Summer night concert

A gift to Vienna and the whole world!

Andris Nelsons conducts the Philharmonic Orchestra in front of Schönbrunn Palace, Norwegian Lise Davidsen sings

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Krone KREATIV, ORF/Roman Zach-Kiesling, Starpix, James Hole 2019)

Andris Nelsons conducts the 20th Summer Night Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra on Friday evening in Schönbrunn Palace Park - 100,000 music lovers are expected, ORF will broadcast live!

"We are hoping for a warm spring evening and a new record number of visitors", beam Daniel Froschauer and Michael Bladerer, Chairman and Managing Director of the Vienna Philharmonic: "Every year, tens of thousands flock to our long-established Summer Night Concert in Schönbrunn Palace Park to experience music in this wonderful baroque park. The weather experts are also promising us a wonderful evening today." So everyone is hoping that this anniversary concert - the 20th Summer Night Concert! - "around 100,000 visitors".

Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons will be conducting the "Wiener" for the second time at the Summer Night Concert, and Lise Davidsen, the Norwegian soprano with the giant voice, who is celebrated at all the major opera houses, will be singing here for the first time: she will present opera hits such as Richard Wagner's "Dich, teure Halle, grüß ich wieder" from "Tannhäuser" and "Pace, pace, mio Dio" from Verdi's "Power of Destiny".

The program

Richard Wagner

• Ride of the Valkyries from the opera "Die Walküre" (concert version)
• "Dich, teure Halle, grüß ich wieder", Elisabeth's aria from the opera "Tannhäuser" - Act 2, Scene 1

Bedřich Smetana

• "Vltava" ("Moldau"), from "Má vlast" ("My Homeland") Polka from the opera "Dve Vdovy" ("The Two Widows") - Act 2, Finale
• Dance of the Comedians from the opera "Prodaná nevěsta" ("The Bartered Bride")

Giuseppe Verdi

• Overture to the opera "La forza del destino"
• "Pace, pace mio Dio", Leonora's aria from the opera "La forza del destino" - Act 4

Augusta Holmès

• La nuit et l'amour. Interlude from "Ludus pro patria"

Aram Ilyich Khachaturian

• Sabre dance from the ballet "Gajaneh"

Dmitri Shostakovich

• Waltz No. 2 from the Suite for Variety Orchestra

The "Viennese" are particularly proud of this summer night concert: "After the New Year's Concert, it is the most televised open-air classical music concert in the world. A gift to the Viennese, to Austria and to the world. Accordingly, it is also programmed as an exciting mix of popular pieces," says Bladerer. An arc from Richard Wagner, Giuseppe Verdi, Friedrich Smetana - for his 200th birthday - to the French composer Augusta Holmès, Aram Khachaturian with his fast-paced "Sabre Dance" and Dmitri Shostakovich. "From the Ride of the Valkyries to Shostakovich's Variété Waltzes and Strauss' 'Wiener Blut'!"

The 20th Summer Night Concert, produced with 17 cameras, will be broadcast live on ORF 2 from 9.20 pm on Friday, June 7 and can be seen in more than 80 countries. On Saturday (8.15 pm) it will be broadcast again on 3 SAT