Salute to Vienna – a happy tradition on New Year’s Day Peter Kerr December 23, 2016 3293 Salute to Vienna – 2017 One of my favourite traditions for New Year’s Day is the annual Salute to Vienna concert at Place des Arts. It’s at the very civilized time of 2:30pm, and the concert in is an occasion for elegance, with the wonderfully graceful music of Strauss as the focal point of the afternoon’s program. Adapted from the traditional New Year’s Day concert in Vienna, there are now twenty-four concerts all over North America taking place between December 29 & January 3. Trained in Vienna, Nir Kabaretti will conduct the Montreal Salute To Vienna Orchestra on New Year’s Day A new program featuring Strauss waltzes and sweeping melodies from Die Fledermaus and Merry Widow will be performed by the Strauss Symphony of Montreal. The program includes signature classics like the Blue Danube Waltz and the Radetzky March; where the audience stands and claps along with the orchestra. The cast includes acclaimed European singers, ballet dancers and beautifully costumed ballroom dancers under the direction of Italian-Israeli conductor Nir Kabaretti. A graduate of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, he is the Music Director of the Santa Barbara Symphony and the Southwest Florida Symphony. Kabaretti has also worked as a coach and chorus master at the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival. Soprano Micaela Oeste will be joined by tenors Antoine Belanger from Quebec and Reinhard Alessandri from Vienna. The concert is light-hearted way to bring in the New Year. You don’t have to be a classical music aficionado to enjoy the music and spectacle of this annual performance. Tickets start at $53.75 and are available online at www.placedesarts.com, or by calling 1-866-842-2112. For more information about Salute To Vienna, please visit www.salutetovienna.com Enjoy!
