Even 200 years after the birth of Austria’s world-famous “waltz king” Johann Strauss II – widely revered like a modern-day pop star during his lifetime – his music has lost none of its magic.
Best known for his rousing waltz “The Blue Danube”, which became Austria’s unofficial national anthem, many of his 500 dance pieces live on in Vienna’s roaring ball season.
Strauss’s persistent popularity lies in the catchy tunes he composed to cheer up people, his great-grand-nephew Eduard Strauss told AFP.
Birthday celebrations
(The plaque at the location where Strauss was born in 1825)
Few composers are so intimately associated with one city as Johann Strauss II, who gave Vienna its unofficial anthem and whose music features in evening concerts throughout the city.
In the interests of accuracy, I feel obliged to point out that the river’s not always blue.
Anyway, Vienna pays tribute to its musical son in 2025 with a festival year of activities in celebration of his 200th birthday.
I’ll use this page to inform you of relevant news and details of significant events.
Plans & highlights
(The official Johann Strauss 2025 programme publication; press photo © Christian Jobst)
The city set up a specialist company (Johann.Strauss-Festjahr2025 GmbH) to organise the festivities, led by two personalities familiar with Vienna’s music scene: Roland Geyer (former director of the Theater an der Wien) and Simon Posch (director of Vienna’s Haus der Musik).
Events and activities take place at around 69 locations throughout the city and stretch across numerous media and genres: music, dance, literature, theatre, exhibitions and installations, digital media, science,…the list goes on. Should be excellent.
Official events broadly fall into three categories:
- PUR: performances of original works or homages to the man
- MIX: fresh and artistic interpretations of Strauss’s work
- OFF: derivations, explorations and the unexpected
Strauss 2025 has an official website with full programme details, and I list some highlights and other related events below as they cross my path…
At the time of writing…
New museum
(The timely arrival of a new exhibition)
A Johann Strauss Museum opened in early November, 2024.
The multimedia, immersive and interactive exhibition inside offers a full tribute to the life, times and music of the maestro. I found it a nice mix of entertainment and information delivered for a modern audience.
Theatermuseum special exhibition
(Palais Lobkowitz houses the Theatermuseum and has its own Beethoven connection: his third symphony premiered there, for example))
The life and works of Strauss form the topics of a special exhibition at the Theatermuseum (December 4th, 2024 to June 23rd, 2025).
I rather enjoyed the exhibition, which has numerous delightful items on show…not least the original score for the famous Die Fledermaus operetta.
Concerts
Expect plenty of these over and above the usual array of Strauss and Mozart-themed evenings in Vienna’s historical venues. For example:
- A memorial concert for Strauss at the Musikverein on January 19th, 2025, for example, featured conductor Oksana Lyniv and the ORF RSO Wien orchestra
- Franz Welser-Möst conducts Christiane Karg, Piotr Beczała, and the Wiener Philharmoniker (also at the Musikverein) on March 29th and 30th, 2025 with a Strauss-related programme of music and song from the operettas
- Strauss Dinner Show featuring an incomparable evening full of breathtaking entertainment and first-class cuisine. The program offers an unforgettable journey through world-famous Johann Strauss hits, from the Danube Waltz and various polkas to the Radetzky March.You can also look forward to impressive show interludes, interactive performances and elegant ballet dances that will make your heart beat faster.Enjoy an exquisite multi-course menu at the Strauss Dinner Show and let yourself be enchanted by an evening full of music, pleasure and entertainment that celebrates the glamour of Viennese culture and the legacy of Johann Strauss.
