Starting 2019 with Christian Thielemann at The Vienna New Year’s Concert

Music

There are so many things you can do and places you can visit on New Year’s Eve, but in case you love classical music and enjoy listening to live performances, Vienna New Year’s Concert is the perfect event for you. If you think that the tickets are impossible to get due to the tight budget most of us have, you are 100% wrong. It is true that the price can get above 1,000 euros for the event, but you can actually get the tickets for as low as 25 euros.

The trick here is to apply on time. In case you want to pay a visit to Vienna on New Year’s Eve and enjoy the concert, you better start planning how to get the tickets, as the application period is throughout the whole month of February. There is a limit of two tickets per account for the New Year’s Eve concert and four for the Preview Performance. You should also know that the program is identical for all three days.

History

The very first Vienna New Year’s Concert was held on December 31, 1939, conducted by Clemens Krauss. Although the following years were bad for humankind, the concert has been held annually ever since. It is unique that the first concert included only the pieces from the Strauss family. It took place in The Goldener Saal of the Musikverein and it has never been moved.

The tradition of the New Year’s concerts in Vienna commenced with the first concert held in 1838; however, this event did not include the music of the Strauss family. Before it, from 1928 to 1933, Johann Strauss III held the most visited and the most popular traditional concerts in Musikverein. You might be surprised, but all six concerts were broadcasted live on television by the RAVAG.

It all started with Clemens Krauss as a conductor in 1939, followed by Josef Krips, Willi Boskovsky and many other respected names in the classical music industry. Willi Boskovsky was the conductor for 25 straight years, from 1955 to 1979.

Entering 2019 Under the Baton of Christian Thielemann

Although this is Christian’s first time as a conductor at the Vienna New Year’s concert, just like all the previous conductors, he also has years of experience. This is his seventh season as Staatskapelle Dresden’s Principal Conductor.

The concert begins with Carl Michael Ziehrer’s Schönfeld March, op. 422 and ends with Sphärenklänge (Music of the Spheres) Walzer, op. 235 by Josef Strauss. Although there are three identical concerts performed in three days, only the last one is broadcasted live on television. The statistics show that the most recent concert was watched/listened by more than 40 million viewers in over 90 countries.

How to Get Tickets For the Next Year’s Concert

First of all, you should visit the official Vienna Philharmonic website. Unsurprisingly, all the tickets are sold out each year, but not in a manner you would probably think of. Events such as this one tend to allow people from all over the world to register and apply for tickets, before drawing only a certain amount of “winners”.

As the demand is extremely high, you can apply during February and wait for the results to see whether you are lucky enough to get the tickets. If you are, plan your trip to Vienna and enjoy the New Year’s Eve!