Various: New Yr Conc 2007 (Arthaus DVD)

Since 2004 Venice‘s rebuilt Teatro La Fenice has welcomed each New Year with a celebration of opera and symphonic music. Since that date, the Venetian concert has become a regular and increasingly popular fixture with television audiences, taking over the lead from the Viennese New Year’s Concert with its all-waltzes programme. Venice instead of Vienna that means opera instead of waltzes – a variety of highlights from Rossini, Verdi, Bellini, Paganini and Mascagni too.

The choice of performers is made each year from the ranks of great conductors and acclaimed soloists, people who can rouse an audience and touch its emotions in the space of a few moments. As for the repertoire, the pieces chosen – arias, choruses and opera overtures – are almost always short, familiar and well-loved, all of them among the most-requested operatic gems, presented with the intention of keeping the memory of musical theatre, its stories and characters, alive.