Strauss, J News Year's Concert
A fascinating memento with no lack of sparkle and some welcome novelties
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Johann Strauss II, Joseph (Franz Karl) Lanner, Josef Strauss, Johann (Baptist) I Strauss
Label: Teldec (Warner Classics)
Magazine Review Date: 4/2001
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 96
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: 8573 83563-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Jäger Lust |
Joseph (Franz Karl) Lanner, Composer
Joseph (Franz Karl) Lanner, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Steyrische-Tänze |
Joseph (Franz Karl) Lanner, Composer
Joseph (Franz Karl) Lanner, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra |
| (Die) Schönbrunner |
Joseph (Franz Karl) Lanner, Composer
Joseph (Franz Karl) Lanner, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Radetzky March |
Johann (Baptist) I Strauss, Composer
Johann (Baptist) I Strauss, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Elektro-magnetische, 'Electro-magnetic' |
Johann Strauss II, Composer
Johann Strauss II, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra |
| (Der) Kobold, '(The) Imp' |
Johann Strauss II, Composer
Johann Strauss II, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Luzifer, 'Lucifer' |
Johann Strauss II, Composer
Johann Strauss II, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Morgenblätter, 'Morning papers' |
Johann Strauss II, Composer
Johann Strauss II, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Vergnügungszug, 'Train' |
Johann Strauss II, Composer
Johann Strauss II, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Elektrophor, 'Electrophorus' |
Johann Strauss II, Composer
Johann Strauss II, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra |
| An der schönen, blauen Donau, 'Blue Danube' |
Johann Strauss II, Composer
Johann Strauss II, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Seid umschlungen, Millionen |
Johann Strauss II, Composer
Johann Strauss II, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra |
| (Eine) Nacht in Venedig, '(A) Night in Venice', Movement: Overture |
Johann Strauss II, Composer
Johann Strauss II, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Harlekin-Polka |
Josef Strauss, Composer
Josef Strauss, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Dorfschwalben aus Õsterreich, 'Village swallows |
Josef Strauss, Composer
Josef Strauss, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Ohne Sorgen!, 'Without a care!' |
Josef Strauss, Composer
Josef Strauss, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra |
Author: Edward Greenfield
Even if, like me, you were disappointed by Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s recording of Die Fledermaus ( Teldec, 5/88) – purposeful rather than sparkling – you have little need to worry here. As one might expect from this conductor, the usual delight of a New Year concert goes with fresh insights and a fair sprinkling of novelties. First of those, insisted on by Harnoncourt himself, is the original version of the Radetsky March by Johann Strauss I, in its revised version always the final encore.
Plainer in its orchestration and with more repeats, the original proves no substitute for what we are used to. Though it is good to hear it for a change as a novel opening item, this is the only place in the whole concert where I felt a hint of the rhythmic stiffness that I feared from Harnoncourt, the period specialist. Happily at the end there is no lack of swagger in his traditional performance of the March.
As a bonus with this year’s disc the notes offer a revealing history of the New Year Concerts, which developed from Strauss concerts at the summer festival in Salzburg between 1929 and 1933. After the Anschluss in 1938, when the Nazis threatened to disband this self-governing orchestra, a Strauss concert was given under Clemens Kraus on December 31, 1940, intended as a demonstration of Austrian individuality after the country’s incorporation into the Third Reich. The first actual New Year’s concert came 12 months later, silencing Kraus’s doubts that a morning concert would find the audience hung-over after celebrations the night before.
That note is written by the chairman of the orchestra, by tradition a player, Dr Clemens Hellsberg, who makes an illuminating comment on Harnoncourt, the first conductor of a New Year’s concert to have once played in the orchestra. Dr Hellsberg says how fascinating it was to ‘re-examine the Philharmonic’s Strauss tradition through the eyes of this analytical yet so impulsive conductor’.
The results certainly justify the choice. I was particularly impressed with the way that Harnoncourt finds fun and sparkle even in the military rhythms of the Night in Venice Overture, and how he differentiates the Joseph Lanner items from the rest, with three included to celebrate the composer’s bicentenary. Jagers Lust (‘Huntsman’s delight’), new to the concerts, is a joy with its ‘rifle shot’ on the timpani and opulent horns. Other novelties include theElektro-magnetische Polka and Electrophor Polka, nicely contrasted, and the Polka-Mazurka Der Kobold (‘The Goblin’) with charming pizzicato effects and another pianissimo coda, all by Johann Strauss II.
Apart from these items, I especially enjoyed the seductive account of theSeid umschlungen, Millionen Waltz with its silky introduction and strong contrasts between sections. Also the Excursion Train Polka, even without train noises, here given for the 16th time at a New Year Concert, one of the items most frequently included – apart from the Blue Danube and Radetsky March, which as encores here come on a second, bonus disc. A vintage year for the event, recorded with pinpoint brilliance.'
Plainer in its orchestration and with more repeats, the original proves no substitute for what we are used to. Though it is good to hear it for a change as a novel opening item, this is the only place in the whole concert where I felt a hint of the rhythmic stiffness that I feared from Harnoncourt, the period specialist. Happily at the end there is no lack of swagger in his traditional performance of the March.
As a bonus with this year’s disc the notes offer a revealing history of the New Year Concerts, which developed from Strauss concerts at the summer festival in Salzburg between 1929 and 1933. After the Anschluss in 1938, when the Nazis threatened to disband this self-governing orchestra, a Strauss concert was given under Clemens Kraus on December 31, 1940, intended as a demonstration of Austrian individuality after the country’s incorporation into the Third Reich. The first actual New Year’s concert came 12 months later, silencing Kraus’s doubts that a morning concert would find the audience hung-over after celebrations the night before.
That note is written by the chairman of the orchestra, by tradition a player, Dr Clemens Hellsberg, who makes an illuminating comment on Harnoncourt, the first conductor of a New Year’s concert to have once played in the orchestra. Dr Hellsberg says how fascinating it was to ‘re-examine the Philharmonic’s Strauss tradition through the eyes of this analytical yet so impulsive conductor’.
The results certainly justify the choice. I was particularly impressed with the way that Harnoncourt finds fun and sparkle even in the military rhythms of the Night in Venice Overture, and how he differentiates the Joseph Lanner items from the rest, with three included to celebrate the composer’s bicentenary. Jagers Lust (‘Huntsman’s delight’), new to the concerts, is a joy with its ‘rifle shot’ on the timpani and opulent horns. Other novelties include the
Apart from these items, I especially enjoyed the seductive account of the
Strauss, J News Year's Concert
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