The Wiener Philharmonic’s new year concert IS one of the world’s most famous classical concerts—correct me if I’m wrong, the only rival that stands is the Berlin Wall Concert, in 1989 when Leonard Bernstein conducting German National Opera, played Beethoven Symphony No.9 (Ode to Freedom, or Joy?).
It’s special because
- The program every year largely remains the same, consisting a lot of waltz and polkas composed by the Stauß family.
- The concert was first performed in 1939 conducted by Clemens Krauss, who is also the discoverer of Stauß’s mastery.
- Since 1987, the musicians made the decision to select a different conductor every year: Herbert von Karajan (1987), Seiji Ozawa (2002), Andris Nelsons (2020) etc.—almost like a Nobel Prize for classical music composers.
- The television broadcast is augmented by ballet performances in selected pieces.
Interestingly, tickets are allocated to overflow demand via lottery:
Due to extremely high demand, tickets for the three traditional end of year concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic are drawn by lot over this website at the beginning of each year.
Note that concert ticket prices are very difficult to price! Not to mention a randomized selling mechanism. Stay tuned—and of course, here’s the link to the concert.
reference
BBC Classical Music: Vienna New Year Concert 2025: programme, history, how to watch. Link
Official Page: New Year’s Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic. Link