Riccardo Muti and the Vienna Philharmonic receive Double Platinum Award

During the current Salzburg Festival, Maestro Riccardo Muti and the Vienna Philharmonic were presented with the Double Platinum Award for the New Year's Concert 2018. Earlier this year, Sony Music released the CD in Austrian outlets only four days after the actual concert, which was only one day later than the fastest release so far in 2013 (also Sony Music). The ratings of the live broadcast were, at their highest point, over 50%.

“The New Year‘s Concert is a beautiful task for a conductor. Everyone thinks that the music of the Strauss family is easy - just because it is light and brilliant. But what sounds light and brilliant is often very, very hard. To do these unique works justice - and with the whole world watching - is challenging. But facing such a challenge with the Vienna Philharmonic, my friends and partners of so many years, made the 2018 concert an enormously satisfying and joyful experience for me.“
Maestro Riccardo Muti

„The New Year's concert is still one of the best-sellers within classical albums worldwide. We are happy and proud to add another chapter to this success story with the Vienna Philharmonic and we congratulate them on the Double Platinum.“
Oliver Wazola, Head of Classics & Jazz, Sony Music Austria

„Riccardo Muti gave – in what is already his fifth New Year's concert - a noble elegance to the music that unites the joyful Italianità with the lightness and melodic richness of the Viennese Strauss music. The concert was a special experience for us. We are very pleased that the audience felt the same and that the recording has now been awarded Double Platinum."
Michael Bladerer, Business Manager and contrabass player of the Vienna Philharmonic