The Camerata – Friends of Music Orchestra will bring the scent of Vienna to the Athens Concert Hall on Saturday, January 4, when its New Year’s concert will take place.

Under the direction of internationally acclaimed conductor George Petrou, the orchestra’s virtuoso musicians will present a festive program featuring the dance music of Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss. This will give the Athenian audience the chance to welcome the new year with notes of joy and optimism while enjoying the luxurious musical atmosphere of the Austrian capital in the heart of Athens through exquisite works by the most famous family of Viennese composers.

The Camerata’s program, in the spirit of the New Year’s concert tradition of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra—a concert broadcast worldwide each year, attracting the attention of thousands of viewers—includes some of the brightest gems of Imperial Vienna’s music.

In the grand hall of the Athens Concert Hall, known for its unparalleled acoustics, cheerful waltzes such as “Wine, Women, and Song” and “The Treasure Waltz” will resonate, alongside enchanting ones like “One Thousand and One Nights.” The beloved Athenian ensemble and George Petrou will also perform, among others, famous French polkas such as the “Pizzicato Polka,” which highlights the role of string instruments in an exceptionally imaginative and elegant way, and the highly rhythmic “Tik-Tak Polka.”

Their program is rounded out by the Overture to “A Night in Venice,” a thoroughly charming work with impressive shifts in both melody and rhythm.