Happy New Year!

(Blue Danube, 2008 conducted by Georges Pretre)

Uncork the Strauss in Vienna. It's 2010! And that means I tune in like a crack monkey to the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert knowing fully well that it will be a crashing bore. But I love the music too much not to.

Georges Pretre does the honors again this year after a surprisingly excellent outing two years ago. New Year's will always be Strauss for me, try to tell me this music doesn't put anybody in a good mood. And now that Walter Cronkite's dead maybe the VPO will try to do an interesting broadcast (we miss Walter!!!).


(Radetzky March 2009, conducted by Daniel Barenboim)