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Vienna, Dec 28 (IANS/EFE) Austrian orchestra conductor Franz Welser-Most, who will lead the Vienna Philharmonic at its New Year's Concert for the second time, said that wielding the baton for this celebrated event gave one "an incredible feeling of happiness". The 52-year-old conductor, however, said the joy of being at the concert did not "have anything to do with the public" around the world that tunes in for the musical event. Welser-Most spoke with EFE shortly before unveiling the program for the famous concert, which will be broadcast to 81 countries Jan 1 from the Great Hall of Vienna's Musikverein. The conductor, who currently serves as music director for the Cleveland Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera, said his intense work schedule rarely allowed him to conduct "a concert like this". "And this music (the waltzes and polkas of the Strauss musical dynasty), which I grew up with, to be able to play it with this orchestra (the Vienna Philharmonic), is simply a feeling of incredible joy," Welser-Most said. The members of the Vienna Philharmonic select the conductor for the New Year's Concert each year, with the first block of the program traditionally having something to do with the conductor, Welser-Most said. The Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert always features pieces by the Strauss family, with the performance ending with the audience clapping to Johann Strauss's "Radetzky March". --IANS/EFE rd
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