New Year‘s Eve Concert 1983

Synopsis

Herbert von Karajan leads the Berliner Philharmoniker in a concert program exploring the idea of homeland. Rossini’s William Tell tells the story of the legendary folk hero whose love for his son led him to confront the menacing Hapsburg invaders. The opera’s overture counts among classical music’s greatest hits. Next Smetana’s unforgettable melodies bring the beautiful Bohemian countryside near the banks of the Moldau river to life in his symphonic cycle “My Homeland” (Má vlast). Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’s Valse triste was originally written as incidental music for his brother-in-law’s play Kuolema (Death). The famed maestro presents an exquisite reading of these works before closing the program with two typically brilliant waltzes by the great Austrian waltz-master Johann Strauss: Delirien and the Overture to Der Zigeunerbaron.

Additional Info

• No: 8583
• Composer: Rossini, Smetana, Sibelius, J. Strauss I, J. Strauss II
• Conductor: Herbert von Karajan
• Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker
• Production year: 1983
• Run time: 00:53:00
• Producers: Telemondial in co-production with ZDF
• Format: HDTV 16:9