Carnegie Hall

The first performance at Carnegie Hall of music by Johann Strauss Jr. (1825–1899) on December 3, 1891, was also probably the most lavish. The New York Times called the concert—which was titled Künstlerfest, or Artists’ Festival—“one of the most brilliant events this city has seen.” The Künstlerfest included an exhibition of 135 paintings in the Chamber Music Hall (today’s Weill Recital Hall); however, the centerpiece was a grand ball held in the main auditorium, for which the Parquet was completely decked over to form a huge dance floor. “It was a veritable indoor Eden,” remarked the Times. “To the height of the first tier of boxes, sweet-scented pines had been banked and filled the air with a most delightful odor.” Tapestries, rugs, and plants decorated every available surface.

For the dancing and listening pleasure of the guests, Frederick Rietzel’s Orchestra played Strauss’s waltzes Künstler-Leben (Artist’s Life) and Wein, Weib und Gesang (Wine, Women and Song), plus selections from his operetta Der Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron), in addition to music by Verdi, Rossini, Liszt, and others. In between musical selections, 11 “tableaux”—basically human dioramas of a sort—were presented on stage, representing everything from a garden party to winter sports to characters from Greek mythology.

Strauss came to America only once, in 1872—almost 20 years before Carnegie Hall was built. In addition to conducting three concerts at New York’s Academy of Music, he led a gargantuan performance of his waltz An der schönen, blauen Donau (On the Beautiful, Blue Danube) at the World Peace Jubilee in Boston, with several thousand musicians, 100 assistant conductors, and an audience that was estimated at 100,000. (The waltz received its Carnegie Hall premiere on December 14, 1902, with Giuseppe Creatore and His Italian Band.) During this tour, as a testament to his celebrity, Strauss was paid a whopping $100,000 for 14 concerts—the equivalent of nearly $1.5 million today.

Although the “Waltz King” (as Strauss, even during his lifetime, was known) never came to Carnegie Hall, two other generations of Strausses did. Johann’s youngest brother, Eduard Strauss (1835–1916), conducted an orchestra of 52 Viennese musicians at Carnegie Hall on November 21, 1900. Eduard’s grandson, also named Eduard (1910–1969), brought his Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra to the Hall on December 11, 1966. The younger Eduard was the great-grandson of the first Johann Strauss (1804–1849), who was Johann Jr. and Eduard’s father, and one of the creators of the Viennese waltz as we know it today.

Some of Johann Strauss Jr.’s other popular waltzes received their Carnegie Hall premieres as follows:

• Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald (Tales from the Vienna Woods) with the New York Symphony Orchestra conducted by Walter Damrosch: February 1, 1892
• Kaiser-Walzer (Emperor Waltz) with an unnamed orchestra conducted by J. M. Lander: June 8, 1892
• Wiener Blut (Vienna Blood) with the Metropolitan Permanent Orchestra conducted by Adolph Neuendorff: March 14, 1897
• Frühlingsstimmen (Voices of Spring) with soprano Marcella Sembrich and an unnamed orchestra conducted by Enrico Bevignani: December 5, 1897
• Rosen aus dem Süden (Roses from the South) with the Paur Symphony Orchestra conducted by Emil Paur: December 4, 1898
• Freuet euch des Lebens (Enjoy Life) with the Kaltenborn Orchestra conducted by Franz Kaltenborn: November 5, 1899
• Overture to Die Fledermaus with the Amicitia Amateur Band conducted by James F. Boyer: May 27, 1906
• Seid umschlungen, Millionen! (Be Embraced, You Millions!) with the New York Symphony Orchestra conducted by Walter Damrosch: January 14, 1911
• Unter Donner und Blitz (Thunder and Lightning) with the New York Symphony Orchestra conducted by Walter Damrosch: March 9, 1918
• Tritsch-Tratsch Polka with the Carnegie Pops conducted by David Broekman: May 7, 1947

Photography: Johann Strauss Jr. and program pages courtesy of the Carnegie Hall Rose Archives.