Norman Lebrecht

The Nazi origins of the Vienna Phil’s New Year’s Day concert

It’s a ritual that passes for culture and tradition but is neither, says Norman Lebrecht

issue 13 December 2014

It may be the last water-cooler moment in world television. On the first morning of the year, at 11.15 Central European Time, in a place that considers itself the epicentre of Europe, a group of men in formal dress mount the Musikvereinssaal stage in Vienna to perform a ritual that passes for culture and tradition.

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