Who says New Year says big orchestra. Strauss in Vienna? Verdi in Venice? To vary the pleasures, you can opt for the Berlin Philharmonic concert. To be discovered on France Télévisions and Arte, December 31 and January 1.
In Venice, not one but four New Year's concerts are given at the La Fenice Theater, between December 29 and January 1. Michele Crosera
By Sébastien Porte
Published on December 31, 2024 at 2:39 p.m.
QWhat better auspices to start the year than a good classical music concert? Especially if it is offered by one of the greatest orchestras in the world… Deciphering the three main New Year's concerts, which have become real television rituals.
In Vienna, the strength of traditions
With an audience of 50 million people in ninety countries, the Vienna Philharmonic concert is the most watched musical event in the world, just after Eurovision Song Contest. On the menu, the timeless waltzes and polkas of the Strauss dynasty – Johann, the father, and his children Johann II, Josef and Eduard. Since this high mass was established in 1939, in the context of the Nazi regime, these four Austrians have monopolized almost the entire repertoire. The result is a light, swirling, flashy aesthetic, summoning the memory of an idealized imperial Austria. Especially since the decor in the Musikverein room is also overflowing with gilding and flowers. And to be part of the audience clapping rhythmically to the Marche de Radetzky final, you have to be either lucky or well born: places are obtained by drawing lots, one year in advance, at prices ranging from 35 to 1,200 euros. Or they are reserved for good local families, who pass them on from generation to generation. This year, for the seventh time (a record), the baton will be held by the legendary Riccardo Muti, 83 years old. And for the first time, a female composer, Constanze Geiger (1835-1890), will be on the program. Austrian, of course…
Wednesday 1is January at 11:00 a.m. on France 2. Resumed in the evening on France 4.
In Berlin, varied pleasures
Less formatted will be the Silvesterkonzert of the Berlin Philharmonic. Here, if we hear Strauss, it is not Johann but rather Richard — like this year with extracts from Salome a you Knight of the Rose. Which will coexist with composers of all styles and all nationalities. And if, unlike their Viennese rivals, who change their baton every year, the Berliners are led by their current conductor (at the moment, Kirill Petrenko), he will surround himself with soloists who are also varied. Without bothering with patriotic precautions. After the Dutch violinist Janine Jansen, the German tenor Jonas Kaufmann, the American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, it is the turn of the Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov to join forces with the legendary phalanx of the late Karajan (in the Concerto no 2 by Brahms). Another distinctive sign compared to the very cathodic Austrian New Year: that of Berlin, to shine outside its theater, is projected simultaneously in two hundred cinemas in Germany and some eighty elsewhere in Europe.
Tuesday December 31 at 6:05 p.m. on Arte.
In Venice, arias galore
In 1996, the venerable La Fenice Opera House was ravaged by arson – craftsmen had seen fit to set it on fire to cover up a delay in work. Five years later, the phoenix rose from its ashes and, to celebrate its reconstruction, a “concerto di capodanno” was instituted, giving rise to four annual performances since 2004, between December 29 and January 1. In this temple of lyrical art, with its five floors of red and gold balconies forming a monumental horseshoe, the program features a succession of the most popular arias, sung by the most renowned gullets. Puccini, Verdi, Rossini… the Italians are in the spotlight. And like the Beautiful blue Danube on the Austrian side, it's about the powerful and hit Let's drink in happy glasses (La Traviata) et Go, thought (Nabucco), closing the show, as we enter the new year. The heart swelled with joy.
Wednesday 1is January at 6:40 p.m. on Arte.
