Waltzing in the New Year,
Viennese Style

By Ruth Rovner
For the Times

Every year on Jan. 1, music lovers in Vienna ring in the new year with a concert by the renowned Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Held in Vienna’s elegant concert hall, this festive concert tradition, which began 60 years ago, features the waltzes and operettas of Johann Strauss Jr. and his contemporaries.
The event is so popular that concertgoers purchase tickets a year in advance. And beyond Vienna, it’s televised for a worldwide audience.
Music lovers in Philadelphia can enjoy this tradition, too — but without going to Vienna or hearing a televised version. Instead, this Sunday afternoon, Dec. 30, they can celebrate the new year in advance at a gala concert at the Kimmel Center that brings the Viennese tradition straight to Philadelphia.
Called Salute to Vienna, it’s a multi-city event which this year takes place in 25 cities in North America, from Miami to Vancouver. In Philadelphia, Salute to Vienna has become a local tradition now in its 13th year.
Performing in Verizon Hall are local musicians who come together as the Strauss Symphony just for this event. They are joined by a guest conductor and guest artists from Europe.
This year, maestro Andras Deak from Budapest will conduct the 70-piece orchestra. And members of the Vienna City Ballet will glide across the stage as they perform sparkling Strauss waltzes, and, to a much faster tempo, they’ll whirl across the stage for spirited polkas.
True to the Viennese tradition of a concert blending music, dance, and song, the program will also feature two European singers: Czech soprano Luisa Albrechtova and Viennese tenor Zrinko Soco. They’ll perform a selection of arias and duets from some of the best-loved operettas such as Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss Jr. and The Land of Smiles by Franz Lehar.
Philadelphia area musicians welcome this once-a-year chance to perform a concert entirely of Viennese-style music.
"The great fun of playing this music is that it’s sunny, extroverted and quite different from traditional classical music," says Robert Hall of Torresdale, a trombonist who will be playing in his second Salute to Vienna concert. "It’s intended for entertainment and dancing, but it’s of a very high order. The Viennese waltz is a highly developed art form. So it’s a unique opportunity to play the greatest waltzes by the greatest composer of the genre."
Moreover, it takes a special expertise to play Viennese waltzes in the correct style.
"It’s a stylized version of the waltz that’s peculiar to Viennese music," says Hall. "And for a trombone player, one beat comes sooner than expected and one beat is later. So there’s a learning curve until we get familiar with it."
Although the concert will highlight the music of Johann Strauss Jr., known as "The Waltz King," it will also feature lively Viennese polkas and marches.
"They go by at such lightning speed that you have to keep your wits about you," says Hall.
One of the marches is always on the program. The spirited Radetsky March each year concludes the concert. Invariably, the audience breaks into rhythmic clapping.
"It’s a very high spirited, happy piece of music," says Hall. "And it’s also a cultural treasure. To the Viennese, it’s like what the Stars and Stripes means to us. Their hearts are stirred by it. So as musicians, we want to play it as authentically as we can."
Hall’s musical experience is varied. The Logan native graduated from Temple University with a degree in music performance and then led a busy life as a professional musician. He was principal trombonist for the Philly Pops for 18 years and also played with the orchestra of the Opera Company of Philadelphia. He also directed the Rittenhouse Brass Quartet and served as music director for the Garden State Philharmonic.
Then came a major career change: Fifteen years after graduation from Temple, he decided to enter medical school. For a time, he still kept some musical affiliations. But soon, the demands of medical training, with its long hours, made that impossible.
After graduating from Hahnemann, he went on to do a residency in psychiatry at Jefferson. Since then, Dr. Robert Hall has been a full time practicing psychiatrist.
But he has not left music behind.
"It’s still an important part of my life- absolutely!" says Hall, who serves as music director at St. Katherine of Siena in Torresdale.
But the chance to play in concerts is rare, since this usually requires membership in a musical organization. That’s why the Salute to Vienna concert is an unusual opportunity: its musicians play only once a year. Last year, when Hall got a phone call from a musical colleague inviting him to participate, he eagerly accepted.
And he’s delighted to participate again this year, even though it will mean a hectic New Year’s weekend. The musicians will give a total of four consecutive Salute to Vienna concerts. The first is at the Kennedy Center in Washington this Saturday evening.
"It’s my first time playing on the Kennedy Center stage, so it’s an exciting opportunity for me," says Hall.
Then comes Sunday’s concert in Verizon Hall. Then, on New Year’s Eve Monday night, they’ll be at the State Theater in New Brunswick, N.J. And on New Year’s Day, they’ll give the final concert in the Avery Fisher Hall at the Lincoln Center in New York.
Hall looks forward to all four concerts.
"It’s an opportunity to take this outstanding music to four major venues," he says.
Not only is the music special, but the audience responds with great enthusiasm.
"That makes all the difference in the world to us," he says. "To come away feeling that we were part of an event that the audience really enjoyed makes it even more rewarding." ••
The Salute to Vienna concert takes place this Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in Verizon Hall of the Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce streets. To purchase tickets (which start at $29), visit www.ticketphiladelphia.org or www.kimmelcenter.org or call 215-893-1999. For more information, visit www.salutetovienna.com