Vienna hosts the annual Wiener Philharmoniker New Year’s Concert.
The concert is performed by the Vienna Philharmonic and is held in the Musikverein’s Golden Hall. Its program is strongly associated with the music of the Strauss family, especially waltzes and polkas by Johann Strauss II, although works by other composers also appear.
The event began in 1939, when Clemens Krauss conducted the first concert. Since then, it has become one of the world’s most widely broadcast classical-music events, reaching television and radio audiences in many countries on or around January 1.
The concert traditionally concludes with Johann Strauss II’s “The Blue Danube” and the “Radetzky March,” though the order and performance details can vary. The audience’s clapping during the march is a familiar feature. The event is sometimes called the Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s Concert in English, while Wiener Neujahrskonzert is the German name.