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Latvian-born conductor Mariss Jansons will lead the 2006 New Year's Day concert from Vienna's elegant and historic Musikverein in a Johann Strauss-filled program that will be viewed by music fans around the globe. Jansons, who studied piano, violin, and conducting at the Leningrad Conservatory, is currently chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. Previous posts include music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony and chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic. He has been a frequent guest on the podiums of the Berlin and Vienna philharmonics. This will be his first appearance as conductor of the popular New Year's Day concert, which has been presented on GREAT PERFORMANCES for the past 22 years.
GREAT PERFORMANCES: Traditionally, the New Year's concert is devoted mostly to Johann Strauss, Jr., with some works by his brothers, Eduard and Josef, and their father, Johann, Sr. How have you gone about choosing the repertoire for the program, and how much of the decision is yours?
Mariss Jansons: I looked at approximately 800 pieces by the father and son. Then I chose the program, together with the Vienna Philharmonic, of course. But I had the last word. I know that the public is expecting to listen to some of the most popular pieces at these concerts. But at the same time, I think it is good to choose some pieces that are not so well known. Some people might say that if these pieces are not played often, they must not be so good, but I don't believe that.
GP: Can you give me some examples of the lesser-known pieces you have chosen?
MJ: "The Diplomat's Polka" [Johann, Jr.], "On the Telephone Polka" [Eduard Strauss], and "Die Mozartisten" [Joseph Lanner].
GP: The first announcement of your New Year's program included quite a novelty, the original choral version of the "Blue Danube Waltz." The story goes that this version was an enormous flop at its first performance.
MJ: I wanted to prove that it is not a failure. It really is not so bad. Unfortunately, it is not going to work for this concert. We had some problems about where to place the choir. The hall is completely sold out, including the space where the singers would be placed, so we couldn't do it. But I found many other good pieces that are seldom played or not at all. I'm very satisfied with the balance that we'll have in this New Year's program.
GP: Your early musical life was centered in St. Petersburg (then Leningrad), where your distinguished father, Arvid Yansons, conducted and taught. Did you hear and/or conduct a lot of Johann Strauss there?
MJ: I heard this composer a lot when I was young. Everybody in St. Petersburg liked it. There is a very strong Johann Strauss tradition in that city. He was a regular visitor to St. Petersburg, and he is a very beloved and popular composer in our country. Every year there is a New Year's concert in St. Petersburg, not the same as in Vienna, but usually there is music by Strauss on the program. My father conducted this concert a lot, and I conducted it several times, too.
GP: Have you conducted much Johann Strauss with the Vienna Philharmonic?
MJ: Only during encores, when I go on tour with the Vienna Philharmonic. Their second encore is always by Johann Strauss.
GP: No one, it seems, can play music by the Strauss family the way Viennese musicians do. One thing that makes it so special is the way they handle the waltz rhythm. The true Viennese waltz never just goes oom-pah-pah.
MJ: It involves playing the second beat immediately after the first, and then the third beat a little later. This is something that is not easy for one person to play, or even two persons. But in a [non-Viennese] orchestra, to get everyone to play it this way, and on time, is very difficult; you need a while to adjust to this. But somehow the Vienna Philharmonic just does it naturally. It is something we all try to copy. I have done it a little bit in Mahler's "Fifth Symphony," in one place where it has much the mood of Johann Strauss. But this way of playing the waltz rhythm is only one of [the] many important, different things needed to play Johann Strauss. Perhaps the most significant element is style. First, you must have the right tempo, which, of course, is very important for all pieces by all composers. But here it is especially crucial. If you are a little bit off, if it's not quite right, it can destroy the whole polka or the whole waltz. And expression is very important. You must play with a charm and a lightness, with a nice kind of rubato, but not an exaggerated rubato. Even dynamics should come naturally. It is not easy, especially in the waltzes, to get the right feeling of ritenuto [a sudden holding back of the tempo] and accelerando. And this sort of thing happens so much in these pieces. You have to get it so right, with everything in place, if you want to do it well. It is necessary to have good taste. Sometimes [orchestras] play this music nicely, but it is just not a top performance. If you want to speak about a top performance of Strauss, it demands a lot.
GP: Given that the Vienna Philharmonic has such a long and specific tradition of playing Strauss, or music by other great Austrian and German composers, for that matter, what is it like for a conductor who may want to approach a piece of music differently from that tradition?
MJ: The musicians are very open to looking for new things, interesting things in all music. They hate routine. They are always waiting for new ideas. They appreciate fantasy and imagination from a conductor. They are not satisfied if you only concentrate on technical things.
GP: Why do you think the New Year's Day concert from Vienna, with all of the Strauss works, has generated such enormous popularity worldwide over the years?
MJ: It is very special music. You can't compare it with anything else. It is very charming and it generates a wonderful mood. This music has such a deep connection to New Year's. Generally, the 31st of December and 1st of January are something very special for everybody in the world, a time to think of good things to come. It's a time that brings a good mood and energy to people everywhere. And this music is so good for that situation. It is very satisfying music. When you hear Johann Strauss, when you play Johann Strauss, father and son, it makes you feel very positive. And you can hear, especially in [Johann, Jr.'s] waltzes, something like a mirror, reflecting his life situations and mood. There is a biographical journey, his life and marriages, in those waltzes.
GP: Do you feel extra pressure knowing that the concert will be seen by millions around the world?
MJ: You are always nervous a little bit before a concert, but not after the music starts.
Interview by Tim Smith for GREAT PERFORMANCES Online conducted in November 2005. (Photo of Mariss Jansons [top] courtesy ICM Artists.)
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