New Years Concert 2012

Sony Classical is pleased to announce the release of the recording of one of the world’s most famous classical music events: the 2012 New Year’s Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic. Latvian conductor Mariss Jansons returns to direct the 2012 celebrations after his acclaimed debut in 2006.

  The annual New Year's Day Concert in Vienna has been an exalted tradition for more than seven decades, and the resulting recordings with works from the Strauss dynasty and their contemporaries are among the classical market's most important releases. The concert was broadcast on TV and radio in over 70 countries around the world (included Australia) with an estimate of more than 40 million viewers.  

The programme traditionally revolves around waltzes and polkas by the Strauss family (Johann father and son as well as Josef and Eduard Strauss), and includes works by other composers of that era. In 1959 it was broadcast live on television for the first time. The list of conductors who have led the Vienna Philharmonic at the New Year’s Concert reads like a who’s who of maestros.  

In 2012 the programme is once again a skilful blend of well-known classics and several premieres, works that have never been recorded or are rarely heard. As always the concert is bound to end with two traditional encores – the famous waltz The Blue Danube and the Radetzky March.