RSS Feed
|
|||||
|
Cronkite Marks 20th Year For PBS New Year Gala
Maestro Riccardo Muti leads the Vienna Philharmonic in a bubbling program of Strauss waltzes, polkas and galops as Walter Cronkite (above) returns to the Austrian capital to celebrate his 20th season hosting the orchestra’s popular New Year’s Day concert. Airing live via satellite New Year’s day at 2:30 and 8 p.m. (ET) on Thirteen/WNET New York on PBS (check local listings), From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2004 takes an estimated audience of 750 million viewers to the city’s Musikverein concert hall. With his reporter’s eye, Cronkite, the former network anchorman, notes that during the 20 years he has hosted the concert much has changed in Europe. "The Europe of the 1980s, divided and embattled, gave way to the rapprochement of the 1990s," he said. "Now, with the historic introduction of the Euro, the nations of Europe enter a new century under a unified economy and a shared purpose. The waltz of history plays on. And this glorious annual tradition has been constant witness to the dance." On assignment at the Musikverein, Cronkite has worked alongside the most famous conductors of our time: Lorin Maazel, music director of the New York Philharmonic, who led the first concert in Vienna that Cronkite hosted (1985), Herbert von Karajan - his unforgettable concert of 1987 is still talked about - Claudio Abbado, Carlos Kleiber, Zubin Mehta, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Seiji Ozawa, and Riccardo Muti. "A pretty distinguished group of gentlemen," Cronkite says. "One never tires of hearing The Blue Danube Waltz under their batons or joining members of the Philharmonic in the traditional toast, ‘Prosit Neujahr!’" Among the highlights of the 2004 telecast are two Strauss operetta bon-bons, The Queen’s Handkerchief Overture and Die Fledermaus Csardas. Other favorites include Acceleration Waltz and Champagne Polka, featuring dancers The dancers of the Vienna Opera Ballet are led by brilliant American Ballet Theatre star Jose Manuel Carreño, with choreography by famed Russian choreographer Boris Eifman. Also featured are a visit to Vienna’s recently reopened Albertina Museum and its amazing collection of drawings, paintings and watercolors by 16th-century German artist Albrecht Durer, as well as a colorful look back at the past 19 years of Walter Cronkite’s tenure as telecast host. From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2004 marks the fourth trip to the Philharmonic’s New Year’s Day podium for maestro Muti. Music director of La Scala Milan since 1986, he is revered for both concert and operatic repertoire. He was principal conductor and music director of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino from 1968 to 1980 and music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1980 to 1992. He has long enjoyed a special relationship with the Vienna Philharmonic, which has honored him with the Golden Ring, reserved for the greatest orchestra conductors in the world.
|
for larger version       |
||||
)
