Day 152: Glückliches Neues Jahr; New Year’s Day concert; off to St. Anton
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day
152 — Glückliches Neues Jahr; New Year’s Day concert;
off to St. Anton
01-January-1972
(Sat.)
TRANSCRIPT
Vienna—New
Year’s Day
Innsbruck
St. Anton
It is a horrible fate to be punished on New Year’s
Day with a hangover. But…that’s life. Next time, I’ll
follow my policy of “moderation.”
Packed for St. Anton.
Went to the Neues Jahr Konzert of the Wiener
Philharmoniker. It was fantastic. One of the happiest
concerts. Mostly Strauss—waltzes and polkas, with the
original “concertmaster” conducting style of Johann.
The orchestra was fantastic. And for music like this,
the balance and clarity of the orchestra is
unbelievable. The light-style of brass and woodwinds,
which are common here, has finally shown why it is
good. Of course, The Blue
Donau was an encore. It was
also televised and I enjoyed watching their role.
Said goodbye to Lisa and Dolores, Pavel’s girls.
I am now on the express [train] (5-1/2 hours to
Innsbruck), in which I will arrive first in
Innsbruck. This train is much faster and nicer inside
than the others.
I hope that in Innsbruck, I’ll succeed in meeting
Elisabeth. [Yes.] I met Elisabeth for about 1 hour.
She was in her housecoat and looked like she was
ready for bed. She still looked great. I gave her a
gift and perhaps we’ll spend some time together on
the way back. This whole adventure cost me money and
took place “hin and zurick” from the bahnhof in 15
minutes. But it was worth it.
1-1/2 hours later, reached St. Anton and walked to my
gasthaus. It was at the end of town, but it’s a
beautiful house and the hausfrau was extremely nice
and friendly—friendliest person I met. When I came,
they were already sleeping, but she got up and made
me a bed in their kitchen to sleep.
REFLECTIONS
Although we are now in the year 1972, I will still
make references to this blog and website as Vienna
1971, its title.
Glückliches
Neues Jahr. Happy New
Year. It’s New Year’s Day. 1972. Happy New Year in
2008 as well to all you readers. In 1972, I suppose I
may have a hangover from yesterday’s drinking. Ah,
the excesses of youth. It’s ok as long as
you
don’t kill yourself. Remember,
it’s better not to drink at all, and if you do, only
in true moderation.
New Year’s Day Vienna Philharmonic Concert.
I continue
the wonderful New Year’s traditions in Vienna by
attending the performance, during the day, of the
world-famous New Year’s Day concert in the
Musikverein by the Vienna Philharmonic. I don’t see
how we got in; it was crazy-crowded. We were in
standing room and were packed in tight, way in the
back of the hall. Still, the concert was
fantastically enjoyable and the acoustics good. The
opening photo is the Johann Strauss Jr. monument at
night. The photo above is of the beautiful and
elegant Musikverein. (The picture is actually of
another concert.)
As I’ve mentioned many times before, the Viennese
audiences love their music and their composers. The
New Year’s Day concert features mostly the music of
the Strauss family, Johann senior and junior, brother
Josef, and other composers—with many waltzes and
polkas. At the 1972 concert, the conductor conducted
in the style of a bandmaster—he played along on the
violin and would start and stop the orchestra as he
played violin, perhaps like Johann Strauss Sr. and
Jr. The concert always has encores—often
The
Blue Danube and
the Radetzky
March. When the
audience gets into the music, especially in the
encore and the Radetzky
March, it’s
infectious and you join in clapping to the music.
It’s happy music. The entire performance and
atmosphere was incredible. In these last two days, I
have experienced what many people cannot—two great
Viennese traditions. It was incredible.
PBS
Great Performances 2008 New Year's concert.
Just
today, I was able to watch the 2008 New Year's Eve
Vienna Philharmonic concert, hosted by Walter
Cronkite (over 24 years as host), on PBS's Great
Performances series here in the U.S. The concert was
conducted by Georges Pretre. This annual New Year's
concert brings back great memories, especially with
the beautiful camera imagery of the Musikverein and
the other Viennese venues in this TV special. This
program also includes works of the Viennese artist,
Albrescht Klemmer, the Vienna State Opera Ballet, the
beautiful white Lippizan stallions of the Spanish
Riding School, the Hofburg and its galleries,
library, Imperial art and treasures, Belvedere
Palace, and other Vienna venues. This program is a
great tour of Vienna.
Now, if you are viewing the video, look at the stage,
look to the right side, slightly in front of the
conductor, 2nd balcony; that's where I had a
subscription seat to a number of concerts. Not this
one, I was way, way in the back, standing.
Here is a
link to the
Vienna Philharmonic’s New Years concert page for
2008 of the above concert. A DVD is available from
PBS.org. A DVD of the 2005 concert is also
available from Amazon.com.
Warning. It is almost impossible to get tickets to
either Die
Fledermaus on New
Year’s Eve and the Strauss New Year’s concert. For
the concert, some established Viennese families, I
heard, pass on reserved seats from generation to
generation. Everyone else has to enter a raffle to
get tickets. So, somehow, I was very fortunate. I am
certain that Mike engineered these successes. I
generally don’t know how to do these things well.
Thanks Mike.
On
the way to St. Anton. Holy cow!
Seeing the New Year’s Day concert and
Die
Fledermaus is not
enough, I have to go to St. Anton for some skiing. I
remember I was planning this, and perhaps being
smarter, took the express train, which sounds much
more pleasant and faster.
Arrival in St. Anton. I take a second train and arrive in St. Anton, certainly very late. I walk to the end of town with my bags and find my guest house. The Austrian hausfrau is extremely nice, even after being woken up, and sets me up for the night.
What a day! What a year!
John
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