Neujahrskonzert - New Year's Concert 2015 (2015)

The Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert took place under the baton of Zubin Mehta on January 1, 2015, in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. The Philharmonic's Honorary Conductor Zubin Mehta, with whom the orchestra has enjoyed an artistic partnership for over 50 years, conducted the New Year's Concert for the fifth time.
This year's concert was broadcast in over 90 countries around the world and was seen by 50 million television viewers. The program for the New Year's Concert 2015 featured numerous compositions by Johann Strauss Father and Son, Eduard and Josef Strauss as well as works by Franz von Suppé und Hans Christian Lumbye. Five pieces were performed for the first time as part of the New Year's Concert. The program also commemorated 650 years of the University of Vienna and 200 years of the Technical University of Vienna.

Composer: Franz von Suppé, Johann Strauss Jr., Josef Strauss, Eduard Strauss, …
Conductor: Zubin Mehta
Orchestra/Ensemble: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Reviews: First things first: amazon and some of the reviewers of this disc are wrong, wrong, WRONG when they state that this disc is a Region-B-only disc that will not play in most Blu Ray players. Had anyone at amazon actually examined the product they are selling, they would have seen that the disc is region-free: i.e.: it plays in regions A, B & C. On a personal note, I have tried to advise amazon of their glaring error by providing links to just about every other commercial site out there, all of which show CORRECTLY that the disc is Region-free. But amazon in its great wisdom refuses to change their "Region-B-only" warning because they 1. can't be bothered to traipse down to their own warehouses to physically examine the product (which CLEARLY says on its back that the disc is playable in regions ABC), and 2. choose to believe a bunch of reviewers whose very reviews put the lie to the idea that the BluRay isn't coded to play in Region A.

Now that that's off my chest, the review:

The 2015 edition of the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert saw Zubin Mehta back on the podium after an eight year absence. Mehta has mellowed a bit in that time, and the program seems to reflect that.

The orchestra plays with its usual style and finesse, though the fireworks are kept to a minimum. There's a lot of beautiful legato playing to be had here, which is enjoyable to hear when so many ensembles feel the need to punch and pull at music these days. In a word, "tradition" is on display, and that's a good thing. Bucking tradition, I noticed quite a few women seated at the orchestral desks this year. Brava!

The BluRay sound and picture are top drawer. Thankfully, the concert is included in its musical entirety without the contributions of Julie Andrews who serves as host for the PBS day-of broadcast. It works much better as a concert than as a TV event. The PBS version destroyed the sense of programming that one gets from the full concert version, and it's easier to stay involved without Ms Andrew's verbalizing between each number. Unbelievably, the PBS version stupidly cut Suppe's "Morning, Noon & Night in Vienna" that opened the concert, along with an additional 20 minutes of music. That's all included here.

If this concert has traded in the sense of occasion that was its hallmark for so many decades - morphing into a 21-st century classical music "event" - at least it still feels like an old, trustworthy friend, even if nothing in recent years can compare with the frisson one felt during the appearances of Karajan, Maazel and others. Only George Pretre in his 2008 appearance has come close to matching that special feeling. That said, Mehta is definitely an improvement over the 2014 concert with Barenboim and the 2013 edition with Welser-Möst, though Mehta makes a huge miscalculation in trying to control the audience's clapping in the Radetzsky March - he tries to break the clapping down into small groups of people, and the audience is basically having none of it.

The "Boulevard" bonus feature - which takes the viewer on an extended tour of Vienna's Ringstrasse - is well worth watching, as are the two ballet sequences.

BTW - I had no problem playing this BD in either of my Region A machines. I reiterate: the disc is coded for ALL regions, so ignore all the warnings - including those from amazon - that it's a Region B-only BluRay. It isn't.

Further BTW - I live in the USA and I purchased my disc through amazon.usa, the very site that is incorrectly informing consumers that this BluRay won't play on their Region A machines. And yet as if by magic, the BluRay does play in Region A players.

Four stars.