Vienna's 2020 New Year's Day Concert: Beethoven's 250th birthday to be celebrated

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra are applauded by the audience during the preview performance of the New Year's Concert 2019
AFP via Getty Images

The New Year’s Day Concert in Vienna is one of the world's most-watched classical music events, with tens of millions of people across the globe expected to tune into the 2020 edition of the orchestral extravaganza.

This year, the grand display of polkas, waltzes and gallops in the Austrian capital is extra special as it will help mark the 250th birthday of one of the world’s greatest composers, Ludwig van Beethoven.

Live from the Golden Hall, the Vienna Philharmonic – led for the first time by celebrated Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons – will pay homage to the life and work of Beethoven as his Contretanze is played alongside a ballet scene.

The concert itself has survived a dark past: set up in 1939 to raise money and lift morale of the Nazis during World War Two, it continued after the end of the war and evolved into an event that musicians, conductors and audiences each year praise for setting a harmonious, positive tone as it rings in the New Year.

Here we outline the concert’s significance, its history, what to expect from the 2020 performance, and how to watch it:

Concert history

The Vienna Philharmonic’s event is a tradition that emerged from the dark period of Nazi history. Its first performance took place on New Year's Eve in 1939, with the proceeds going to the Nazis’ annual charity drive.

After World War Two the concert continued, but it wasn’t until 2013 that it lifted the lid on its history, following years of accusations of a cover-up.

The orchestra itself had a long history with Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, whose waltzes featured in the original concert. Its concert programmes always include pieces from the Strauss family – whose waltzes first took Vienna by storm in the early 19th century.

The New Year’s Day concert has gained great international popularity over the years and is broadcast worldwide, reaching more than 90 countries and more than 50 million people.

What to expect from the 2020 performance

For the first time ever, this year's concert will include a selection of Beethoven's polkas and waltzes, conducted by Andris Nelsons – a first timer. He is the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Gewandhauskapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

First-timer: Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons holds his arms in the air during rehearsals with the Gewandhausorchester orchestra in Leipzig
DPA/AFP via Getty Images

While this is the first time Nelsons will conduct the concert, he has been working with the Vienna Philharmonic since 2010.

In a recent interview with the New York Times, he described being asked to conduct the annual event as a “dream come true”. Discussing the concert’s “harmonious tone”, he told the newspaper: “It’s about starting with confident thoughts and always subconsciously to start the year with a smile, with peace, with love and with joy. That is almost like a metaphor, this gesture to start the year on an uplifting note.”

The concert will conclude with the popular By the Beautiful Blue Danube, and the Radetzky March.

How to watch in the UK

In the UK, the concert will be broadcast live on BBC Two from 10.15am on New Year’s Day.

Tickets to attend in Vienna

Tickets to New Year's Day concert are sold under a lottery system due to its popularity, and for those unable to get themselves a space the orchestra also performs a preview show and a New Year’s Eve concert, which are not broadcast.

The application process for this year has long shut, but the ballot for the 2021 concert opens in February via the Vienna Philharmonic website, here.

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