Not only are Maazel and the orchestra on peak form, relaxed and glowing throughout, but the program includes an exceptionally strong crop of novelties, never heard at these concerts before, and the recorded sound caught by the RCA engineers is among the finest captured at the Musikvereinsaal.

With the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year concert appearing for the first time on the RCA label, it is good to welcome one of the most enjoyable in the annual series. Not only are Maazel and the orchestra on peak form, relaxed and glowing throughout, but the programme includes an exceptionally strong crop of novelties, never heard at these concerts before, and the recorded sound caught by the RCA engineers is among the finest I have heard from the Musikvereinsaal, giving cleaner focus than usual and a firmer sense of presence. When in this country far fewer people than usual heard the New Year's Day concert this year, limited as it was to BBC Radio 3 with no television relay, the disc is even more welcome.

As the years go by, so this event seems to exact a profound change on Maazel's character. Who would have expected 20 years ago that he would become not only the most regular conductor of the event, but would completely shed his old image of a very sober, often scowling maestro. This time he is pictured on the cover, violin in hand, grinning with delight, and the performances consistently reflect that ease, his deep affection and understanding for the idiom. Where last year his big violin solo came in a favourite number, Tales from the Vienna Woods, this time it is in a rarity, the overture Die Göttin der Vernunft ("The Goddess of Reason"), Johann Strauss Il's last operetta, characteristically with waltz and polka themes alternating. Among the other half-dozen or so works never heard before at a New Year concert I particularly enjoyed the waltz, Phönix-Schwingen ("Wings of the Phoenix"), exhilaratingly done, with one idea like "Chopsticks" in waltz-time. There are many other items to cherish, new and old, such as the jaunty Blumenfest polka and the aptly named Furioso-Polka. The whole concert is so long that the encores have spilt over on to a second, much briefer CD, included free in the same jewel-case. A happy issue to set the seal on Maazel's new association with RCA.

-- Edward Greenfield, Gramophone [5/1996]