On June 7th at 9:20 p.m. on ORF 2; Dacapo on June 8th at 8:15 p.m. on 3sat
Vienna (OTS) – The most broadcast classical event in the world after the New Year’s Concert is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year: On Friday, June 7, 2024, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s brilliant summer night concert will take place in the baroque park of Schönbrunn Palace – an annual gift from the orchestra to the people of Vienna Viennese and all music fans – across the stage again. This is one of the highlights of the concert year not only for the Philharmonic, but also for the long-time host broadcaster and media partner ORF as well as viewers worldwide. After all, the HD images produced by ORF with 17 cameras, including impressive impressions of the extraordinary scenery from a drone perspective, which can be experienced live on ORF 2 from 9:20 p.m., will be seen in more than 80 countries. For the second time, Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons will be at the podium on the Schönbrunn open-air stage between the festively illuminated castle and the Gloriette. The Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen makes her debut with two arias from Richard Wagner’s “Tannhäuser” and Giuseppe Verdi’s “La forza del destino”. The ORF television broadcast from the early summer castle park is commented on by cultural presenter Teresa Vogl, while Henning Kasten is responsible for the ORF picture direction in the tried and tested manner. 3sat will show the summer night concert the next day, on Saturday, June 8th, at 8:15 p.m. On the streaming platform ORF ON (on.ORF.at), classical music fans can access the TV broadcast throughout Austria as a live stream and after the TV broadcast as video-on-demand for 30 days.
Top-class works by Wagner, Verdi, Smetana, Holmes, Shostakovich and Khachaturian
The focus of the program for this year’s summer night concert is on works from the 19th and 20th centuries – from Ride of the Valkyries to vaudeville. On the occasion of his 200th birthday, one of the musical rulers of the year is honored with three works by Bedřich Smetana, including the piece “The Vltava” from the symphonic cycle Má vlast (“My Homeland”), which is closely linked to his biography and which is reminiscent of his Czech homeland and whose landscape reminds.
Other musical highlights include the “Saber Dance” from the ballet “Gajaneh” by Aram Khachaturian, which premiered in Perm in 1942 and is one of the best-known works by the Armenian-Soviet composer, as well as the second waltz from the Suite for Variety Orchestra by Dmitri Shostakovich . “La Nuit et l’Amour” from the ode symphony for speakers, choir and orchestra “Ludus pro patria”, which premiered in 1888, is also on the program, a piece by the French composer Augusta Holmès. The traditional end of the summer night concert is once again a musical homage to the city of Vienna: the waltz “Wiener Blut” by Johann Strauss (son).