Vienna hosts the annual Vienna New Year’s Concert, broadcast worldwide on January 1.
The concert is performed by the Vienna Philharmonic and is traditionally held in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein. Its program focuses heavily on music by the Strauss family, especially Johann Strauss II, whose waltzes and polkas have become strongly associated with the event.
The concert’s origins date to 1939, when the Vienna Philharmonic performed a New Year’s Eve concert during the period of Nazi rule. The regular New Year’s Day tradition developed after the Second World War, and the event gradually became an international television and radio fixture.
The program usually ends with three familiar encores: the “Blue Danube” waltz, the “Radetzky March,” and a performance of the Austrian national anthem. Audience clapping during the “Radetzky March” is a famous part of the broadcast, although the conductor controls the precise presentation.