[Han Jeong-ho's Classic Lounge] 'Vienna Phil' Finally Smiles at Online Audience Applause

Han Jeong-ho, Guest Reporter · CEO of Etoile Classic & Consulting

On the 1st of last month, the 2021 Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert was held without an audience for the first time in history. Conductor Riccardo Muti, music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic, took the podium for his sixth New Year's Concert (1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2018).

Having guest-conducted over 550 times, Maestro Muti, who has the closest relationship with the Vienna Philharmonic among active conductors, was responsible for this special stage in the era of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

Along with the Salzburg Festival, which was held with difficulty last year, the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert is a core element of Austria's soft power. The Austrian government suspended offline performances until the 6th of this month as a COVID-19 measure. However, the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert was an exception.

The live performance was broadcast in over 90 countries worldwide. The orchestra estimated the TV audience at 50 million viewers. The Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert is the largest classical event worldwide throughout the year. The TV broadcast of the New Year's Concert also reaffirmed Vienna's tradition and strength in transforming high culture into popular culture.

Founded in 1842, the Vienna Philharmonic did not initially frequently perform the music of Johann Strauss II (1825?1899), the "Waltz King." Strauss II debuted with the Vienna Philharmonic in April 1873 at the Vienna Opera Ball, leading the accompaniment on violin. From the Vienna Philharmonic's perspective, Strauss II was a musician more suited to events like the Vienna World's Fair gala than regular concerts.

Even until the early 20th century after Strauss II's death, the Vienna Philharmonic was conservative about waltzes. The orchestra gradually changed its perception starting in 1921. Hungarian conductor Art?r Nikisch (1855?1922) performed waltzes at the unveiling ceremony of the Johann Strauss II memorial, confirming the performance effect of a famous conductor for the Vienna Philharmonic.

Members of the Vienna Philharmonic also considered that the Strauss family was respected and recognized through direct exchanges by great composers such as Liszt, Wagner, and Brahms. In 1925, the 100th anniversary of Strauss II's birth, Austrian conductor Felix Weingartner (1863?1942) held a regular concert featuring only Strauss II's works, officially incorporating them into the Vienna Philharmonic's repertoire.

The current Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert originated in the 1930s against the backdrop of German nationalism promoted by the German Nazis. On December 31, 1939, Austrian conductor Clemens Krauss (1893?1954) conducted waltzes at a National Socialist fundraising campaign performance. Krauss had already performed waltzes at the Salzburg Festival from 1929 to 1933.

In 1938, Austria was annexed by Germany. The Nazi cultural committee was engrossed in planning events to be broadcast by radio throughout the Third Reich. The seasonal Strauss gala idea developed, and in 1941 it was changed to a regular New Year's Concert.

This year, Muti, who is turning 80, celebrates the 50th anniversary of his Vienna Philharmonic debut by conducting the New Year's Concert and leading the Vienna Philharmonic's Asia tour this fall. (C) Dieter Nagl

First Audience-Free Performance Due to COVID-19
Muti Responsible for Stage After 550 Guest Conducting Appearances
Vienna Philharmonic Exception Amid Offline Performance Ban
Live Broadcast Viewed by 50 Million in 90 Countries
Vienna's Tradition and Strength Reaffirmed

Founded in 1842, Also Used for Nazi Propaganda
Musicians Vote for Conductors Since 1987

Nowadays, conductors sometimes spread liberal ideas through speeches during concerts. Joseph Goebbels (1897?1945), the Nazi propaganda minister, also recognized the promotional effect and influence of the New Year's Concert. During Nazi rule over Austria, the Vienna Philharmonic was used to strengthen the identity of the "City of Music." At the same time, the Nazis exploited the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert as a tool to contrast the "homeland of the waltz" with the "periphery" to highlight backwardness.

As World War II turned increasingly unfavorable for the Nazis, Krauss presided over the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert until the war ended in 1945. After the Nazis' defeat, the New Year's Concert conductors in 1946 and 1947 were changed to Josef Krips (1902?1974), who was free from Nazi collaboration controversies. However, in 1948, under the pretext of stabilizing civil society, Nazi collaborators were pardoned, and Krauss returned. He conducted the New Year's Concert until 1954. Due to the death of Austria's first president Karl Renner (1870?1950) on December 31, 1950, the 1951 New Year's Concert was postponed to January 14. Since then, it has been held annually as a matinee (daytime performance) on January 1.

In May 1954, Krauss's sudden death caused difficulties in selecting his successor. Concertmaster Willi Boskovsky (1909?1991), chosen as the new leader of the New Year's Concert, received praise for his "standing violinist (Stehgeiger)" style, combining violin performance and conducting from 1955 to 1979. From 1958, "The Blue Danube" and the "Radetzky March" became fixed encore pieces. In 1961, the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) began live broadcasts and recordings, and from 1975, New Year's Concert recordings were released in audio format.

In October 1979, Boskovsky stepped down from the 1980 New Year's Concert due to a brain disease. His successor was French-born Lorin Maazel (1930?2014), the first non-Austrian to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert. Maazel conducted a total of 11 concerts (1980?1986, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2005). Although he occasionally revived the conducting and standing violinist style, it could not compare to Boskovsky's technique. The custom of the conductor signaling the audience to applaud during the "Radetzky March" began with Maazel.

Since the 1987 New Year's Concert, Vienna Philharmonic members have voted annually to select different conductors. The first beneficiary was Herbert von Karajan (1908?1989), music director of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic's eternal rival. Karajan even featured soprano Kathleen Battle in the "Voices of Spring" waltz, a bold move. However, except for the Vienna Boys' Choir, guest appearances disappeared completely afterward. Although tenor Pl?cido Domingo openly wished to conduct and sing with the Vienna Philharmonic, he was not selected by member votes.

After the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert ends, the conductor for the following year is announced. Among active conductors, Indian-born Zubin Mehta (1990, 1995, 1998, 2007, 2015), Argentine-born pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim (2009, 2014, 2022), and Austrian Franz Welser-M?st (2011, 2013) have appeared multiple times. Seiji Ozawa (2002), Gustavo Dudamel (2017), Christian Thielemann (2019), and Andris Nelsons (2020) have also experienced conducting the New Year's Concert.

Deceased stars such as Mariss Jansons (1943?2019; 2006, 2012, 2016), Carlos Kleiber (1930?2004; 1989, 1992), Claudio Abbado (1933?2014; 1988, 1991), Nikolaus Harnoncourt (1929?2016; 2001, 2003), and Georges Pr?tre (1924?2017; 2008, 2010) were repeatedly invited and loved by members and fans alike.

The 2021 Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert was held as a closed-door performance. (C) Dieter Nagl

Vienna Philharmonic members select the next New Year's Concert conductor only from guest conductors they have observed during regular concerts. Therefore, surprise stars do not emerge. Valery Gergiev, who frequently toured with the Vienna Philharmonic, and Simon Rattle, who conducted joint performances with the Berlin Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic, did not even pass the voting threshold. Among young conductors, Colombian-born Andr?s Orozco-Estrada and Swiss-born Philippe Jordan are increasing their rapport with the orchestra through concert tours and audience-free performances. In the 2021 New Year's Concert, the Vienna Philharmonic maintained the usual spacing between orchestra members, ignoring the social distancing seating arrangements recommended in the post-COVID era. Regarding this, Daniel Proschauer, representative of the Vienna Philharmonic members, said, "If we do not cluster together, we cannot produce the sound of the Vienna Philharmonic that we have cherished." Last summer, their own experiments concluded that virus infection did not occur even with close seating of members.

However, the Vienna Philharmonic spares no expense when it comes to health precautions. In November last year, during their Japan tour, they chartered a plane for the Vienna?Fukuoka route, which has no direct flights. For travel within Japan, they chartered a Shinkansen car exclusively for members to prevent contact with the general public. Even in matters where other orchestras might hesitate to invest costs, the Vienna Philharmonic boldly invests, turning the COVID-19 situation into an opportunity to enhance brand value.

Throughout this year's performance, Muti and the Vienna Philharmonic could not hear the audience's applause, but at the end of the first and second halves, they smiled as they heard live applause sounds sent by global online viewers through the concert hall speakers. Austrian wireless sound system company Voith Audio collected applause sounds from smartphones and tablet PCs, temporarily stored them on a server, and transmitted the results to the concert hall and ORF broadcasting station.

The Vienna Philharmonic's waltzes embody not only cheerfulness but also a sense of sadness, as reflected in Muti's expression on his 50th anniversary since debuting with the Vienna Philharmonic.

Guest reporter, Etoile Classic & Consulting CEO

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.