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New Year’s Day 2021 will also be celebrated with the Strauss family’s polka and waltz tunes – the traditional New Year’s concert will air in 90 countries this year. Due to the regulations of the pandemic, this time the concert will be held without a live audience. Riccardo Muti takes the podium for the sixth time.
“I can’t get rid of the music”
“Right now we must have hope,” Muti told a news conference on Tuesday. The conductor, who will be 80 years old in 2021 and “has been our teacher for fifty years,” as noted by Philharmonic board member Daniel Froschauer, will closely accompany the Philharmonic next season.
When the decision was made to re-entrust the New Year’s concert to him, of course there was no talk of the corona virus. “We argue a lot, concert yes or no,” Muti reported. “The result was: We cannot end music and culture.”
“Sometimes like a horror movie”
He lived alone in the hotel, the streets around were empty, sometimes it felt like a horror movie, Muti admitted. And it is strange to play this music, which in its “joy and nostalgia” should be understood as an immediate gift to the public, in front of an empty room. “The ‘Polka Schnell’ is like a high-speed train arriving at a train station. You expect someone to wait for you and react ”. But the orchestra knows “that we are connected to millions of people around the world. We send them La Speranza, hope ”.
Strict daily testing strategy
The orchestra works with a strict daily testing strategy, FFP2 masks are always used off stage, in addition to the detailed prevention concept of Musikverein and ORF. “We take these steps because we feel like it is a great privilege to be able to play,” said Froschauer.
“We handle this privilege responsibly.” At the Golden Hall, which currently “shares the sad fate of concert halls around the world, to remain silent,” as Musikverein director Stephan Pauly emphasized, concerts were held in the fall, also under strict precautions. – occurred.
“25,000 guests and not a single Covid case”
“We had 25,000 guests and not a single case of Covid.” The pandemic plunged the entire world classical music community into a completely unexpected crisis. “The damage, personal and institutional, is enormous and live music is sorely missed.” Therefore, the New Year’s concert is also a sign of hope “that soon all musicians will be able to play everywhere again,” says Pauly.
The New Year’s Concert had long been a television event. ORF’s first broadcast took place in 1995, and the cooperation agreement, which also includes the Schönbrunn Summer Evening Concert, was recently extended to 2027. “In this long series, however, this New Year’s concert will be unique” said ORF CEO Alexander Wrabetz. “I am grateful on behalf of the millions of viewers who will receive this strong signal of hope. Cultural events cannot take place in so many countries. So it is much better that the hearts of music lovers around the world are lit from Vienna and with this quality. “
Applause from viewers around the world.
Image Director Henning Kasten is the master of all fourteen cameras in the Golden Room. “He knows the room and he will also take care of the empty space in such a way that it becomes a unique and positive experience,” promised Wrabetz. With an interactive applause project, ORF will also collect and bring in applause donations from spectators around the world, at mynewyearsconcert.com (www.
This time Burgenland with its natural and cultural history, as well as its rich musical legacy around Haydn and Liszt, is honored in the breakout film. The concert program is dominated by Johann Strauss and Co. The prelude is made by Franz von Soup, between themes by Carl Zeller, Karl Millöcker and Karl Komzak, from the Strauss dynasty, in addition to the traditional encores of the Danube Waltz and Radetzky March, others Popular pieces like the “Vals Spring Voices” or the “Waltz Kaiser” included.
Muti: “I don’t want to change with the first trumpeter”
The repertoire is anything but easy for a director, stressed Muti, a New Year’s veteran. “People think it is simple music. No. If you want to find a mix between your ideas and the inherent tradition of the orchestra, you need a really good pilot ”. Before his first New Year’s concert, he couldn’t sleep for many nights. “It is difficult to face this orchestra with this repertoire. I had a feeling it was more likely to cause damage. “
The music is delicate, demanding, and technically difficult. “The orchestra always plays with strength and confidence, but: you only really relax during the ‘Radetzky March’. The ‘Blue Danube’ is so delicate that one little mistake ruins everything. I don’t want to exchange with the first trumpeter ”. Radetzky’s Liberation March will, of course, be different this year too, without any live audience to applaud. “They asked me how you can play without applause,” Muti said. “I’ll tell you something: the piece was written without applause.”
