This CD is dedicated by the Vienna Philharmonic to the genius of the Waltz King, Johann Strauss II (1825-99), whose music always forms the backbone of their famous New Year concert.
The orchestra now upholds the Strauss tradition, but it was not always so. Surprisingly, many members of the orchestra did not at first share the enthusiasm for Strauss. What became the Vienna Philharmonic was originally a band of musicians assembled in 1842 by Otto Nicolai and known between 1860 and 1908 officially as the "Philharmonic Concert Enterprises". For many years they ignored the existence of this quintessentially Viennese music, even though many players who went on to join the Philharmonic had begun their orchestral careers in the "Strauss Kapelle". Evidently the theory was that any association with light music might be counterproductive in the otherwise upward progression of the players' careers with the Philharmonic. Only later did the orchestra feel able to turn its attention to Johann Strauss II. Then, in repeated encounters, they began to provide convincing proof both of the music`s quality and significance and of the composer's infectious personality, which fascinated the whole of Europe.
For their first venture Strauss had a premiere ready: he composed the waltz "Wiener Blut" in April 1873 for the Opera Ball in the great hall of the Musikverein, and conducted it in suitable style with his violin in his hand. A contemporary account reports: "The court orchestra carried out its task with a seriousness and devotion that played no small part in heightening Strauss's success." The audience insisted on an encore, and the collaboration of the "waltz king"' with the "highbrow" Philharmonic was deemed a sensational success that augured well.
In November of the same year, on the occasion of the Vienna World Exhibition, Strauss again worked with the Philharmonic, this time performing works by his father and Joseph Lanner as well as his own "Blue Danube" waltz. Their next collaboration came in December 1877, when at a soirée at the Court Opera he gave the premiere of his "Reminiscences of Vienna Old and New" (now, alas, lost), using themes from works by himself and his father.
There were no further concerts together for a while, but the relationship remained cordial. Then in October 1894 a grand occasion was held to celebrate Johann Strauss's fifty years as a conductor. The gusto with which the members of the Philharmonic took part silenced those who had criticised their earlier relationship with the Strauss dynasty. A delegation congratulated Strauss on behalf of the whole orchestra, assuring him: "Even though the Philharmonic rarely has the opportunity to take part in performances of your delightful and brilliant works, it is eager to express its sincere admiration. A gala concert was given in the great hall of the Musikverein, an occasion made particularly special by the presence of both Johann Strauss and Johannes Brahms. This was the first time the orchestra had played a whole programme devoted exclusively to the music of the Waltz King. Johann Strauss was delighted both with the orchestra's excellent playing and by this public demonstration of their approval.
The Philharmonic's next encounter with Strauss was, however, to have a tragic outcome. In May 1899, at a performance of Die Fledermaus, the composer conducted the overture himself in the pit of the Court Opera for the first and only time. He caught a cold which developed into pneumonia, and he died on 3 June.
Despite the Vienna Philharmonic's predominantly good relationship with the Strauss dynasty, it was many years before they included the Viennese waltz in their regular repertoire. The breakthrough came with the unveiling of the Strauss monument in June 1921 (Arthur Nikisch, chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic but a former leader of the Vienna Philharmonic, performed the waltzes "An Artist's Life" and "The Blue Danube" with his erstwhile colleagues) and was confirmed in 1925 with the centenary celebrations of the Waltz King's birth. However, the orchestra's lasting Strauss tradition was founded by a conductor who was and remains the music’s chief apologist, Clemens Kraus. Each year from 1929 to 1933 at the Salzburg Festival he conducted a concert devoted to music by the Strauss dynasty. These anticipated the New Year concerts, now famous and beloved all over the world, which began under his baton on 1 January 1941.
Vienna was already assured of its claim to the title of "city of music" thanks to Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Bruckner and Brahms, but the Strauss dynasty gave it a further dimension because their music, especially in its most popular form, the waltz, appealed to every level of society. It conferred an extra cachet on the city and gave its proverbial charm a musical aspect. The two best-known members of this remarkable family were recognised as geniuses from the start. Johann Strauss I, "a musician by the grace of God", as his son put it, was described by Richard Wagner as "the very embodiment of the spirit of Viennese popular music" while Johann Strauss II, who attained an international popularity during his own lifetime which has never been equalled by any composer before or since, achieved art's highest aspiration; he knew how to make people happy. Against the background of the whole spectrum of human ioy and sorrow which found their inimitable, sublimated echo in the music of the waltz king of Vienna, we cannot do better than echo Richard Strauss, who said that amongst all those favoured by the gods, Johann Strauss was the most appealing, and the one who gave him the most sheer pleasure.
"Stars and Strauss" - this CD's title introduces the recording debut with Koch Classics of the world-famous Vienna Philharmonic. And here forthe first time the Austrian conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt performs a Strauss programme with this orchestra. This recording therefore offers perhaps the most "Viennese" interpretation of this repertoire. The other performers are also top-class. Together with Zubin Mehta, currently chief conductor of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, we have the young soprano Andrea Rost and José Carreras, one of the sensational Three Tenors.