New Year's Concert 2025

Lots of Strauss and a premiere!

Riccardo Muti, 83, will conduct the Vienna Philharmonic next year - for the seventh time.

(Bild: APA/HANS PUNZ)

The program for the New Year's Concert 2025 Wiener Musikverein can be reduced to two main denominators: Johann Strauss - and Constanze Geiger: for the first time, a female composer will be honored on 1 January!

For the 200th birthday of the Waltz King, a total of eight pieces from the master's pen have been scheduled - not even including the traditional encore of the "Danube Waltz".

Less familiar pieces were programmed for the second part of the concert morning: the "Ferdinandus Waltz". This was written by Strauss' contemporary Constanze Geiger (1835-1890) and is the first work by a woman to be performed as part of the New Year's Concert on January 1st.

The festive Strauss anniversary year and the first delicate step towards programmatic gender parity will be heralded in for the seventh time by maestro Riccardo Muti. The 83-year-old has conducted the Vienna Philharmonic over 500 times to date, including six times on January 1st, and has been an honorary member of the orchestra since 2011.

The program of the New Year's Concert

PIECE NUMBER	COMPOSER	PIECE TITLE
1.	Johann Strauss father	Freedom March, op. 226
2.	Josef Strauss	Village Swallows from Austria, Waltz, op. 164
3.	Johann Strauss	Demolirer-Polka, Polka française, op. 269
4.	Johann Strauss	Lagoon Waltz, op. 411
5.	Eduard Strauss	Airy and fragrant, Polka fast, op. 206
6.	Johann Strauss	Overture to the operetta "The Gypsy Baron"
7.	Johann Strauss	Accelerations, Waltz, op. 234
8.	Joseph Hellmesberger	Fidele Brüder, march from "Das Veilchenmädel" (first performance at a New Year's concert)
9.	Constanze Geiger	Ferdinandus Waltz (arrangement: Wolfgang Dörner/first performance at a New Year's concert)
10.	Johann Strauss	Either - or! Polka fast, op. 403
11.	Josef Strauss	Transactions, Waltz, op. 184
12.	Johann Strauss	Annen-Polka, op. 117
13.	Johann Strauss	Tritsch-Tratsch, Polka fast, op. 214
14.	Johann Strauss	Wine, women and song, Waltz, op. 333

 "Riccardo Muti has played an exceptional role in the history of the Vienna Philharmonic for over 50 years. He has helped shape the repertoire and the specific sound of the orchestra in a unique way," said Daniel Froschauer, Chairman of the Philharmonic, paying tribute to the conductor.