The first Vienna New Year’s Concert took place in 1939.
The performance was held in Vienna’s Musikverein and conducted by Clemens Krauss. It was presented during the period of Nazi rule in Austria and was originally associated with the orchestra’s Strauss-focused concert tradition rather than with the polished global television event known today.
The concert’s history is therefore more complicated than its festive modern image suggests. A second concert followed in 1941, and the regular New Year’s Day tradition developed after the Second World War. The Vienna Philharmonic later made the event a major international broadcast, with conductors changing from year to year.
The program commonly features waltzes, polkas, and marches by the Strauss family and related composers. The venue, repertoire, and audience participation are stable features, but the exact program and conductor are not fixed. The annual broadcast should also be distinguished from other New Year concerts held elsewhere in Vienna.