Vienna's New Year Concert to be screened live

Vienna’s Musikverein is home to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Korea Times file

By Do Je-hae

Each year since 1941, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (VPO) has celebrated the New Year with a concert on the morning of Jan. 1. It is one of the signature events of the VPO.

Local fans will be able to watch the concert live in eight Megabox theaters around the country. Five theaters in Seoul, including the one at COEX, as well as three theaters in Busan, Daegu and Gwangju, will offer the live screening of the VPO’s New Year Concert.

The screening will take place at 7:15 p.m. on Jan. 1, lasting 150 minutes with a 20-minute intermission.

While the concert has been broadcast live on TV and radio in more than 70 countries, it is the first time for a movie theater to screen it live, according to a Megabox press release.

The concert has traditionally been conducted by the most renowned conductors, including the late Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim and Mariss Jansons.

For 2013, Austrian maestro Franz Welser-Most, the music director of the Cleveland Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera, will lead the VPO’s New Year Concert. This is his second time conducting the concert, which will take place at the Musikverein, home of the VPO.

The program always includes pieces from the Strauss family — Johann Strauss I, Johann Strauss II, Josef Strauss and Eduard Strauss — with occasional additional music from other mainly Austrian composers, including Mozart and Haydn.

Tickets for the screening is 30,000 won. For more information, visit www.megabox. co.kr or call 1544-0070.