Just as there's a traditional New Year's Day concert by the
Vienna Philharmonic, German television channel ZDF has a tradition of broadcasting a New Year's Eve concert. That concert originated in Berlin, but with the announcement of the appointment of
Christian Thielemann as conductor of the
Dresden Staatskapelle (beginning in 2012) the opportunity was seized to try something different.
Thielemann was asked to step in ahead of his official appointment to lead the orchestra for ZDF's 2010 New Year's Eve. Instead of instrumental masterpieces,
Thielemann and the orchestra chose to do highlights from
Léhar's beloved operetta Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow), with
Renée Fleming as the widow and
Christopher Maltman as Danilo, and joined by members of the Saxon State Opera. The result is as festive as any New Year's concert and nearly as entertaining as a fully staged operetta. Both
Fleming and
Maltman are in fine voice and play their roles just as if they were performing the entire operetta.
Thielemann and the orchestra choose to bring out the humor and dancing lightness of
Léhar's music and don't allow the famous "Vilja's Lied" to sink into sentimentality. All the favorite Merry Widow melodies are here, with
Léhar's Gold und Silber waltz thrown in as well. The performances in the three encore selections are on a par with the rest of the program, although a more rousing selection might have been a better choice for the final encore.
Thielemann and the other artists lay a firm foundation for a new tradition.