Austrian Government shuns New Year’s concert
NewsFor the first time in public memory, the Austrian Chancellor stayed away from the Vienna Philharmonic waltz fest.
Chancellor Karl Nehammer said: ‘In a difficult pandemic situation that demands a lot from us all, it would be the wrong signal for me to attend on ths occasion.’
All other Cabinet members were ordered to stay away.
The concert went ahead without notable incident, Barenboim conducting.
Franz Welser-Möst was announced as conductor for 2023 – his third bite at the cherry.
It was utterly sad to watch todays performance. We haven’t seen since the WW2 concertos – with the motto “Kraft durch Freude” – that a sizeable portion of the Austrian population were refused entry.
Barenboim did a fine job, but compare the performance of Fledermaus today with Kleiber from 1989 or 1992. A school master vs. a genius.
Well, to be fair, NO ONE compares to Kleiber’s New Year’s Eve Concert!
Completely agree. Class and style in spades. Kleiber seemed very timid with the Radetzky ritual.
I don’t think the implication of your comment is very appropriate.
“Kraft durch Freude” got more culture to the common man and into the households, and more people on vacation, than you would ever know. (Yes, this means that I’m calling you out for having no clue, and calling you out for submitting yourself to reductio-ad-hitlerum just to try and spice up the point you’re trying to make: what a fail.)
Other than that, I tend to agree with your comment.
after Kleiber there was nothing great indeed but maybe one day they might ask Kiril Petrenko…?
Yes, he’s very much like the great Kleiber. (Still so much missed after 17.5 years.)
Strange, the Chancellor got a close up and a name check… change of heart? Were the government seats allocated to ticket purchasers, as several hundred were denied entry due to covid seating restrictions?
The president got lots of close ups, there was no chancellor there.
I stand partially corrected and better informed, thank you!
Indeed: any tickets upstairs were voided and the buyer guaranteed a chance to transfer the ticket(s) to 2022/23 (only Parkett seats remained valid).
I imagine that government officials were told to stay away as it would have sent a message of priority over citizens: given that about 750 seats per concert were invalidated, I can only assume that the government seats were re-allotted.
By the way, the invalidation of tickets was NOT due to government restrictions: it was the decision or the Philharmoniker and/or Musikverein in order to have an audience of no more than 1.000.
For performances with audiences of 1.000 or less, you need to show that you have been vaccinated twice and/or recovered + a negative PCR test; for venues of between 1.000 and 2.000 (like Staatsoper) you have to show you received three vaccinations + negative PCR.
They could have played to a full house if they chose to adopt the stricter restriction, as has Staatsoper (which is now closed through 05 January due to an Omnicron wave; these are the FIRST performances cancelled by Staatsoper due to COVID, outside of being forced to close during the four Lockdowns … to date!).
Compared to last year, today was just pure bliss. There wasn’t a zombie on the podium. There were no idiotic speeches.
If Cabinet members attended last year, then most likely they still have post traumatic stress disorder and took a rain check. They’ll be back next year.
lmao there was a speech given – it just wasn’t shown on the pbs broadcast. please get your facts straight. and the program last year was way better…
There was a speech, quite reasonable IMHO, and mostly in English. Mostly focused on COVID.
I always wish in general when they do the New Years greeting the conductor will do a “and for our English-speaking friends…”. Even Karajan did that when he conducted in 1987.
There were no idiotic speeches. Barenboim’s speech was crisp and intelligent.
Try to keep up Steve, I don’t mind catching you up every time, but it does not look too good for you.
crisp?…give me a break. you’re the one who needs to catch up lmao
I always thought Kurz looked bored rigid when attending concerts and the Opernball.
I’m completely unvaccinated (because of the danger of blood clots) and watching from home looking at muppets in masks.
Enjoying the concert, but that could be the wine!
Danger of blood clot ???
Fear not. Austria’s president, Mr Van der Bellen, was there.
According to the BBC presenter the Chancellor was there and we had a shot of him and others. So make what you will of that???
Normal reporting practice, I suppose.
No Karl Nehammer the Chancellor was not there nor any member of the Government. The President, Alexander van der Bellen was there.
The President of Austria, Van der Bellen, as well as his predecessor in that office were present at the New Year’s concert though (seated amidst the public, not on the balcony as is usually the case).
I don’t care about any of that. All I know is that I watched the program, enjoyed myself and thought that it went pretty well, all things considered.
All I saw was the Radetzky schitck and, as usual, it was all about Barenboim.
Happy New Year! Enjoyed it immensely. The mix of less and better-known was good, the playing and conducting wonderful. The musical approach was a bit lighter and even more lilting than usual. 364 days until next year’s!
It is extremely sad that the outstanding culture of Vienna not only with its world class orchestra but moreover opera house are underappreciated by the ÖVP.
The Czech Philharmonic did a Vienna-ish New Year’s program with Manfred Honeck; more Lehar and even some Richard Strauss. I found it more compelling than the VPO show. https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=5086698571392639
Frankly, I love these concerts. I am sad that I will never be able to be there is person. In fact the day prior to the PBS feed of this year’s concert, my wife and I watched an older concert conducted by Willy Boskovsky.