Classical MusicMusic ReviewsMUST SEEREVIEWSTom Williams

Salute To Vienna New Year’s Concert 2017

Created by Attila Glatz Concert Productions

Featuring the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Niels Muus
Featuring Liilla Galambos soprano (Vienna)and  baritone  Thomas Weinhappel
With the Kiev-Aniko Ballet of Ukraine
and International Champion Ballroom Dancers
Concert Date: December 31, 2016
at ORCHESTRA HALL, SYMPHONY CENTER, Chicago
Wonderfully elegant Viennese New Year’s tradition soars

In one of the most wonderful music concerts for the second year for me, the beautiful Salute to Vienna was a true delight! Once again, I was swept away by the romance of Strauss waltzes –including the Blue Danube, and melodies from operettas. The cast of singers featuring Lilla Galambos soprano (Vienna) and baritone Thomas Weinhappel highlighted this classical operetta-oriented salute to Vienna. Conductor Niefs Muus hosts and narrates (with comic aplomb) this concert in his most charming Viennese manner.

Salute to Vienna celebrates more than 21 years of New Year’s concerts, rounding off the holiday season with entertaining, light-hearted performances in 23 North American cities this year. More than 60,000 concert-goers will party like it’s 1899 between December 27 and January 3, when Salute to Vienna will kick off 2017 in the 81-year old tradition of Vienna’s world famous “Neujahrskonzert”. This concert is a musical confection. If you are experiencing the timeless pleasure of Vienna’s most beautiful music for the first time this year, or you know and love the music, the New Year’s tradition, this Salute To Vienna is 2+ hours of sheer joy!

Viennese soprano Lilla Galambos and Viennese baritone Thomas Weinhappel soared to Viennese arias and deft dance duets while members of the exquisite Kiev-­‐Aniko Ballet and  the Champion Ballroom Dancers added smooth flowing waltzes and swift movement with sheer elegance! With operetta music from Emmerich Kalman’s Gypsy Princes to Johann Strauss, Jr’s Die Fiedermaus to Franz Lehar’s Merry Widow , we enjoy the lush sweeping grandeur of Viennese music. With a rich assortment of polkas to folk sounds to stirring marches and, of course the melodic waltzes, the nostalgic sounds of European elegance soars into our psyche. From the haunting “Lippen Schweigen” from Merry Widow to the hypnotic  “Blue Danube” waltz and the rousing Strauss’ Thunder and Lighting polka, this concert was wonderfully entertaining. What a way to bring in the New Year! Once again, this yearly concert is now one of my “must see” holiday events like the  The Nutcracker . See it next year.Happy 2017!

Highly Recommended

Tom Williams