ABOUT THE CONCERT

Performance Dates: December 19 & 20

Christmas in Vienna looks for perfection at the highest level, looks for the best classical voices and finds the stars of this world. Classical music conquers the hearts of fans... The concert takes its audience into a world of its own for a few moments, gets in the mood for Christmas and awakens a feeling of peace in people - from humanism or religious conviction. Plácido Domingo invited the superstars to Vienna every year. The list of names line up like pearls on a necklace: Diana Ross, who started the dance with José Carreras, Dionne Warwick, Michael Bolton, Sarah Brightman, Patricia Kaas, but also legends like Charles Aznavour and Tony Bennett. A special highlight in 1999 was the concert with the three tenors. The attacks in 2001 and their consequences created a turning point for Christmas in Vienna and the crisis in the record industry involved almost dealt the world-famous Vienna gala concert a death blow.

However, fame and brand survived and in 2003 a new and independent Christmas in Vienna was created. The message of peace remained and Karl Scheibmaier, as artistic director, carefully led the gala concert into a new format in which classical literature dominated the program from then on. The risk was worth it, because the superstars of classical music were soon singing again in the Vienna Konzerthaus: artists such as Thomas Hampson, Grace Bumbry, Juan Diego Flórez and Elīna Garanča brought the Christmas gala concert to new levels of popularity, which the Great Hall still enjoys bursting at the seams. Thousands of spectators enjoy the festive event live in the Vienna Konzerthaus, hundreds of thousands follow it on their screens, and millions listen to the songs from Christmas in Vienna at home on CD or You Tube.

The meaning of Christmas in Vienna for singers and audiences is well reflected by José Cura's words: “Once in your life you have to sing Christmas in Vienna.”