Johann Strauss Jr: Tales from the Vienna Woods

Around 1860, at the age of thirty-five, Johann Strauss Jr. envisioned that the Viennese waltz – the famous dance that was captivating the Viennese during those years – could achieve acceptance and recognition before an international audience. If in addition, he managed to transfer to that new audience part of the spirit and charm of the land where he came from, so much the better. With this in mind, he began to work on the composition of music that would reflect the magic and enchantment of the woods that surrounded the imperial Vienna of the 19th century.

Johann Strauss Jr (1825 - 1899)

Tales from the Vienna Woods
And he was right. Aside from the unsurpassable Blue Danube, the waltz Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald is, indisputably, one of Johann Strauss Jr.'s most renowned waltzes in the world.
Certainly, it is a concert piece. Its full version lasts about fifteen minutes although we usually listen to shorter versions, with disparate results, when the director avoids the repetitions or even one or two full sections. The Brazilian director and composer Fabio Costa is an exception. In many senses. For instance, he usually addresses a few words to the audience before each performance.

Violins in the absence of a zither
The work, composed in 1868 (one year after the Blue Danube), originally considered a virtuous part of zither. As today, at least in the Western world, there are no "zitarists" or zither performers around the corner, it is customary to replace it with a quartet of violins, or a couple of them if the orchestra is not too large. It is precisely the case of the performance presented here. The sections originally commissioned to the zither correspond to the minutes 2:12 to 2:39, and 14:08 to 14:43. The waltz itself begins at minute 3:01.

Fabio Costa conducts the Philharmonic Orchestra of Minas Gerais.

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