If you are a music lover, the best place to be on New Year's Eve is Vienna attending one of the many concerts featuring the classic Viennese waltzes made famous by Johann Strauss and his family. If you can't afford the airfare to Vienna, the next best place to be is Abravanel Hall to hear the Utah Symphony's version. Last year Marilyn and I took my Mom to the New Year's concert and she loved it so much I decided to get her a ticket for this year's concert which was performed last night. It was as much fun watching my Mom's reaction to each piece as it was listening to the music! The concert began, appropriately, with the Overture to Die Fledermaus (about a ball on New Year's Eve in Vienna) by Johann Strauss, Jr. This piece was very rousing and I especially enjoyed the chiming of midnight (I love the chimes). Next, Utah favorite Celena Shafer sang "Mein Herr Marquis" from Die Fledermaus. Shafer also gave a highly amusing rendition of "Meine Lippen sie kussen so heiss" from Giuditta by Lehar later in the evening. Most of the concert featured incredibly stirring waltzes from Johann Strauss, Jr. and Josef Strauss, including the instantly recognizable On the Beautiful Blue Danube. My favorite piece of the evening was "New Year's Eve Ball" from War and Peace by Sergei Prokofiev. I kept picturing women in ball gowns twirling and twirling in a grand ball room of an opulent palace in St. Petersburg. The concert ended with an encore of the ever popular Radetzky March by Johann Strauss, Sr. complete with enthusiastic clapping from the audience. It was a lovely evening made even more so by the giggling of my Mom after every single number! Happy New Year!
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