MEMORIAL CONCERT MARKING THE 225th ANNIVERSARY OF JOSEPH LANNER’S BIRTH – APRIL 2026
Return to a previous venue – Premiere with resounding success
On 3rd June 1999, the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna commemorated the 100th anniversary of the death of Johann Strauss with a concert at Vienna City Hall (see cover photo; for further details, refer to the article “1999: Matinee on the 100th Anniversary of Johann Strauss’s Death” in this section). It took more than a quarter of a century before the Society returned to this prestigious building on Vienna’s Ringstraße for another event. The occasion this time was the 225th birthday of Joseph Lanner. To mark the anniversary close to Lanner’s monument in Vienna’s Rathauspark, the Johann Strauss Society presented a concert on 18th April 2026, in the elegant ambience of the Rathauskeller, paying tribute to the “ Father of the Viennese waltz”. As Lanner (1801 – 1843 ) began his career performing publicly as a lead violinist in trio and quartet formations, the Society founded a new ensemble especially for the occasion: a string quartet in the classical formation of two violins, viola, and cello. Thus, this concert also marked the birth of the Society’s third in-house ensemble, the Hofballmusik- Quartett JSG Vienna.
The president of the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna, Prof. Mag. Peter Widholz, joined the ensemble as vocal soloist. He also guided the audience through the programme, which he had compiled entirely from works of the birthday celebrant. Alongside well-known pieces such as Steirische Tänze (Styrian Dances) and Lanner’s masterpiece Die Schönbrunner, the programme also featured unjustly neglected works, including vocal pieces either composed by Lanner himself or later arranged by others on the basis of his melodies.
As in the Lanner anniversary year 2001, Anne Lanner Sadolin, head of the Lanner family, once again assumed patronage of the event. Whereas she had travelled from her home in Denmark at that time with two of her children for the premiere of the operetta Alt-Wien (see article “2001: The First Operetta Production” in this section), she was now accompanied by six family members: her husband Poul, four of their five children, and a son-in-law.
Although Anne Lanner Sadolin spontaneously stepped onto the stage at the end of the concert to thank all the performers in person for honouring her ancestor, she expressed her appreciation once again in writing two weeks later. On 2nd May 2026, she sent the Society the following letter:
The gratitude for what has been offered and the enthusiasm generated by the concert was reflected not only in this letter from Lanner’s descendant but also in a review published a few days later in Online Merker. Marisa Altmann-Althausen opened her critique with the words:
“Peter Widholz and the newly founded Hofballmusik – Quartett JSG Vienna treated the large audience to a selection of “delicacies” from the pen of Joseph Lanner (1801 – 1843). The Johann Strauss Society of Vienna once again lived up splendidly to its credo – borrowed from Johann Wolfgang Goethe – to “entertain, enlighten, and elevate.”
After discussing each item on the programme, she concluded:
“As a finale, the Hofballmusik- Quartett JSG Vienna delivered a spirited performance of “Die Schönbrunner “, Waltz Op.200. Following the audience’s well-deserved and enthusiastic applause, Peter Widholz crowned this exceptional concert with the song “Mein Verwandter…sehr bekannter Mann von Jahren (My relative…a very well-known man of years) (Lanner in Olympus), based on Die Schönbrunner. A truly high-caliber “Homage to Joseph Lanner”, with which the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna once again demonstrated its excellence and expertise.”
Previous productions by the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna devoted exclusively to Joseph Lanner:
2001
A series of performances of the Society’s own operetta production Alt-Wien, based on music by Joseph Lanner, on the occasion of his 200th birthday
2026
Homage to Joseph Lanner – Concert marking his 225th birthday at Vienna City Hall
