In commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the death of Joseph Haydn, the Vienna Philharmonic has released a special edition of live perform- ances of several of Haydn's symphonies. This special edition is available at the Vienna Philharmonic E-Shop.
The Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert 2010 was conducted for the second time by the French conductor Georges Prêtre. Within Austria about 1.1 million viewers began the first day of the New Year with the ORF broadcast. Worldwide the television broadcast of the concert was viewed by approximately 45 million people in over 70 different countries. Due to the television and radio broadcasts, the New Year's Concert is in terms of its international coverage the largest classical music event in the world.
Georges Prêtre has conducted regularly in Vienna for the past 47 years, and his work with the Vienna Philharmonic has encompassed this same time period. Most recently he performed seven concerts with the orchestra in Vienna, Milan, Vaduz, Baden-Baden and Linz. For his artistic achievements, Georges Prêtre has been honored several times in his home country and also in Austria. In 2004 he was named a Commander of the French Legion of Honor and in the same year was awarded the Austrian Honorary Cross for Science and the Arts, 1st Class. The French president recently designated Prêtre for the highest honor within the Legion of Honor, the "Grand Officier de la Légion d'Honneur".
In view of the tradition of the New Year's Concerts, which began during the Second World War, the Vienna Philharmonic performs the concert even today not only as a presentation of Viennese musical culture at the highest level, but also to send the world a New Year's greeting in the spirit of hope, friendship and peace.
On June 8th, the annual Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert took place in the unique ambience of the gardens of Schönbrunn Palace. The CD and DVD recordings of the concert can be ordered in our E-Shop.
New Year's Concert 2011
The Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert 2011 will be conducted by Franz Welser-Möst.
An Appreciation of Otto Nicolai
This year the international music world commemorates the 200th birthday of several composers. In 1810, Frédéric Chopin was born on March 1st in Żelazowa Wola and Robert Schumann was born on June 8th in Zwickau. The Vienna Philharmonic celebrates an even more significant anniversary with the birthday of Otto Nicolai on June 9, 1810, in Königsberg.
Beethoven Cycle Berlin & Paris
The Vienna Philharmonic under Christian Thielemann performs the complete Beethoven Symphonies in Berlin and Paris in November and Dezember 2010.
