Day 87/365 - At the DC Neujahrskonzert

The Neujahrskonzert, or New Year's Concert, is a traditional Viennese performance of the music of the Strauss family and other Austrian composers held annually on January first. DC's version of this tradition is part of a series of coordinated concerts across North America called Salute to Vienna and it's held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts a few days after New Year's. This year it was held tonight and I went.

I'd never been to this before, but I'd been wanting to for a while. It's not just a classical music concert, it's a sort of performing arts sampler platter. In addition to the philharmonic part (btw, if your last name is Harmonic then I think you should be required to name your child either Phillip or Phyllis), there are arias from Austrian operettas and excerpts from ballets. The Kennedy Center used to stage a similar 'survey class' each year as part of the Kirov Festival, but they haven't done that the last few years. Bummer.

Tonight's performance was held in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall and featured the Strauss Symphony of America, ebullient guest conductor Sascha Gotzel, the Budapest Ballet, and a pair of ballroom dancers. As you can see from the photo, my seat was in one of the stage boxes. I'd never sat up here before but it's very cool and I'm definitely going to keep this in mind the next time I attend something at the Concert Hall. It's kind of like a home plate seat at a baseball game, minus the annoying netting. You're right on top of the orchestra and you can't see much of the rest of the crowd, so it's like they're performing just for you. Plus from that vantage point you can really see musicians' technique and the conductor's facial expressions (*cough* not to mention having a great view of the soprano's cleavage and the dancers' legs *cough*).

I really enjoyed this concert. It was light and joyous and lively and it had a great mix of performance pieces. The part where the conductor conducts the audience's applause during the 'Blue Danube' encore might seem a bit cheesy or contrived, but it's actually quite fun. The New Year's Concert/Salute to Vienna is certainly worth keeping in mind when next January rolls around, especially if you can luck into getting a seat in Box 60 like I did. Then it's just pure awesomeness.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)