Alles Walzer

Johann Strauss II
Vienna Blood / Waltz
op. 354 (1873)

In the spring of 1873 Vienna was getting ready for the imminent opening of the World Exhibition. The festive mood was increased still more when Archduchess Gisela married Prince Leopold of Bavaria on 20 April.

The Imperial-Royal Court Opera also took advantage of the favourable moment to hold a ball in the Musikverein concert hall in order to boost their pension fund. In an interval in the dancing Otto Desoff conducted a programme of classical music, and then Johann Strauss II presented the waltz Vienna Blood, op. 354, which he had composed specially for the ball, with the Court Opera’s orchestra of eighty musicians. The title was taken from a collection of ‘small cultural sketches of the life of the people in the old imperial city on the Danube’ written by Friedrich Schlögl — a book that had become a bestseller.

In their reports, one journal, the Blätter für Musik, Theater und Kunst, wrote that the new waltz had the ‘freshness of original melody and the genuine spirit of the dance’, while one daily, the Wiener Tagblatt, summed it up as follows, ‘In this now cheeky, now sentimental music in three-four time there flows the lifeblood of Vienna — fresh, free, authentic, and red.’

The first editions for piano solo and duet, violin and piano, zither, as well as the orchestral parts, were published on 10 June 1873. This was the first of Strauss’s compositions to appear after the publishing house of C.A.Spina had been taken over by its new owner, Friedrich Schreiber. The relatively short time taken to produce these editions can be explained by the publisher wanting to make use of the increased market for sales resulting from the World Exhibition, a circumstance which also promised scope for international contacts. Some years later an edition appeared with the title page giving King Christian IX of Denmark as the dedicatee. In the operetta named after the waltz which Adolf Müller junior put together from melodies by Johann Strauss II its first theme is used for the final chorus; this begins with the title, which has since become a phrase everyone knows, ‘Vienna blood, a sap like no other, full of power, full of fire’.

Synopsis: Dr. Thomas Aigner

Translation: Dr. Leigh H. Bailey

Johann Strauss II. : Vienna Life (alt.: Vienna Blood or Vienna Spirit) op. 354
© by WJSO-Archive

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Friday, 03. July 201520.00 o' clock
Potsdam ⁄ Neuer Lustgarten

Alles Walzer
A Viennese waltz night in Potsdam Lustgarten

Johannes Wildner conductor
Anita Goetz soprano
Holger Wemhoff moderator
vienna waltz project ballet company

Program
Johann Strauss II : Ouverture to «Die Fledermaus»
Johann Strauss II : Bandits Galop / Polka schnell op. 378
Johann Strauss II : «Mein Herr Marquis», Lachcouplet der Adele aus der Operette "Die Fledermaus"
Josef Strauss : Delirien / Waltz op. 212
Johann Strauss II : Cuckoo Polka / Polka française op. 336
Johann Strauss II : Tick Tock / Quick polka op. 365
Johann Strauss II : Spiel´ ich die Unschuld vom Lande, Couplet der Adele aus der Operette «Die Fledermaus»
Johann Strauss II : Emperor Waltz op. 437
Break Johann Strauss II : Overture to the operetta "The Gypsy Baron"
Johann Strauss II : Arie der Annina «Was mir der Zufall gab» aus der Operette «Eine Nacht in Venedig»
Johann Strauss II : Vienna Blood / Waltz op. 354
Josef Strauss : Fire-Proof! / Polka française op. 269
Franz Lehár : «Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß», Song from Operetta «Giuditta»
Johann Strauss II : We’re Not That Worried / Quick polka (Galop) op. 413
Johann Strauss II : The Blue Danube / Waltz op. 314
Encore Franz Lehár : Vilja-song from the operetta "The Merry Widow"
Josef Strauss : Without a Care! / Quick polka op. 271
Johann Strauss I : Radetzky March op. 228

Hinweis:
Bitte beachten Sie, dass es sich bei diesem Konzert um eine geschlossene Veranstaltung der Stadtwerke Potsdam GmbH handelt und daher keine regulären Eintrittskarten erworben werden können.

Johannes Wildner
© by Lukas Beck

Johannes Wildner
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Anita Goetz
© by Anita Götz

Anita Goetz
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Holger Wemhoff
© by holgerwemhoff.de

Holger Wemhoff
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vienna waltz project
© by vienna waltz project

vienna waltz project
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