Johann Strauss Concerts

The Johann Strauss Concerts in the Lanner Hall of the Kursalon Wien offer music lovers a totally immersive experience of the Viennese Waltz tradition in an authentic historical venue. The musicians of the Salonorchester Alt Wien, under the direction of Professor Udo Zwölfer, have dedicated themselves to the preservation and recreation of the music and atmosphere of the Vienna which Johann Strauss II and his contemporaries knew. This chamber orchestra deploys its instrumental forces in a manner which would be very familiar to the famous waltz composer – even adopting the 'vorgeiger' style of the Strauss family, where the orchestra is directed by the first violinist with violin in hand. And wherever possible, each musical arrangement performed by the Salonorchester has been carefully researched and reconstructed in the light of the composer's original score and historical performance practice.

There could hardly be a more perfect setting for a Strauss waltz: the magnificent Kursalon opened in 1867, during the elegant heyday of the waltz in Vienna, and hosted its first Johann Strauss II concert in October 1868. Modern audiences can revisit the wonders of those famous Promenade Concerts amidst the opulent splendour of the Lanner Hall – itself dedicated to the memory of Joseph Lanner, one of Strauss' musical peers – and enjoy a programme drawn from the repertoire of the celebrated waltz era. For all who love Viennese culture, an evening accompanied by singers and ballet dancers, enchanting waltzes and polkas, and the wonderful music of Strauss, Lanner and Mozart among others, is a rare musical treat not to be missed.

Extract of the programme:

Vienna remains Vienna, march, J. Schrammel
Voices of Spring, waltz, op. 410, J. Strauss
Roses from the South, waltz, op. 388, J. Strauss
Rondo alla turca from the Piano Sonata in A major, K.V. 331, W.A. Mozart
The Sigh Galop, op. 9, J. Strauss (senior)
Carefree, fast polka, op 271. Josef Strauss
Champagne Galop, op. 14, H. C. Lumbye