New Year's Concert 2016 / Neujahrskonzert 2016

Yes I love it but I don't lave what Sony does with the disc. You cannot navigate again once you have started. The sound is worse than dead unless you use the sound quota on the disc. Sony represents a lot of money for the Musikverien and you can some of this in the seats of the New Years day production. It is not filmed by Sony, it is filmed by Austrian Television which has done the programs for year. Austrian films are one of the best photographers in the world. But Sony wants to win all and loose all. Sony's blue ray players have a crytipic bug in them that sorts what you can play. It is quite like the KGB or KBS in that censures what dvd discs it will accept. This is a severe problem when you make you own discs on blue ray and try to play them on DUMB DON Sony Blue players. Of course nothing in lost in Sony, but many things in the past have gone in the trash. Their wonder cameras have been a disaster. From the A700 to the 900 we as professional photographers have used them but Sony no cares about whom who buys their products. It seems if you have a blind eye and deaf ear you can like Sony Products. But is that is your situation, then whyeven buy it.. This New Years Concert will probably Marras Janssons last concert for years in Vienna. It is a shame that Sony is the DVD maker that puts out such a bad DVD. Sony's eclipse technology will certainly put them first in outer space. That's where they belong!

Every time Mariss Jansons conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the New Year's Concert, the first thing I do is watch and listen through You Tube. Just curious to know if it will be as fun and professional as it was on 01/01/2012.This time I saw something else:1) Accuracy at the entrances of the strings, precision in the woods and a great attitude in the bronzes and percussion.2) The performer harp, sweeter than usual.3) Irradiating sympathy of Mariss Jansons, his musicians closed all the end of each track with wonderful accuracy of his baton.4) The presentation of the Vienna Boys' Choir, outstanding. They sang an octave higher than the melody played by the orchestra. Amazing!.In short, another exceptional concert for all who could not be there. It was as if we had been present there enjoying this magnificent spectacle.Moreover, the bonus track of this Blu-ray is a very imaginative creation. The view of the promenade of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for old Vienna, contrasting with the New Vienna is exciting and is filmed with an impressive definition.I recommend to all of you, music lovers Strauss and other great composers who do not let time pass without buying this recording. You will thank me.* * * * *

The Orchestra is pretty much the same each year, the production values and formats change some from year to year, but the conductor makes it happen. Mariss Jansons has a beautifully unique style which envelopes prcision/exactness with great emotional expression of the scores using everything from sweeping upwellings from deeply understated phrases and my personal favorite, the microsecond silent interruption/hesitation in the flow of the score at just the right moment to regain attention during a repetitive or "too" familiar section. I am Latvian, thus prejudiced, but I have followed Mr Jansons career from Pittsburgh through the Royal Concertgebeow and his current residence, the Bavarian Radio Symphony. He is a master of the art and I am so excited he has mentored Andris Nelsons now at the Boston Symphony. As one career winds down, another picks up the flow, makes it his own, and I hope will thrill the world.

The Sony Blu ray lacks the commentary present on the United States PBS feed which is a shame since I think the commentary with supplementary video materials adds a lot to my enjoyment of the concert. However, it was a great concert. The blu ray images are pristine with great clarity and color. The sound (I listened using the DTS 5.0 HD master audio) was clear with a great soundstage. As bonus material there were two ballet sequences and a short piece on Salzburg. The Salzburg piece was nicely shot and reminded me of my too short visit to that lovely city.

Great concert broadcast on live TV in Germany and Austria on New Years Day 2016 . The DVD was a great chance to view the concert again. Nice to have it at home to view and to use as background music. Liked it so well I purchased another copy as a gift. It was also a hit.I do not have BLU Ray so I can not say how the non BLU Ray compares .Bottom line is that it was a great purchase at a good price point. Free shipping on both purchases with Prime was a bonus.

These concerts are always incredible events. Jansons of late has included the Venna Boys Choir, which is a special delight. I was amazed this year at the number of Asian boys in the choir, which only served to reenforce my belief that western classical music is now being preserved by dedicated and talented Asian musicians. Western young people seem to be losing the discipline necessary to deal with it.

This is one of the better of these. Jansons is having too much fun. Some very nice seldom heard pieces are worth it. Stolz's march is wasted on the UN but a real Viennese flavour to it. THE Wiener Philharmoniker is the best there is at this and the videos are so will done. Pop a Champagne cork and enjoy

I absolutely love these yearly concerts and then I was blessed in 2015 to take a trip to Austria. I have been in the Musikverein so this is super special to me. We also visited the Spanish Riding School. In the past 2 concerts, visits to the Riding School were made--making these DVDs very important for me to own. Also, Julie Andrews, of course, narrated the concert on PBS. Julie Andrews and anything taking place outside of the concert hall are not on the DVD. Huge, huge disappointment. I would have given less stars had the musical part not been as great as it is because the actual presentation that I watched on TV and thought I was getting on this DVD, is not here.