Vienna, New Year’s Concert 2025: Riccardo Muti conducted the famous Wiener Philarmoniker and proposed, an absolute novelty in the very “Straussian” repertoire of this event, the Ferdinandus Waltz by the musician Constance Geiger, who had composed it at just 13 years old (her works were performed on various occasions by the Strauss themselves).
The Maestro’s attention towards an author who had fallen into oblivion (rediscovered by the violinist Raimund Lissy), the first woman to appear in the orchestra’s programme, is a breath of fresh air that invites us to dive into the Viennese world of the second half of the 19th century and to discover the dynasty that had made the waltz a family business.
Vienna celebrates Johann Strauss II
This year they are also recurring 200 years since the birth of Johann Strauss jr (1825-1899), the King of the Waltz, son of Johann Strauss (1804-1849) who is instead considered his father and reformer, together with his friend and later rival Joseph Lanner.
The famous three-beat dance actually descends from folk dances pre-existing and was already being danced at the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815). Obsessed by the possibility of finding antagonists at home ready to undermine his triumphs, Strauss senior had tried in every way to prevent his children’s musical education. However, he had not taken into account the determined character and business acumen of his wife Anna Streim, who was also animated by a fierce resentment for his betrayals: Johann junior, Josef, Ferdinand and Eduard therefore had a refined preparation in the matterwhich successfully projected them into the whirlwind world of music.
The sisters Anna and Therese instead, they remain dull figures in the background, despite the example of their mother, the great architect of family activities. Nothing is known about them, nor have they ever gotten married.
Vienna dances to the tune of Johann Strauss II
Other female figures stand out in the family history, in particular the wives of Johann junior, definitely attracted to the fairer sex and married three times. Widower of the beloved soprano Annette Treffsz, known as Jetty, an excellent organizer and impresario, then unhappily and briefly married to the actress Lili Dittrich and finally spouse of Adele Deutsch, an important female figure and capable administrator of her husband’s commercial interests even after his death.
Take over his father’s orchestras after his death, the prolific King of the Waltz (550 compositions and 115 operettas), with his equally talented brothers, conquers, with the ability to team up, the monopoly of the entire Viennese area, which now echoes with the music of the second generation and no longer just the father’s compositions, and it is also author of the famous Radeztky March.
The statue of Johann Strauss II in Vienna’s Stadtpark during winter. (Getty Images)
Another of the well-known pieces by Johann Strauss junior, the waltz On the beautiful Blue Danube, composed between 1866 and 1867, has become a symbol of Austrian identityso much so that it was played on board the national airline Austrian Airlines. And then polkas, mazurkas, operettas.
The entertainment music was now signed by Strauss and all of Vienna danced to the rhythm of the dance that enraptured the dancing couples in an enthralling embrace, first considered indecent and then accepted and transversal to all social classes. The joyful notes will accompany Viennese life until the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Against the backdrop of this sunset, which changes the fate of Europe, ladies and knights dance in aristocratic palaces, while common people let loose in ballrooms and cafés. The ephemeral flashes of the end of the empire reverberate in Radetzky’s March and in The Capuchin Crypt by the writer Joseph Roth (where the protagonist, about to leave for World War I, asks to be assigned to the infantry regiment of a cousin and a Jewish friend and says “I wanted to die with them, and not with dancers waltz”).
Vienna today, between waltzes and dance schools
View of the city of Vienna at dusk from St. Stephen’s Cathedral. (Getty Images)
And today? The waltz in the elegant Austrian capital is not a nostalgic revival, but a reality that renews its splendor every year from November 11th, at 11 minutes past 11when the carnival officially begins (it is the Germanic tradition of Karneval) which lasts until February. The opening ceremony takes place at the Graben, in the center, with a public waltz. There is no professional association that does not organize its own ball (pastry chefs, weight lifters, jurists, lawyers, doctors and so on). There are around 450 of them.
Some are particularly famous, like the Chimney Sweeps Ballwhich opens the season every year, and the Opera Ball. The traditional dances at Palazzo Imperiale are highly anticipated, which follow a precise protocol, interspersed with numbers by professional dancers.
The Alles Walzer announcement kicks things off for everyonei: long dress obligatory for ladies, tuxedo or tailcoat for knights. The famous Bat Quadrille, by Johann Strauss junior, is one of the most anticipated moments.
The real protagonists are in fact the Strauss pieces, as are the crowded dance schools. The most famous in Vienna is the Tanzschule Elmayer, directed by Thomas Schäfer-Elmayer, great-grandson of Willy Elmayer von Vestenbrugg, former cavalry officer of the Imperial Royal Army, who founded it in 1919. His portrait stands out on one wall. Lessons are held from 8 in the morning to 10 at night, with an alternation of teachers and former students, dedicated in life to the most varied professions, always ready to lend a hand. Anyone can book lessons (in advance), even for just a few days. It can happen, like myself, to dance with a young lawyer, who leads with amiable savoir fair. The school, in addition to steps and posture, teaches etiquette and dress codes. The waltz is a respected tradition, as well as being fun.
In Vienna in 2025 on the trail of Strauss
A visit Vienna promises concerts and shows in the coming monthsin addition to everything else that the Austrian capital can offer. A journey in the footsteps of the Strauss however, it is incomplete if you do not visit the places of their epic. Starting from the apartment where Strauss the son lived with his first wife Jetty until 1870, with original furniture and instruments.
Unmissable then, the House of Strauss (that’s right, in English) in Casino Zögernitzreopened last year, where the Strauss already performed in the magnificent concert hall and where today a rich program of concerts is offered. The family history is retraced through photos, paintings and documents.
Genius loci Eduard Strauss, great-grandson of Eduard, brother of Johann junior. In addition to being the custodian of the family heritage, the same entrepreneurial ability of his ancestors flows through his veins, in version 2.0., but above all he is a precious source of anecdotes. As a corollary, the boutique stocked with souvenirs, accessories and books and the Casino Kulinarium restaurant, with modern Viennese cuisine, designed by architect Denis Košutić.
Nello Johann Strauss Museum, instead, the new permanent multimedia exhibition is set up which, in an immersive journey, explores his eventful life, work and creativity.
Finally, the Theater an der Wienrecently restored, where the operettas of the King of the Waltz were staged. All that remains is to launch into a polka o let yourself be carried away by the rhythm of On the beautiful Blue Danubeaware, however, that the river has never been blue and that Strauss had thus defined it ironically and critically with respect to the historical events of the time. Later the notes overwhelmed the text of the original choral version and the political references. As Franco Cardini points out in Vienna. A light step into history (il Mulino 2024), the Strauss, in their time, in Austria, were even better known than their contemporaries Schubert and Beethoven. And maybe they are even now.
For information: www.vienna.info
iO Donna © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED