The Ritual Master Hello dear friends, and welcome to the 12th day of our Advent Calendar.
Today I’m sharing with you a dream come true : welcome to the Vienna Musikverein concert hall !
Classical music amateurs will recognize this world famous concert hall thanks to a historical annual event : the New Year’s Concert. The Wiener Musikverein, or Viennese Music Association, was inaugurated in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna philharmonic orchestra. Constructed on a piece of land donated by Emperor Franz Joseph after plans by Danish architect Theophil Hansen, the Musikverein hosts several halls, the most famous being the Great Hall, also called the Golden Hall. It is said to have one of the best acoustics in the world, along with the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Symphony Hall in Boston.
Like many concert halls built in the 19th century, the Great Hall has a long, tall and narrow shoe box shape, with the acoustics being based entirely on the instinct of the architect, since no official studies had been done at the time on the subject. That makes its impeccable sound allthemore special.
The most famous event taking place at the Musikverein every year is the New Year’s Concert, a tradition started in 1939. The musicians of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra vote the name of the conductor each year, and prepare a program that includes mostly pieces by the Strauss family, but also some by other composers as well. The concert has three representations, on December 30th, 31st and the most important one, on January 1st at 11.15am. This is the concert that is televised and transmitted live in all of Europe but also in many other countries across the globe. It has one of the largest tv audiences in the world, surpassed only by international sports events. And as an extra bonus, the Austrian television includes images from the countryside in connection to the music, and of course, one or two choreographed moments previously recorded by the Vienna Ballet in a historical setting, with designer costumes. The New Year’s Concert is a celebration of life : you marvel at the beauty of the flower arrangements in the Great Hall, you analyse the costume designs of the dancers (I’ll never forget Vivienne Westwood’s 2014 dresses), you search for the little sparkle of originality in the conductor’s eyes. It is a start to the year that brings forth all that is harmonious, in the never ending joy of Johann Strauss’s music.
So now, why am I telling you all of this ? Well, it so happens that I grew up in a home that watched the Vienna New Year’s Concert religiously, at least ever since Romanian television started broadcasting it after the Revolution. I haven’t always understood the beauty of it, especially as a child, but I was always fascinated by the joy it brought to my parents. And with time, the flame was passed on. Attending the New Year’s Concert is close to impossible, but being in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein with any occasion is a day you remember for the rest of your life. For me (actually for us, since I wasn’t going to enjoy this without my mom and dad) it was on a Saturday evening in December, listening to Mozart and Vivaldi, and pinching ourselves in disbelief.
Dreams do come true !
Until tomorrow, write down your dream and send it to Santa Claus, you never know…
