The Brno Philharmonic's New Year's concert on 1 January at the Janáček Theatre is already a well-established tradition. This year was no exception, and the orchestra, led by conductor Michel Tabachnik, gave a performance consisting mainly of works by Johann Strauss the Younger. This was the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra's show opening the 'Strauss Year'. After all, 2025 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of the composer, dubbed the king of waltzes. Strauss's compositions were accompanied by works by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Richard Strauss and Dimitri Shostakovich.
Before the concert, director of the Brno Philharmonic Marie Kučerová recalled some of the most interesting concerts of the past year, as well as several trips abroad that the orchestra had taken last year. She then mentioned the upcoming year's concerts, as well as the places the Philharmonic will travel to.
The New Year's concert opened with an overture from the operetta Die Fledermaus followed by the March of the Brno National Guard by Johann Strauss the Younger (1825-1899). The tone of the concert as a whole was clear from the very first notes. Conductor Michel Tabachnik really took care with the phrasing and the musicians, under his baton, did a great job with the abrupt tempo jumps as well as with the slower, more expressive accelerandos and ritardandos within the phrases. The excellent mastery of the individual musical lines was accompanied by careful work with dynamics, adding a touch of flair to both compositions. The programme then moved away from Strauss, but only partially, as the orchestra performed Tales of Strauss by Brno-born Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957). Originally a piano composition, arranged for orchestra by Franz Kopriva, this is a skilfully arranged mixture of waltzes. As in the previous works, the phrasing was excellent, also complemented by the perfect tuning of the expressive brass instruments. The programme then turned to Johann's namesake Richard Strauss (1864-1949), with the Philharmonic performing the Waltz from Der Rosenkavalier. The expressive energy that the musicians put into their playing was enhanced by excellent interplay and precise intonation, while the phrasing remained just as good. At the end of the first half, the concert returned to Johann Strauss II. and the orchestra played a series of three small pieces, Student Polka, the waltz On the Elbe and the Indigo march.
The second half of the concert opened with the Emperor Waltz and the Excursion Train, again by Johann Strauss the Younger. Under Tabachnik's direction, the orchestra managed to perfectly capture the light mood of both works and played beautifully, showing its mastery of tempo and overall phrasing. Before the second composition, the conductor wished the audience a happy New Year in English. The programme then moved away from Strauss again, this time to Russian composer Dimitri Shostakovich (1906-1975). The dramaturgical link continued to run through the form of which Johann Strauss II was "crowned" king, and the Brno Philharmonic performed Waltz No. 2 from Shostakovich's Jazz Suite No. 2. Here, too, although it was a completely different waltz, Tabachnik managed to get the necessary energy, excellent phrasing and great harmonisation out of the musicians. The experience of the piece was slightly spoiled by the fact that the conductor started "playing" while the applause was still dying down. This was also true for the following Straussiana by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, another composition with which the Brno-born composer paid tribute to Strauss. The end of the concert was devoted entirely to Johann Strauss and the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra performed the Electromagnetic Polka, probably the most famous waltz of all time, The Blue Danube, and Trish Trash Polka. Especially in the latter piece, Tabachnik showed a truly excellent grasp of tempo. The orchestra started the main theme at a really free pace, so that it could gradually, very smoothly accelerate, which sounded very nice. Overall, the play with tempo was often pushed to the extreme, but it worked really well. After thunderous applause, the orchestra played Trish Trash Polka again, with the conductor pointing to both the orchestra and the audience, who joined the musicians in some parts by clapping along to the rhythm.
The Brno Philharmonic's New Year's concert, conducted by Michel Tabachnik, offered a light and easy listening programme, but one that sounded wonderful. The orchestra was in excellent form, musicians showing a commendable amount of energy and dynamic depth, which was particularly evident in the drawing out of accented notes and the differences between the individual passages. The high point was their work with different tempos, as already mentioned, a way for the conductor and the orchestra to add the necessary flair and to get the most out of the light-hearted compositions. The Brno Philharmonic has started the new year on the right foot and we can only hope that all its other concerts will be held in a similar spirit.
Johann Strauss Jr: Die Fledermaus, overture to the operetta
Johann Strauss Jr: March of the Brno National Guard, Op. 58
Erich Wolfgang Korngold / arr. Franz Kopriva: Tales of Strauss, Op. 21
Richard Strauss: Waltz from the opera Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 58
Johann Strauss Jr: Student Polka, Op. 263
Johann Strauss Jr: On the Elbe, waltz, Op. 477
Johann Strauss Jr: Indigo, march, Op. 349
Johann Strauss Jr: Imperial Waltz, Op. 437
Johann Strauss Jr: Excursion Train, polka, Op. 437
Dimitri Shostakovich: Waltz No. 2 from Jazz Suite No. 2
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Straussiana
Johann Strauss Jr: Electromagnetic Polka, Op. 110
Johann Strauss Jr: The Blue Danube, waltz, Op 468
Johann Strauss Jr: Trish Trash Polka, Op. 414
Brno Philharmonic
conductor - Michel Tabachnik
Wednesday, 1 January at 7:00 p.m., Janáček Theatre
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