Viennese Christmas Spectacular

A concert of Viennese waltzes, overtures and operetta excerpts, presented by Candlelight Concerts at Birmingham Cathedral during the Christmas season.

The programme is built around Johann Strauss II, the composer called the "Waltz King". It opens with the overture to Die Fledermaus and the Tritsch-Tratsch Polka, and ends with The Blue Danube, a waltz that also features in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Between these pieces, the selection widens the waltz tradition with Shostakovich's Waltz No. 2, Sibelius's Valse triste and Tchaikovsky's Waltz from The Sleeping Beauty, together with a Serenade from Korngold's The Snowman.

Vocal items sit alongside the orchestral works. Lehár's Vilja-Lied from The Merry Widow and Suppé's Hab'ich nur deine Liebe from Boccaccio are among them, as are Strauss's Laughing Song and Csárdás from Die Fledermaus. Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker selections, including the Pas de deux, carry the seasonal theme of the evening.

Birmingham Cathedral is a religious building in the city. The evening suits listeners who enjoy the waltz, operetta and orchestral repertoire of nineteenth-century Vienna, presented here in a Christmas setting.