Classical MusicMUST SEEREVIEWSREVIEWS BYTom Williams

Salute To Vienna New Year’s Concert

Created by Attila Glatz Concert ProductionsSTV_Header_homepageDec2015

Featuring the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra

Conducted by Bernhard Schneider

Featuring Patricia Nessy soprano (Vienna)

and  tenor Adam Luther

With the Kiev-Aniko Ballet of Ukraine

and International Champion Ballroom Dancers

Concert Date: December 27

at ORCHESTRA HALL, SYMPHONY CENTER, Chicago

The ageless beauty of Viennese music is a wonderful way to bring in the New Year.

In one of the most wonderful music concerts of this or any year, the beautiful Salute to Vienna was a true delight! I was swept away by the romance of Strauss waltzes –including the Blue Danube, and melodies from operettas. The cast of singers featuring Patricia Nessy soprano (Vienna) and  tenor Adam Luther highlighted this classical operetta-oriented salute to Vienna. Conductor Bernhard Schneider hosts and narrates this concert in his most charming Viennese manner.

Salute to Vienna celebrates more than 20 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 2016 in the 80-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!

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Viennese soprano Patricia Nessy and Canadian tenor Adam Luther soared to Viennese arias  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 Land of Smiles and 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, this concert was immensely entertaining. What a way to bring in the New Year! This yearly concert is now one of my “must see” holiday events like The Nutcracker. See it next year.

Highly Recommended

Tom Williams

Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast