Mariss Jansons
Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert
Sony
What makes the Vienna new year concerts perennially interesting is the sound each guest conductor gets from the majestic but versatile Vienna Philharmonic. Mariss Jansons, the Leningrad-trained Latvian maestro, shapes the aristocratic band with biting rhythm and dynamic timbre in the Slavonic tradition. There is much brilliance and excitement throughout, though sometimes short of the Viennese elan.
Of 24 works performed, six are new on this new year's concert list, which date back to 1939. This year marks the debut of Tchaikovsky, whose beloved melodies from The Sleeping Beauty are played to great effect alongside traditional Strauss waltzes. The opening piece, Patriotic March, is a hidden treasure of the Strauss family while the closing piece is more familiar - excerpts from the Radetzky March, with the audience clapping along.
Another welcome first is Danish composer Hans Christian Lumbye's Copenhagen Steam Railway Galop, featuring music mimicking the motion of a locomotive. A bonus feature of this year's concert is the renowned Vienna Boys' Choir singing in Chit-Chat Polka and Fireproof Polka. It is quite a thrill to hear the young voices survive the driving tempo from the maestro.