The 2016 Vienna New Year’s Concert marked Mariss Jansons’ third time leading this annual event. To his credit, the conductor did not repeat any music from his previous 2006 and 2012 stints (save for the traditional Blue Danube and Radetzky-Marsch encores), while offering eight selections new to these concerts, including Robert Stolz’s March of the United Nations, Carl Michael Ziehrer’s Weaner Mad’ln (Viennese Girls), Eduard Strauss’ Out of Bounds, Hellmesberger’s Ball Scene, and Waldteufel’s popular retooling of Chabrier’s España, along with three Strauss Jr. pieces: the Act 3 Enr’acte to Fürstin Ninetta, plus two polkas—Violetta and Sängerslust.
The well-contrasted and smartly paced program consistently testifies to the stylish élan and rarified synergy that Jansons and the Vienna Philharmonic achieve. A few examples should suffice: Rather than trot out Strauss Jr.’s Schatz-Walzer as a medley of Der Zigeunerbaron’s greatest hits, Jansons and his musicians take trouble to give each tune a specific textural and emotional character. The lovely Ziehrer waltz features string portamentos that are silvery and slinky, yet at the same time discreetly shaped. And even when extra musical sound effects are required, such as the heaving sighs in Johann I’s Seufzer-Galopp, they transpire with perfect timing and no more sentiment than necessary.
If Jansons’ mellifluous Emperor Waltz doesn’t quite hone in on details to the degree of Harnoncourt’s 2003 New Year’s reading, the cello solo is more out front and expressive. One might place Sphärenklänge’s relatively soft-grained opening below Carlos Kleiber’s faster treatment, or prefer the extra adrenaline rush that Riccardo Muti brought to Eduard Strauss’ Mit Extrapost (2000) or Johann Jr.’s Im Sturmschritt (2004). But these are tiny quibbles that only surface when a certain compulsive critic arduously compares decades’ worth of New Year’s Concert recordings! In addition to full-bodied sonics, Sony provides program notes that are unusually informative and in-depth. Put on your dancing shoes, break out the champagne, crank up the loudspeakers, and enjoy.
