Credit to Vienna Philharmonic's house label, which recorded the orchestra's annual Sommernachtskonzert (Summer Night Concert) at Schönnbrun Castle on June 18, 2021, mastered it (not incidental in a punishing sound environment), and had it on the market by early August. The Sommernachtskonzert and its New Year's Day cousin are nothing if not traditional, and their conductors tend to make repeat appearances. Once in a while, however, there is the fear that audiences may say, "Been there, done that," and thus an attempt to ...
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Credit to Vienna Philharmonic's house label, which recorded the orchestra's annual Sommernachtskonzert (Summer Night Concert) at Schönnbrun Castle on June 18, 2021, mastered it (not incidental in a punishing sound environment), and had it on the market by early August. The Sommernachtskonzert and its New Year's Day cousin are nothing if not traditional, and their conductors tend to make repeat appearances. Once in a while, however, there is the fear that audiences may say, "Been there, done that," and thus an attempt to shake things up, at least moderately. That's what happened in 2021, with new conductor Daniel Harding, very little Viennese music apart from Beethoven's Für Elise and the standard Wiener Blut finale of Johann Strauss II, a major star appearance from pianist Igor Levit, and a relative novelty in the form of Leonard Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. Even granted that Bernstein is pretty much standard repertory by now, even in Central Europe, listeners may feel that the...
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