On demand: Concert Club: A New Year's Concert Club

The Bachtrack Concert Club is a series of videos personally curated by our editors, who hand-picked pieces from the fantastic performances in our on-demand archive.

Our German editor Elisabeth Schwarz chose two pieces to welcome the New Year. Scroll down to watch, read the programme and see related articles.

While New Year in the UK is often associated with concerts of Viennese waltzes, on the 1st of January, in Austria, Germany and Switzerland it is the New Year’s Eve concert (Silvesterkonzert) which marks the turning of the year… and they usually focus on one famous work: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. With its fourth movement choral setting of Schiller’s Ode to Joy proclaiming universal brotherhood, it is a fine way to enter the New Year with hopes raised.

Enjoy a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth from the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, after which you can enjoy a few Viennese dances for good measure!

- Elisabeth Schwarz