Our key to composing the perfect concert programme

A concert without a well-considered programme is like a book with unbound pages scattered about the floor: lacking in cohesion and, frankly, a big mess.

As such, creating our Salute to Vienna New Year's Concert programme is more than simply writing out a list of our favourite waltzes and sending it off to our music librarian. Ensuring a concert is engaging, diverse, and just the right length takes a lot of hemming, hawing, switching, and swapping. Like a giant puzzle, math equation, and story all weaved into one, creating not just one perfect programme but multiple unique programmes over our seven casts for more than 30 years can be Strauss-fully stressful.

So how do we do it? Here are our key considerations for creating a set of seasonal programmes we are proud of.

The artists' repertoire

We scout and specially select our singers direct from concert and operetta performances we attend in Europe. Each of these professional performers has their own repertoire of arias and duets they are trained to sing and celebrated for. We work directly with our cast of singers to appropriately programme pieces that highlight their incredible vocals, ensuring we pair sopranos with tenors and baritones with whom they can perform spectacular duets.

Diversity in pace and mood

While 10 back-to-back love ballads may cut it for a mixed tape passed to a school crush, overdoing it on overtures may overwhelm an audience. Variety is the paprika of concert programming, and ensuring comedic duets, perky polkas, charming waltzes, romantic arias, and energetic marches are peppered throughout the performance helps keep things lively both on and off stage.

Musicians, not machines

Our musicians did not make it to the grand stage by phoning in their performances. Three spectacular woodwind-heavy pieces in a row may get an audience on their feet but leave a bassoonist on the floor. Being aware of which musicians need a (sometimes literal) breather helps us stagger selections strategically.

Timing is everything

For an art form, music certainly involves a lot of math! We want our audiences to experience a rich selection of music without feeling fatigued. The length of a piece can vary based on the arrangement, so we work closely with our music librarians to calculate the concise timing of each piece. We tend to take the Goldilocks approach: the concert cannot run too long or too short, and intermission must be timed juuust right.

A surprise or two

While we have a long personal list of pieces we love to see performed live again and again, we like to keep things fresh for audiences who return year after year. Before creating the current season’s programme, we look back over the past decade of programmes in each city to ensure the Old World charm feels new again with each celebration.

Favour the favourites

Can you imagine a New Year’s concert without the Blue Danube waltz? If we can promise you one thing, it is that the Blue Danube will be performed, complete with dancers, at every Salute to Vienna New Year’s Concert.

More than just Strauss II

Johann Strauss Jr. may be a definitive composer of Vienna’s Golden Age, but he alone does not define the era. In addition to Strauss’s own father and brothers, there are also Hungarian operetta greats such as Franz Lehár and Emmerich Kálmán who were wildly popular in Vienna’s dance music heyday. While we could easily fill a whole programme with beloved Strauss II hits, we enjoy balancing the Waltz King’s fine works with those of other music royalty of the era.

All good things must end with more good things

The best way to start the year on a high note is to end our New Year’s concert with a bang! We love saving the best for last, so we keep the most coveted crowd pleasers until the end of the show, capping off the concert with a curtain-call chorus of Auld Lang Syne.

We hope this season’s Salute to Vienna New Year's Concert programme includes your very favourite pieces, and perhaps even gives you a new favourite to add to your list by the end of the performance. While our programme may vary from city to city, what remains the same on every stage is our commitment to filling your heart with merriment, and starting your year with that special feeling of joy and hope only the music of Vienna can bring!