Whether it’s one’s first New Year Concert or 50th, there’s still something magical about the annual transmission from Vienna. It helps give the reassurance that some things, at least, are still right with the world. The special appeal of this year’s concert owes much to the inclusion of five rarities by the elder Johann Strauss, founder of the musical dynasty, to mark his bicentenary. His Philomelen Polka is an especial gem, and I only hope the year brings us more of his output, whose short-breathed phrases and rhythmic zest make it so distinctively appealing. One of his pieces here, the Frederica Polka, was much played during his final tour of Germany and Britain just before his death, and there’s British interest, too, in the inclusion of the younger Johann’s quadrille on themes from Michael Balfe’s The Bohemian Girl. This marks the Republic of Ireland’s assumption of the European Union presidency on the day of the concert.

Whether it’s the rarities or the traditional favourites that attract, there’s no reason to hold off buying this latest offering. The reading of Joseph Lanner’s Hofball-Tänze may be a shade sluggish; but otherwise the performances are all one might reasonably hope, with Josef’s Sphären-Klänge especially sublime. There’s still no orchestra to match the Vienna Philharmonic for natural grace and ease in this music. As usual, the absence of track timings is the only outward sign of the rush to issue the concert on CD that has become an integral part of the New Year Concert tradition.