Great Performances – From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2020 | Press Release | Pressroom

Great Performances – From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2020

Ring in the New Year with Hugh Bonneville as he hosts the annual PBS broadcast from the Musikverein in Austria

Premieres Wednesday, January 1, 2020 at 2:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). The broadcast will be available to stream the following day on pbs.org/gperf and the PBS Video app.

Synopsis

As the world welcomes a new decade, Great Performances continues the tradition of ringing in the New Year with the Vienna Philharmonic at Vienna’s famous Musikverein. Under the baton of three-time GRAMMY Award-winning guest conductor and Boston Symphony Orchestra Music Director Andris Nelsons, the concert spotlights the talent of the Vienna State Ballet and the Vienna Philharmonic with beloved waltzes by Strauss and more. PBS favorite Hugh Bonneville (Masterpiece: Downton Abbey) returns as host for a third year, touring Musikverein’s archives, which hold the largest collection of Beethoven manuscripts in the world, the Beethoven museum and other locations associated with the legendary composer in honor of his 250^th birthday (December 17, 2020).

The Vienna Philharmonic performs approximately 40 concerts in Vienna annually, among them the New Year’s concert and the Summer Night concert Schönbrunn, which are broadcast in numerous countries around the world.

Broadcast & Streaming Availability

Great Performances – From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2020 premieres Wednesday, January 1, 2020 at 2:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). The broadcast will be available to stream the following day on pbs.org/gperf and the PBS Video app.

Music Selections

Franz von Suppé – Light Cavalry Overture

Josef Strauss – Cupid Polka

Johann Strauss (Jr.) – Be Embraced, You Millions!, Waltz

Edward Strauss – Frost Flower, Polka

Josef Hellmesberger (Jr.) – Gavotte

Hans Christian Lumbye – Postman Gallop

Ludwig van Beethoven – Selections of Contredanses

Johann Strauss (Jr.) – Enjoy Life, Waltz

Johann Strauss (Jr.) – Chit-chat, Polka

Josef Strauss – Dynamiden, Waltz

Encores

Johann Strauss (Jr.) –The Beautiful Blue Danube, Waltz

Johann Strauss (Sr.) – Radetzky March

Short TV Listing

Celebrate 2020 with the Vienna Philharmonic and host Hugh Bonneville at the Musikverein.

Long TV Listing

Celebrate 2020 with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Musikverein. Under the baton of guest conductor Andris Nelsons and featuring the Vienna State Ballet, the orchestra will play the waltzes of Strauss. PBS favorite Hugh Bonneville returns as host.

Notable Talent

Hugh Bonneville, host, best known as Robert, Earl of Grantham, in Masterpiece: Downton Abbey
Andris Nelsons, conductor, three-time GRAMMY Award-winning music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and music director of Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra)

Noteworthy Facts

This is the first time Andris Nelsons has conducted this annual concert event.
Since beginning as music director of Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in February 2018, Andris Nelsons and the orchestra has completed a number of tours, including their first tour of Asia in May-June 2019, performing in Japan and China.
Andris Nelsons began as a trumpeter in the Latvian National Opera Orchestra before studying conducting. He went on to become music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 2008-2015, principal conductor of Northwest German Philharmonic Orchestra from 2006-2009 and music director of Latvian National Opera 2003-2007.

Locations visited by Hugh Bonneville

Musikverein, including their archives holding the largest collection of Beethoven manuscripts in the world
Beethoven Museum
Theater an der Wein
Austrian Theatre Museum at The Lobkowitz Palace
Austria National Library

Production Credits

From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2020 is a production of Wiener Philharmoniker and ORF in association with THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET. For Great Performances, John Walker and Richard R. Schilling are producers; Bill O’Donnell is series producer; David Horn is executive producer.

Underwriters

Major funding for Great Performances is provided by The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, Rosalind P. Walter, the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, Seton J. Melvin, the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, The Starr Foundation, The Phillip and Janice Levin Foundation, the Thea Petschek Iervolino Foundation, Ellen and James S. Marcus, and PBS. Exclusive corporate support for the concert is provided by Rolex.

Series Overview:

Throughout its more than 40-year history on PBS, Great Performances has provided viewers across the country with an unparalleled showcase of the best in all genres of the performing arts, serving as America’s most prestigious and enduring broadcaster of cultural programming. The series is available for streaming simultaneously on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS Video app, which is available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Chromecast. PBS station members can view episodes via Passport (contact your local PBS station for details). Great Performances is produced by THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET, one of America’s most prolific and respected public media providers.

Websites:

http://www.pbs.org/gperf, http://www.facebook.com/GreatPerformances, @GPerfPBS #GreatPerformancesPBS

About WNET

WNET is America’s flagship PBS station: parent company of New York’s THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, the statewide public media network in New Jersey. Through its new ALL ARTS multi-platform initiative, its broadcast channels, three cable services (THIRTEEN PBSKids, Create and World) and online streaming sites, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to more than five million viewers each month. WNET produces and presents a wide range of acclaimed PBS series, including Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NewsHour Weekend, and the nightly interview program Amanpour and Company. In addition, WNET produces numerous documentaries, children’s programs, and local news and cultural offerings, as well as multi-platform initiatives addressing poverty and climate. Through THIRTEEN Passport and WLIW Passport, station members can stream new and archival THIRTEEN, WLIW and PBS programming anytime, anywhere.

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Photos For editorial use in North America only in conjunction with the direct publicity or promotion of GREAT PERFORMANCES, no other rights are granted. All rights reserved. Downloading this image constitutes agreement to these terms.
	Hugh Bonneville. Credit: Thomas Jantzen.
	Hugh Bonneville in Grafenegg. Credit: Thomas Jantzen.
	The Vienna Philharmonic. Photo by Benedikt Dinkhauser.
	The Vienna Philharmonic. Photo by Benedikt Dinkhauser.
	The Vienna Philharmonic. Photo by Terry Linke.
	The Vienna Philharmonic. Photo by Filip Waldmann.
	Andris Nelsons. Photo by Harald Hoffmann
	Andris Nelsons. Photo by Harald Hoffmann
	Hugh Bonneville. Credit: Thomas Jantzen.
	The Vienna Philharmonic. Photo by Lois Lammerhuber.
	The Vienna Philharmonic in Salzburg. Photo by Anne Zeuner.