Countdown for "Christmas in Vienna" is on

Every year again: "Christmas in Vienna", first brought to the world as a musical Christmas message in 1992 by Plácido Domingo, Diana Ross, José Carreras, and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, is a staple in Advent. This year, the concerts will take place on December 19 and 20. In the festively decorated Vienna Konzerthaus, the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra will perform under Heinz Ferlesch. Julie Fuchs, Grammy winner Angel Blue, Ludovic Tézier, and Bekhzod Davronov will sing.

"Christmas in Vienna" Without Intermission

Since 2004, Martin Brandl has been part of the programming team, and for several years now, he has been primarily responsible for the compilation. So it can be safely said: The man has experience. The 25 numbers of this year's evening, which will proceed without intermission and can be seen on ORF 2 on December 23 at 10:35 PM, are divided into several blocks tailored to the stars but also serving traditions: "The Alpine is represented as well as the classical, complemented by a bow to the world," describes Brandl of the offerings.

The French soprano Julie Fuchs and her compatriot, baritone Ludovic Tézier, provide a French block sung in the original language. Afterwards, the American soprano Angel Blue, a regular at the Met and Grammy-awarded with the opera "Fire Shut Up in My Bones" by Terence Blanchard, and the Uzbek tenor Bekhzod Davronov, who debuted at the Vienna State Opera in 2023, take "a short excursion into the Anglo-Saxon and Slavic" with "Carol of the Bells" by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych.

Mavie Hörbiger and Thomas Gantsch

Between the songs, which are chorally accompanied by the Vienna Boys' Choir and the Vienna Singakademie, two more stars are in action: Burgtheater actress Mavie Hörbiger not only provides a mood-setting framework with greetings and farewells but also offers a break for the ears and eyes of the visitors with the reading of a Christmas story in dimmed hall light. Finally, trumpeter Thomas Gantsch performs three times, including an intro to "Silent Night". "You can really place him anywhere, and something great comes out of it," Brandl enthuses.

Finding the right mix of expectation and surprise at "Christmas in Vienna" is always a new challenge, also because the proportion of tourist audiences at the traditional concert organized by the agency Scheibmaier & Schilling is not that high, says the program manager: "The concert is very strongly anchored in Vienna. We have a lot of regular audiences."

Read more about Christmas here.

(APA/Red)

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