It is a special New Year’s concert in the Vienna Musikvereinsaal: on the organ pipes behind the orchestra‚ a large Euro sign in flowers signifies the arrival of the new currency that day. One of the extra items on the disc is an alternative version of Johann Strauss’s Perpetuum mobile showing what is described as the ‘Dance of the Machines’ with illustrations of Euro notes being printed and Euro coins being minted and stamped. Other extra items include alternative accounts of the Blue Danube with the ballet company of the Vienna State Opera company‚ and – a delightful bonus – of two polkas‚ Beliebte Annen by Johann Strauss senior and the Elisen­Polka by junior‚ with the Spanish Riding School performing wonders of equitation. Those extra items allow the main concert to be presented with no visual distraction from shots of the players‚ conductor‚ hall and audience‚ and the first thing that strikes me is what an advantage DVD provides in comparison with the Philips CD of this concert that also arrived in double­quick time. Quite apart from the bonus of visual presentation‚ the DVD offers five numbers omitted from the CD – two of them by Josef Strauss celebrating his 175th anniversary‚ the polkas Arm in Arm and Im Pfluge and three Johann Strauss numbers‚ the Carnevalsbotschafter waltz‚ the Beliebte Annen polka and Perpetuum mobile. I can only deduce that that last favourite piece was omitted from the CD‚ delightful as the performance is‚ since Ozawa jumps the gun at the end with the famous spoken comment ‘Und so weiter’ – ‘And so on’ – a strange slip when he is usually spot­on with timing. As I said when reviewing the CD‚ he is at his most relaxed‚ naturally idiomatic in his often extreme use of idiomatic pauses and of warm rubato‚ reflected in his decision not to use a baton‚ relying instead on the inborn expressiveness of the Viennese players to mould in perfect time. In the Fledermaus Overture‚ for example‚ the switches of tempo and rhythm and the affectionate phrasing are immaculately achieved with a mere flutter of the fingers from the conductor. Not that this great orchestra is exclusively made up of Viennese players‚ or so it seems when in the New Year’s greetings‚ just before the Blue Danube as the traditional second encore‚ a dozen or so players seem each to be representing their countries in their different languages. The visual joke is that the Viennese Concertmaster gets in first with the Japanese greeting‚ with Ozawa – who was born in China – following with one in Chinese. The German greeting comes‚ of course‚ in concert from the whole orchestra. Even by the standards of this celebratory occasion this was an unusually warm and happy event thanks to Ozawa. And more than anyone since Karajan in his one New Year concert (DG‚ 11/87)‚ Ozawa controls the clapping of the audience‚ limiting it to the proper passages in the final Radetzky March. In the other DVD‚ offering a playing time barely half that of the Vienna disc – which admittedly does include a peripheral tourist sequence on the city and its attractions‚ ‘Kunst und Genuss’ (‘Arts and Delights’) – the impression is of Berlin saying anything Vienna can do‚ so can we. Not that the modern Philharmonie in Berlin is remotely as telegenic as the Vienna Musik­verein with its painted ceiling and gilt decorations‚ but the formula of the concert is similar‚ with Brahms at his most relaxed (Hungarian Dances and Liebeslieder waltzes) taking the place of the Strausses. The theme of dances and gypsy tunes then extends to Ravel in two major items‚ Tzigane and La valse‚ while Berlioz is finally brought in with the Hungarian March from the Damnation of Faust as an obvious equivalent of Vienna’s Radetzky March‚ though happily no one in the Berlin audience dares to clap to it. This dates from six years ago‚ and one can understand that programme­building for a Berlin event is far more restricted than in the Vienna of the Strausses. Yet this‚ too‚ makes a fun occasion‚ with Claudio Abbado smiling during the performances more than I can ever remember‚ drawing out the most affectionate as well as the most polished playing. One great bonus of this programme is the inclusion of Maxim Vengerov as a masterly soloist in Tzigane‚ as well as in Brahms’s Hungarian Dance No 7‚ which comes as his encore. Just as striking is the contribution of the Swedish Radio Choir‚ not just visually with the ladies sporting velvet stoles over their black dresses in brightly contrasted primary colours‚ but in their obvious affection for Brahms. The Liebeslieder waltzes are charmingly done‚ as is the lovely song for women’s chorus with horn and harp accompaniment‚ Es tönt ein voller‚ though I am sorry not to have the other three songs in that Op 17 group. In both these DVDs the camera work can hardly be faulted‚ unless you are allergic to any visual production at all. I note that both Brian Large and Barrie Gavin‚ leading exponents of the craft of video direction‚ come from the BBC Television stable formed many years ago when John Culshaw was head of television music.