka

Performing the marvellous Les Plus Belles coupled with Valses de Vienne, the Orchestre de l’Opera de Vienne rise to the challenge wonderfully.

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

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

Back to the good old days and to familiar waltzes and polkas presented with the chamber refinement of a string quartet and a double bass instead of with the all-too-familiar glossy finish and polish of New Year’s concerts!

The violinist Thomas Christian and his soloists take us back with fine art and inimitable Viennese spirit to the grand days of the Habsburg monarchy: Wien bleibt Wien.

The ensemble-playing of the 22 musicians is characterized by an irreproachable intonation and rhythmical precision, but primarily by their wide range in dynamics, articulation and expressiveness (the pianissimo-nuances of the ensemble are breath-taking!). With his great knowledge about instruments, the band-leader, professor Yamamoto, is an outstanding arranger and knows precisely how to utilize the capacities of his band-members. Therefore, it has been possible for the ensemble to enter into and incorporate genres and styles beyond the conventional brass-band repertoire. “Tailor-made” arrangements of symphonic music by Mahler, organ-music by Brahms, and a choir-piece by Bruckner sound surprisingly idiomatic and, for a while, make the listener forget about authenticity and the original instrumentations! Even prof. Yamamoto’s own entertaining rhapsody of Japanese childrens’ tunes as well as such well-known lighter genres that used to be played in transcriptions for brass-bands, like Strauss waltzes and polkas, are performed by Pegasus, with a sort of symphonic feeling, in a refined and enriched manner.