Having viewed a couple films about Johann Strauss on TCM, I thought I'd tune in to this annual celebration of the 19th-century composer in his native city of Vienna.
The Musikverein could not have been more sumptuous for a ringing in of 2023, bedecked as it was with flowers, crisply attired members of the famed local symphony, and kids from Vienna's renowned children's choirs, all performing wonderfully under Franz Welser-Most, who even drew the audience in at the end, with rounds of spirited clapping to the beat.
Home viewers like me were not expected to simply sit and absorb the pretty music. Rather, the TV audience was transported to castle-like interiors and bucolic gardens and streams, and amidst it all we watched...ballet.
Yep, while some of Strauss's most famous waltz works got an airing -- i.e., "The Blue Danube" -- not once did we observe actual performance of the master's trademark dance. Rather, artistes in period costume pirouetted and leapt to familiar strains.
I won't argue that the performances weren't good. However, I couldn't help but wonder...why?
The Musikverein could not have been more sumptuous for a ringing in of 2023, bedecked as it was with flowers, crisply attired members of the famed local symphony, and kids from Vienna's renowned children's choirs, all performing wonderfully under Franz Welser-Most, who even drew the audience in at the end, with rounds of spirited clapping to the beat.
Home viewers like me were not expected to simply sit and absorb the pretty music. Rather, the TV audience was transported to castle-like interiors and bucolic gardens and streams, and amidst it all we watched...ballet.
Yep, while some of Strauss's most famous waltz works got an airing -- i.e., "The Blue Danube" -- not once did we observe actual performance of the master's trademark dance. Rather, artistes in period costume pirouetted and leapt to familiar strains.
I won't argue that the performances weren't good. However, I couldn't help but wonder...why?