Event & Pricing Information

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra's New Year's Concert is by far the most popular of this orchestra's functions, but also Austria's most noteworthy cultural export. Throughout the world the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert is televised worldwide and is without doubt the most widely seen and heard of all regular musical presentations performed in the equally famous Musikvervein Concert Hall. Reaching an audience of over 1,200 million people since transmission commenced in the Republic of China in the 1990's. Inside Austria it constitutes an important part of the nation's cultural identity. The worldwide popularity of the New Year's Day Concert goes all the way back to the "King of the Waltz" himself Johann Strauss. The historical facts, however, tell quite a different story. Despite the fact that many future Philharmonic members began their careers in Strauss' orchestra, the "Philharmonic Concert Association", as it was called at the time, generally ignored the most charming and "Viennese" music which has ever been written. Probably the musicians did not wish to jeopardize the social advancement they had experienced upon becoming members of the Philharmonic by associating themselves with dance and entertainment music. It should be noted, however, that the Strauss dynasty enjoyed the highest respect among great composers of the day, such as Richard Wagner and Johannes Brahms. The Philharmonic musicians themselves, through several encounters with Johann Strauss, had opportunity to observe the importance of this music and the charismatic personality of its creator, which had enraptured all of Europe