On January 1, 2026, theVienna Philharmonic Orchestra gave its 86th New Year's Concert at the Musikverein, conducted for the first time by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Broadcast live on television, radio and the Internet, this event blended the Viennese DNA of waltzes and polkas with a more open selection, marked by several works never before performed in this tradition.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin for an edition that blends classicism and elegance
According to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Canadian conductor had been announced as early as January 1, 2025, to lead the 2026 edition. In keeping with the spirit of a concert that remains without a permanent conductor and whose leadership is chosen by the musicians, Yannick Nézet-Séguin led a program in which the Strauss family retains its central place, with Johann Strauss Jr., but also Johann Strauss Sr., Josef and Eduard Strauss.
The program unfolded as expected: after a program alternating overtures, galops, and polkas, the concert closed with the obligatory encore, including The Blue Danube. Johann Strauss Jr. then the Radetzky March by Johann Strauss Sr., a ritual which marks the conclusion of the Viennese New Year every year.
Six new works, two female composers, and an international opening
According to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the program published on October 29, 2025, announced six pieces new to the history of the New Year's Concert, including two composed by women. The evening thus featured The Song of the Sirens by Josefine Weinlich and Rainbow Waltz by Florence Price, two works presented in arrangements by Wolfgang Dörner, a rarity in a repertoire that has long remained very masculine.
The selection also broadened the usual Viennese framework with a nod to the Danish composer Hans Christian Lumbye, whose Copenhagen Railway Galop brought a different color amidst the Austrian waltzes. On the "firsts" side, the evening also included, among others, Legends of the Danube by Carl Michael Ziehrer, Malapou Galop by Joseph Lanner, Brausteufelchen by Eduard Strauss, and, among the encores, Cirkus by Philipp Fahrbach Jr., confirming the desire to alternate great classics and discoveries without breaking with the spirit of New Year's Day in Vienna.
