New Year's Concert 2005

Johann II [Junior] Strauss (Composer), Josef Strauss (Composer), Franz von Suppe (Composer), Spoken Word (Composer), Joseph [2] Hellmesberger (Composer), Johann II and Josef Strauss (Composer), Eduard Strauss (Composer), Lorin Maazel (Conductor), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Lorin Maazel
• Composer: Johann II [Junior] Strauss, Josef Strauss, Franz von Suppe, Spoken Word, Joseph [2] Hellmesberger, et al.
• Audio CD (January 25, 2005)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B0006L7M7C
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80,839 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yet Another Excellent New Year's Day VPO Concert, April 27, 2005

By 

John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: New Year's Concert 2005 (Audio CD)

This year's concert was devoted almost exclusively to music by Johann Strauss II. Without question, it is among the Vienna Philharmonic's best New Year's Concerts, led by a long-time collaborator at the podium, American conductor Lorin Maazel, who has conducted the orchestra since the early 1960s. The orchestra responded enthusiastically to him, following his tempi even when he wasn't conducting (In two works he plays violin solos, most notably the "Tales from the Vienna Woods" waltz.). On a somber note, the traditional final piece of the concert, Johann Strauss' Radetzky March was not played, a silent tribute offered to the victims of the December 26th earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean (However, the other traditional encore, the "Blue Danube" waltz was played.). Fans of both the Vienna Philharmonic and Lorin Maazel will be interested in acquiring this CD.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful ensemble, perfect style, but a bit lacking in joy, January 1, 2008

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: New Year's Concert 2005 (Audio CD)

Lorin Maazel has turned into a favorite conductor with the Vienna Phil., if not of mine (being self-governed, the orchestra members vote on who they want to conduct them). Whateer he may lack in charm, Maazel is a superb technician and a musician's musician. He gets the best ensemble that I've heard on New Year's since Carlos Kleiber, and he is more attuned to Viennese style than Seigji Ozawa, who preceded him, or Mariss Jansons, who succeeded him in 2006. Another plus is that we get to hear many rarities on the pgrogram.

Everything would seem to add up to five stars, but Strauss must be played with infectious buoyancy and joy. As with Harnoncourt, I don't detect high spirits here, and so the abudance of other musical values doesn't quite add up to something truly exceptional.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Beautiful Concert, February 23, 2005

By 

James E. Kimmel (Ohio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: New Year's Concert 2005 (Audio CD)

Tremendous in the Dobly 5.1 surround sound. Great ballet to the Blue Danube waltz. Maazel does some violin solos on the Tales from the Vienna Woods