>>> HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM VIENNA'S HISTORIC MUSIKVEREIN. I'M HUGH BONNEVILLE AND IT'S MY GREAT PLEASURE TO WELCOME YOU TO ANOTHER NEW YEAR'S CELEBRATION. ON THIS DAY EACH AND EVERY YEAR, THE GOLDEN HALL IS FILLED WITH THE MUSIC OF AUSTRIA'S WALTZ KING, JOHANN STRAUSS. ANDRIS NELSONS LEADS THE VIENNA PHILHARMONIC IN WHAT THEY CALL THEIR "MUSICAL GREETING TO THE WORLD" AS THE VIENNA STATE BALLET WALTZES INTO THE NEW YEAR IN ONE OF THE CAPITAL'S PRINCELY PALACES.
FROM VIENNA
THE NEW YEAR'S CELEBRATION 2020 IS NEXT ON FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU. THANK YOU.
APPLAUSE
FROM VIENNA
>>> FOR 150 YEARS NOW THIS GLEAMING GOLDEN HALL, THE MUSIKVEREIN, HAS BEEN THE CENTER OF VIENNA'S MUSICAL LIFE AND HOME TO THE VIENNA PHILHARMONIC. ON NEW YEAR'S DAY THIS ACOUSTICAL WONDER IS TRANSFORMED INTO A WINTER GARDEN BY VIENNA'S MASTER FLORISTS, ADDING A TOUCH OF SPRING TO THE WINTER CHILL HERE IN AUSTRIA'S CAPITAL. TODAY, ANDRIS NELSONS IS MAKING HIS NEW YEAR'S CONCERT DEBUT, BUT HE HAS BEEN A MUSICAL PARTNER WITH THE ORCHESTRA FOR 10 YEARS NOW. ANDRIS IS ALSO THE MUSIC DIRECTOR IN LEIPZIG BUT WILL BE BETTER KNOWN TO MANY OF YOU AS MUSIC DIRECTOR OF THE BOSTON CITY ORCHESTRA. THAT'S WHAT I CALL A BUSY CONDUCTOR. NOW, TO BEGIN THE FESTIVITIES, ANDRIS NELSONS AND THE VIENNA PHILHARMONIC HAVE CHOSEN AN OVERTURE BY FRANZ VON SUPP, THE FATHER OF VIENNESE OPERETTA. I THINK YOU'LL RECOGNIZE HIS "LIGHT CAVALRY OVERTURE."
CHEERS AND APPLAUSE
FROM VIENNA
>>> THIS HALL IN THE MUSIKVEREIN IS KNOWN AS THE ELDORADO OF CLASSICAL MUSIC. IT'S JUST ONE PART OF A BUILDING OWNED BY THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS OF MUSIC, AN AMATEUR ORGANIZATION FOUNDED IN 1812. AMONG THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS WERE THE EMPEROR'S BROTHER, ARCHDUKE RUDOLPH AND THE BOHEMIAN PRINCE LOBKOWITZ. IT WAS HERE IN THE PRINCE'S PALACE. TODAY HOME TO AUSTRIA'S THEATER MUSEUM, THAT THE FOUNDERS FIRST GATHERED. THE MUSIC LOVING PRINCE, A VIOLINIST AND CELLIST HIMSELF, KEPT HIS OWN PRIVATE ORCHESTRA AND A CONTEMPORARY WROTE OF HIM. "HE WAS KINDHEARTED AS A CHILD, AND THE MOST FOOLISH MUSIC ENTHUSIAST. HE PLAYED MUSIC FROM DAWN TO DUSK AND SPENT A FORTUNE ON MUSICIANS." IT WAS IN THIS BALLROOM IN 1804 THAT BEETHOVEN LED THE PRINCE'S ORCHESTRA IN THE THIRD SYMPHONY, HIS "EROICA." IT WAS FOR THE PRINCE'S EARS ALONE BEFORE ITS PUBLIC PREMIERE. TO HIM BEETHOVEN DEDICATED NOT ONLY HIS THIRD, BUT HIS FIFTH AND SIXTH SYMPHONIES, AS WELL. ORIGINALLY, THE SOCIETY HELD CONCERTS IN THE IMPERIAL PALACE JUST ACROSS THE SQUARE, BUT TO INAUGURATE THEIR NEW BUILDING, THE MUSIKVEREIN, THEY DECIDED TO HOST A BALL. PERFORMING WERE ALL THREE
STRAUSS BROTHERS
THE WALTZ KING, JOHANN; BABY EDUARD AND THE SENSITIVE JOSEF, KNOWN EVEN IN HIS DAY AS "THE SCHUBERT OF THE WALTZ." SADLY, IT WOULD BE THEIR FINAL APPEARANCE TOGETHER AS LESS THAN SIX MONTHS LATER; JOSEF WOULD BE DEAD AT ONLY 42 YEARS OF AGE. JOSEF DEDICATED THIS NEXT PIECE, HIS "CUPID-POLKA," TO THE "SWEET LITTLE GOD OF LOVE."
CHEERS AND APPLAUSE
STRAUSS BROTHERS
>>> THIS YEAR VIENNA'S NATIONAL LIBRARY CELEBRATES ITS >>> THIS YEAR VIENNA'S NATIONAL LIBRARY CELEBRATES ITS 100TH ANNIVERSARY, BUT ITS ORIGINS GO BACK 8 CENTURIES TO THE MIDDLE AGES. THE JEWEL OF THE LIBRARY IS ITS GLORIOUS BAROQUE STATE HALL, COMMISSIONED BY EMPEROR CHARLES VI AND COMPLETED IN 1726. FRESCOS IN THE DOME GLORIFY THE MONARCH AS THE SPONSOR OF THE ARTS AND SCIENCES. WHILE THE STATUES LINING THE WALLS ARE ALL AUSTRIAN AND SPANISH HAPBURG EMPERORS AND KINGS, THEY ARE DOMINATED BY THE CENTRAL STATUE OF EMPEROR CHARLES AS HERCULES. THIS WINTER, THE LIBRARY CELEBRATES THE 250th BIRTHDAY OF THAT MUSICAL COLOSSUS, LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN, WITH A MAGNIFICENT EXHIBITION FEATURING THE ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPT OF THE MASTER'S NINTH SYMPHONY. HERE, THE BEGINNING OF THE "ODE TO JOY." THIS HALL IS HOME TO AROUND 200,000 BOOKS DATING FROM 1501 TO 1850. ESPECIALLY PRECIOUS ARE THE 15,000 VOLUMES, WHICH COME FROM PRINCE EUGEN OF SAVOY'S PRIVATE COLLECTION. THESE SURROUND ME HERE IN THE ROTUNDA. AT HIS DEATH IN 1736 THE PRINCE WAS CONSIDERED THE RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD, SO IT'S ONLY NATURAL THAT HIS WINTER PALACE WOULD BECOME AUSTRIA'S FINANCE MINISTRY. WHAT A RARE TREAT IT IS TO BE ABLE TO JOIN THE VIENNA STATE BALLET THERE AS THEY WALTZ TO STRAUSS' "BE EMBRACED, YOU MILLIONS!"
CHEERS AND APPLAUSE
STRAUSS BROTHERS
>>> STRAUSS TOOK HIS TITLE," BE EMBRACED, YOU MILLIONS!" FROM THE GERMAN PLAYWRIGHT AND POET SHILLER'S IMMORTAL "ODE TO JOY." BACK IN 1824, THIS WAS THE SITE OF THE IMPERIAL AND ROYAL COURT THEATER STANDING JUST INSIDE THE CITY WALLS AND IT'S THE VERY SPOT WHERE BEETHOVEN'S NINTH HAD ITS PREMIERE. FROM THAT DAY TO THIS, THE SYMPHONY HAS BEEN A REMINDER OF THE DREAM OF LIBERTY AND OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. BY 1869, THE CITY WALLS HAD COME DOWN AND THE EMPEROR HAD CONSTRUCTED AN OPULENT NEW OPERA HOUSE, NOW THE VIENNA STATE OPERA JUST OVER THERE. THE HOTEL HAS BEEN SERVING THE EMPIRE'S NOBILITY AND SWEET-TOOTHED GUESTS EVER SINCE. NOW TIME FOR YOU TO GET BACK TO MUSIC. THE MAESTRO IS POISED FOR THE "FROST FLOWER POLKA." I'LL JOIN YOU AS SOON AS I CAN.
CHEERS AND APPLAUSE
STRAUSS BROTHERS
>>> RECENTLY I GOT A CHANCE TO SLIP INTO THE HALL TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA WHY THIS PLACE IS SO SPECIAL. THE GREAT HALL IS A SHOEBOX, 161 FEET LONG, 62 FEET WIDE, AND 59 FEET HIGH WITH THE STAGE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE ROOM. THE CEILING FRESCOES DEPICT APOLLO, THE GOD OF MUSIC, POETRY AND DANCE AND THE NINE MUSES, THE MODEL FOR THE WHITE SCULPTURES ABOVE THE BALCONY DOORS AND ABOVE THE ORGAN, AND THE CARYATIDS AT THE GROUND FLOOR LEVEL, WHICH HAVE COME TO SYMBOLIZE THE MUSIKVEREIN ITSELF, CAN BE FOUND AT THE ACROPOLIS IN ATHENS. BENEATH THE ARCHED WINDOWS ARE MARBLE BUSTS OF FAMOUS COMPOSERS THROUGHOUT HISTORY. WELL, UP UNTIL 1870, THAT IS, THE HALL SEATS 1,700, WITH STANDING FOR A FURTHER 300 AND THE SOUND QUALITY IS NIGH-ON PERFECT, NO MATTER WHERE YOU SIT. INDEED, THE GREAT HALL CONTINUES TO SET THE STANDARD FOR ACOUSTIC EXCELLENCE TODAY. THE COFFERED CEILING, THE BALCONIES AND THE CARYATIDS ALL ENSURE THE OPTIMAL DISPERSION OF SOUND WAVES AND WHAT I FIND FASCINATING IS THAT THERE'S A VOID BENEATH THE WOODEN FLOORING, WHICH PROVIDES JUST AS WITH A VIOLIN, A RESONATING BASE AND THE WOODEN CEILING, SUSPENDED FROM THE ROOF TRUSSES, ALLOWS SOUND TO RESONATE THROUGHOUT THE HALL. SO, HOW ABOUT A ROUSING GALLOP TO PUT THIS HALL TO THE TEST? THIS ONE BY HANS CHRISTIAN LUMBYE. HE WAS KNOWN IN COPENHAGEN AS THE STRAUSS OF THE NORTH.
CHEERS AND APPLAUSE
STRAUSS BROTHERS
>>> IN THE SUMMER OF 1802 DOCTORS PRESCRIBED MINERAL SPRINGS AS A CURE FOR THE 31 YEAR-OLD BEETHOVEN'S HEARING DISORDER IN THE SPA VILLAGE OF HEILIGENSTADT, OVERLOOKING THE DANUBE. HIS RAMBLES IN THE COUNTRYSIDE WOULD PROVIDE INSPIRATION FOR SOME OF HIS MOST IMPORTANT WORKS. HIS TIME HERE WAS TAKEN UP WITH COMPOSING AND AS BOTH A PIANIST AND VIOLINIST PERFORMING TOGETHER WITH COLLEAGUES. PICTURED HERE ARE BENEFACTORS AND FRIENDS, COUNT LOBKOWITZ, PRINCE RAZUMOVSKY, AND ARCHDUKE RUDOLPH. HE BEGAN STUDYING PIANO AND COMPOSITION WITH BEETHOVEN AT THE AGE OF 15 AND THEY WOULD REMAIN LIFELONG FRIENDS. FROM HIS WINDOWS, BEETHOVEN HAD A VIEW OF THE BELL TOWER OF THE NEARBY CHURCH. ON THE MORNING OF OCTOBER THE SIXTH, HE SAW THE BELLS MOVING IN THE BELFRY, YET COULDN'T HEAR THEM. IN HIS DESPAIR, HE WROTE A LETTER, ADDRESSED TO HIS BROTHERS. IT WAS NEVER SENT. "MY MISFORTUNE IS DOUBLY PAINFUL TO ME BECAUSE IT WILL RESULT IN MY BEING MISUNDERSTOOD. FOR ME THERE CAN BE NO RECREATION IN THE COMPANY OF OTHERS, NO INTELLIGENT CONVERSATION, NO EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION WITH PEERS; ONLY THE MOST PRESSING NEEDS CAN MAKE ME VENTURE INTO SOCIETY. I AM OBLIGED TO LIVE LIKE AN OUTCAST." SOMEHOW, THIS MUSICAL REVOLUTIONARY CHOSE TO LIVE IN ORDER TO COMPLETE HIS WORK. NOW MEMBERS OF THE VIENNA STATE BALLET RECALL THAT HOPEFUL SUMMER, DANCING TO A SEQUENCE OF RUSTIC THEMES THAT THE 25 YEAR-OLD BEETHOVEN COMPOSED JUST 3 YEARS AFTER HIS ARRIVAL IN VIENNA.
CHEERS AND APPLAUSE
STRAUSS BROTHERS
>>> WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART COMPOSED "THE MAGIC FLUTE" TO HELP ITS LIBRETTIST EMANUELSCHIKANEDER OUT OF HIS FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES. IT WAS AN INSTANT SUCCESS AND TEN YEARS LATER IN 1801, SCHIKANEDER BUILT THIS THEATER, THE THEATER AN DER WIEN IN TRIBUTE TO MOZART AND THE OPERA. ITS PAPAGENO DOOR REMINDS THE AUDIENCE OF THEIR BELOVED BIRD CATCHER IN THE OPERA. EVEN THE HISTORIC STAGE CURTAIN, PICTURES THE CHARACTERS FROM THIS IMMORTAL WORK. ORIGINALLY DECORATED IN BLUE AND SILVER, RED AND GOLD WERE RESERVED EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE IMPERIAL COURT AND WITH A CAPACITY OF ALMOST 2,000 PEOPLE, IT WAS MORE SPACIOUS THAN ANY IN HALL IN VIENNA. OVER THE YEARS THIS THEATER HAS PREMIERED COUNTLESS WORKS AND TODAY CONTINUES THE TRADITION AS A VITAL PART OF VIENNA'S MUSICAL LIFE. IN 1803 SCHIKANEDER APPOINTED LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN DIRECTOR OF MUSIC AND RESIDENT COMPOSER. IN THAT YEAR HE PREMIERED HIS "ORATORIO CHRIST ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES," HIS 2ND SYMPHONY AND HIS "PIANO CONCERTO IN C MINOR" HERE. 1805 SAW THE FIRST PUBLIC PERFORMANCE OF HIS "EROICA" SYMPHONY. AS WELL AS THE PREMIERE OF "FIDELIO" TO AN AUDIENCE FILLED WITH NAPOLEON'S INVADING FRENCH SOLDIERS. AND IN A FOUR HOUR LONG, AND TOTALLY UNDER-REHEARSED PROGRAM IN THIS UNHEATED HALL ON A VERY COLD DECEMBER NIGHT IN 1808, BEETHOVEN CONDUCTED A MONSTER CONCERT WITH PREMIERES OF HIS FIFTH AND SIXTH SYMPHONIES, THE ARIA "AH PERFIDO", THREE MOVEMENTS OF HIS "C MAJOR MASS," "THE CHORAL FANTASY" AND THE FOURTH PIANO CONCERTO WITH HIMSELF AS SOLOIST. THAT'S WHAT I CALL A GOOD NIGHT'S WORK! NOW BY 1860 THE THEN RESIDENT COMPOSER FRANZ VON SUPP HAD A HIT WITH "THE FINISHING SCHOOL." IT WOULD BE THE FIRST OPERETTA IN THE VIENNESE STYLE. JOHANN STRAUSS IN 1874 WOULD THEN USHER IN A GOLDEN AGE OF VIENNESE OPERETTA HERE WITH "DIE FLEDERMAUS." "THE AMOROUS INTRIGUES OF DIE FLEDERMAUS" WOULD BE A SENTIMENT STRAUSS SHARED WITH AN OLD VIENNESE FOLKSONG THAT INSPIRED THE WALTZ HE WROTE FOR THE MUSIKVEREIN'S OPENING BALL.
A ROUGH TRANSLATION MIGHT GOES
"ENJOY LIFE WHILE YOUR LITTLE LIGHT STILL GLOWS."
CHEERS AND APPLAUSE
A ROUGH TRANSLATION MIGHT GOES
>>> STRAUSS'S WALTZ REFLECTS A REAL ZEST FOR LIFE AND REMINDS ONE OF HIS DICTUM, "ENJOY YOUR LIFE AND ONLY COMPLAIN WHEN YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT!" THE ARCHIVE, LIBRARY AND COLLECTIONS OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS OF MUSIC IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PRIVATE MUSIC COLLECTION IN THE WORLD. MUSIC AUTOGRAPHS, MANUSCRIPTS, PRINTED SCORES, LETTERS, BOOKS, PERIODICALS, PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES, PHOTOGRAPHS, MEMENTOES, DIARIES, RECORDINGS, AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS ALL PLAY A PART. FROM THE SOCIETY'S BEGINNING IN 1812, THERE WAS A PASSION TO PRESERVE TREASURED MANUSCRIPTS FROM THE PAST. BEETHOVEN'S PATRON ARCHDUKE RUDOLPH BEQUEATHED 90 BOXES OF THE COMPOSER'S PRICELESS SCORES AND DOCUMENTS. MOST FAMOUS OF BEETHOVEN'S MANUSCRIPTS HERE IS HIS TRANSCRIPTION OF THE "EROICA" SCORE, WITH ITS DEDICATION TO NAPOLEON SUBSEQUENTLY ERASED BY THE COMPOSER, SO ANGERED WAS HE BY THE GENERAL BEING CROWNED EMPEROR. ON DISPLAY IS BEETHOVEN'S CHARMING MUSICAL NEW YEAR'S GREETING TO THE ARCHDUKE. THE CHOIR SINGS IN "CANON," TO THE DIVINE PRINCE, "ALL THE BEST!" NOTABLE FOR US TODAY ARE THE DOCUMENTS AND SCORES BEQUEATHED TO THE SOCIETY BY THE WALTZ KING, JOHANN STRAUSS. IN 1858 A SHORT LIVED SATIRICAL MAGAZINE IN VIENNA CALLED "TRISTSCH TRATSCH," OR "PRITTLE, PRATTLE," PROFILED JOHANN STRAUSS. THE ARTICLE REPORTED THAT "STRAUSS' FANS FEARED THAT BOTH HIS OUT OF TOWN CONCERTIZING AND THE INFLUENCE OF RICHARD WAGNER IN HIS COMPOSING STYLE WERE CAUSING HIM TO NEGLECT THE DANCE-HUNGRY VIENNESE." STRAUSS' RESPONSE? A QUICK POLKA, WHICH MUSICALLY IMITATED A BUNCH OF GOSSIPS.
CHEERS AND APPLAUSE
A ROUGH TRANSLATION MIGHT GOES
NO MUSICIAN WAS MORE CLOSELY ALIGNED TO THE MUSIKVEREIN THAN JOHANNES BRAHMS. HE WAS BOTH ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND CHIEF CONDUCTOR OF THE SOCIETY AND REMAINED CLOSE TO IT THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE. HE DEVISED THE FIRST CONCERT TO BE PERFORMED IN THIS VERY ROOM, NOW NAMED IN HIS HONOR. EVER SINCE THAT FIRST PIANO RECITAL BY HIS CLOSE FRIEND, CLARA SCHUMANN, THIS "LITTLE TREASURE CHEST" OF A HALL HAS BEEN CONSIDERED BY MANY PERFORMERS A TEMPLE FOR CHAMBER MUSIC. IN HIS MASTERPIECE, "DYNAMIDEN" OR "THE MYSTERIOUS POWERS OF MAGNETISM," JOSEF STRAUSS EXTENDS THE TRADITIONAL WALTZ FORM TO THE BOUNDARIES OF SYMPHONIC MUSIC.
CHEERS AND APPLAUSE
A ROUGH TRANSLATION MIGHT GOES
>>> EVERYONE WHO WATCHES THIS NEW YEAR'S DAY CELEBRATION ANTICIPATES THE NEXT THREE ENCORES. THE LAST TWO ARE SET BY TRADITION, BUT THE FIRST IS ALWAYS A SURPRISE. WE KNOW IT WILL BE ANOTHER DASHING POLKA, BUT WHICH ONE? HOW ABOUT JOSEF STRAUSS'S "IN A FLASH!"? FAST AND FANTASTICALLY FABULOUS.
CHEERS AND APPLAUSE
A ROUGH TRANSLATION MIGHT GOES
>>> BEETHOVEN OFTEN WALKED THESE WOODS AND VINEYARDS OVERLOOKING THE DANUBE. IT WAS HERE THAT HE FOUND INSPIRATION FOR HIS PASTORAL SYMPHONY. ON THIS HILL, THE KAHLENBERG, AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER 1812, HE SCRAWLED THESE POETIC WORDS ALONGSIDE HIS MUSICAL NOTATIONS. "ALMIGHTY ONE, IN THE WOODS I AM BLESSED. HAPPY EVERY ONE IN THE WOODS. EVERY TREE SPEAKS THROUGH YOU." JOHANN STRAUSS WOULD CHOOSE THIS SAME VIEW FOR THE TITLE PAGE OF THE PIANO SCORE OF HIS "BLUE DANUBE WALTZ.
APPLAUSE
LAUGHTER
APPLAUSE
SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE
APPLAUSE
A ROUGH TRANSLATION MIGHT GOES
CHEERS AND APPLAUSE
A ROUGH TRANSLATION MIGHT GOES
>>> IN A MOMENT ANDRIS NELSONS WILL SIGNAL THE DRUMMER TO BEGIN THE BRILLIANT "RADETZKY MARCH." INCORPORATING TWO POPULAR VIENNESE FOLK SONGS, PAPA STRAUSS WROTE THIS MOST FAMOUS OF ALL MARCHES IN JUST TWO HOURS. IT'S AN AUDIENCE FAVOURITE AND EVERY YEAR THEY LOOK FORWARD TO THE CONDUCTOR INVITING THEM TO JOIN IN WITH THE ORCHESTRA. IN VIENNA, I'M HUGH BONNEVILLE, WISHING YOU AND YOURS A JOYOUS AND PEACEFUL 2020. >>> TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS AND OTHER GREAT PERFORMANCES PROGRAMS, VISIT PBS.ORG/GREAT PERFORMANCES. FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND FOLLOW US ON TWITTER. >>> THE NEW YEAR'S CONCERT IS AVAILABLE ON DVD, BLU-RAY, AND CD. TO ORDER, CALL 1-800-PLAY-PBS.
CHEERS AND APPLAUSE
A ROUGH TRANSLATION MIGHT GOES
U. THANK YOU.
Passport
Follow Us