Josephine Weinlich and Florence Price are in the repertoire of the Vienna Philharmonic’s renowned New Year’s Concert for the first time, with unpublished pieces conducted by the Canadian Yannick Nézet-Séguin. According to information published by RTVE and other international media, this January 1st edition, broadcast in more than 150 countries, will represent a milestone both for the selection of its director and for the inclusion of works never before performed at this historic event.
As RTVE detailed, the Vienna Philharmonic for the first time commissioned Nézet-Séguin to open this event, which has been held every year since 1941 on January 1st in the Great Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein, a space traditionally decorated with flowers from the city’s gardens. The orchestra’s president, Daniel Froschauer, explained that this choice reflects the desire to promote collaboration with new generations of conductors. “As musical director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York and chief conductor of international ensembles such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Nézet-Séguin represents the genres that together make up the musical language of the Vienna Philharmonic,” Froschauer said, according to RTVE.
The professional relationship between Nézet-Séguin and the Philharmonic began at the “Mozart Week Salzburg” in 2010 and subsequently extended to other venues in Vienna, Salzburg and on international tours. This ongoing collaboration enabled him to direct a concert that has established itself as one of the classical music events with the greatest global appeal, reaching an estimated television audience of more than 50 million people through broadcast by the Austrian ORF and co-production by the European Radio-Television Union.
The program planned by the Vienna Philharmonic for the concert on January 1, 2026 includes five premieres, as RTVE reports. These works include the polka “Siren Songs” by Josephine Weinlich and the waltz “Rainbow” by Florence Price. Weinlich, known for having founded Europe’s first women’s orchestra in Vienna, and Price, a major figure in American music, mark the debut of works by women in the gala’s traditional repertoire.
In the first part of the show, the overture from the operetta “Indigo and the Forty Thieves” will be heard, followed by the waltz “Danube Stories” by Carl Michael Ziehrer, the polka “Brausteufelchen” by Eduard Strauss and the “Malapou-Galoppe” by Joseph Lanner, all of which, according to RTVE, have never been included in this concert.
The second part of the program will highlight the contributions of women, a first for this long-running event. Price’s waltz and Weinlich’s polka will add unprecedented nuance to the repertoire, in keeping with the Philharmonic’s recent efforts to diversify and renew the concert’s content. After the main pieces, the orchestra plays its characteristic encores: the waltz “The Blue Danube” by Johann Strauss Jr., after the musicians have pronounced the traditional New Year’s greeting “Happy New Year,” and the “Radetzky March” by Johann Strauss Jr.
According to RTVE, the official broadcast of the concert has been a production of the Austrian television ORF since 1959, supported by Eurovision and watched by millions of viewers and listeners worldwide. In Spain, Radio Televisión Española (RTVE) will broadcast the event on La 1 HD, RTVE Play, TVE Internacional Europa, RNE and Radio Clásica, with commentary by Martín Llade, who will explain the background and peculiarities of the compositions presented.
According to RTVE, in recent years the responsibility for running the event has fallen on personalities such as Georges Prêtre, Franz Welser-Möst, Zubin Mehta, Mariss Jansons, Gustavo Dudamel, Christian Thielemann, Andris Nelsons, Riccardo Muti and Daniel Barenboim. According to Spanish media, Nézet-Séguin’s presence underlines the Philharmonic’s interest in renewing this leadership and expanding musical approaches.
The celebration of the 86th edition preserves the essence of an event that, throughout its history, has tried to combine respect for Viennese tradition with openness to new creators and musical perspectives, RTVE reported. The global access and massive broadcast consolidate the event as one of the main musical references at the beginning of the year for international audiences.
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