There has been a tradition of New Year's Day concerts in Vienna since 1838 and with the New Year fast approaching we invite you to celebrate the season with a taste of these traditional waltzes and operettas. The music performed on New Year’s Day has long been associated with the Strauss family, whose members include Johann Strauss I, Johann Strauss II, Josef Strauss and Eduard Strauss, along with additional music from other Austrian composers written in the same style. Indeed, Johann Strauss, Jr. was the most significant composer of operetta in the German language. He wrote 16 operettas and one opera, although they are now largely forgotten. His operettas, waltzes, polkas, and marches have a strongly Viennese style and he is often considered the national composer of Austria. This Viennese tradition has been carried into the twentieth century by Franz Lehár, Oscar Straus, Carl Zeller, Karl Millöcker, Leo Fall, Richard Heuberger, Edmund Eysler, Ralph Benatzky, Robert Stolz, Emmerich Kálmán, Nico Dostal, and Sigmund Romberg. Tonight you will hear from some of these composers, including the title piece, Benatzky's charming Waltz from his operetta Love in the Snow. We wish you a very Happy Holiday!

Alixandra Porembski, English Language Annotator