Where the bat flutters

Two opera houses perform the most famous of all operettas, Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus, over the New Year period: The Vienna Volksoper (December 31 and January 1) and the Vienna State Opera (December 31, January 1, 3 & 5). Rarely has a work with such immediacy left its mark on Vienna like this one. From the premiere in 1874 onwards, the pieces has been performed incredibly often and almost always over New Year's since 1900. Die Fledermaus takes a light-hearted look at the varieties of erotic and social affectation and gets the bourgeois façades dancing, political and social commentaries included.

Other stage programs at the change of year: At the Kammeroper – performed by Theater an der Wien – opera fans can see out the old year with Vicente Martín y Soler's musical comedy L’arbore di Diana (The Tree of Diana; from 1787). Lorenzo da Ponte contributed the libretto. In the production by Spanish director Rafael R. Villalobos, the opera with its song-like arias and ensembles almost comes across like a High School Musical of Viennese classical music. (December 27, 29, 31)

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New Year's Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic

The most famous concert in the world – the New Year's Concert – is held in the Golden Hall of Vienna's Musikverein each year in the morning of January 1 (preview and New Year's Eve concert with an identical program on December 30 & 31). Franz Welser-Möst takes to the conductor's stand for the start of 2023. In any case, you can be there this year again via TV broadcast in over 90 countries.

Members of the Vienna Philharmonic can also be found among the Vienna Ring Ensemble. In the atmospheric Brahms Hall of the Musikverein, this formation plays another classic New Year's Eve concert in the guise of a chamber orchestra. (December 30 & 31)

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Beethoven and Strauss at the Konzerthaus

A truly packed musical New Year's program makes the Wiener Konzerthaus the place to be:

• The rare species of the art whistlers belongs to Nikolaus Habjan – can be heard with friends and the program "Air" (December 29).
• The Wiener Symphoniker brings the year to a close with Beethoven's 9th Symphony, conducted by Klaus Mäkelä from Finland (December 30 and 31, January 1).
• Vivacious Hungarian melodies are performed by the virtuoso duo Sándor & Ádám Jávorkai: "From Budapest with Love" (December 30).
• The Philharmonix serve up a festive gala at the change of year: For the seven-strong ensemble, the joy of performing crosses genres, from classical to rock, from jazz to klezmer. Including: Chorus Juventus. (December 31)
• In its program "Enjoy life", the Strauss Festival Orchester Wien presents rousing melodies of the Strauss dynasty in Viennese dialect (December 29 and January 1).

Wienerisch and different

Naturally, there are also unusual stage art formats at New Year's: in the crypt of the Peterskirche (Church of St. Peter), the operetta ensemble Oper@Tee thrills in a lively and punchy way with its Fledermaus performance with piano accompaniment (December 29 & 31, January 7). Really close to the very small audience.

For the brave: Humorous, entertaining, and actually downright quirky is the L.E.O – Letztes Erfreuliches Operntheater (Last Enjoyable Opera Theater) at the L.E.O. New Year's Eve Gala: from tango to operetta and grand opera, from Wienerlied to Kurt Weill and the Merry Widow. With two prima donnas, the host, a pianist, and a dancing couple. And culinary treats.

© L.E.O. Theater

Finding your favorite event

And there's even more happening on Vienna's stages around the change of year – from concerts (Karl Ratzer New Year's Eve Special at the jazz club Porgy & Bess, the New Year's Concert of the Tonkünstler Orchestra at the Musikverein on January 5, 7 and 8) to theater (Dostoevsky's Demons at the Burgtheater, Ostrovsky's The Forest at Theater in der Josefstadt) and musicals (The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Rebecca). Here's the program:

Stage events from December 30, 2022 to January 2, 2023