2008 is the 30^th anniversary of the Strauss Festival Orchestra Vienna which was founded in 1978 by Peter Guth, musical director, and the oboist Prof. Herbert Vedral, manager, on the occasion of an open air concert in the park of the Villa Manin, near Udine.

With countless brilliant appearances at significant music festivals, sensational TV concerts, tours in almost all European countries, America and Asia and with its CD recordings, the orchestra is internationally synonymous with the authentic interpretation of Viennese music in historical formations, and with a wide repertoire from the classics to the Strauss Dynasty and the masters of Viennese operetta.

Having a contingent of outstanding, experienced musicians, who work permanently with each other, the SFO Vienna is able to maintain its leading position with highest artistical claims, ahead of the numerous ensembles of this kind. Peter Guth, the internationally renowned Johann Strauss specialist, shares the musical direction with his younger colleague Willy Büchler, himself esteemed concertmaster of the Wiener Symphoniker, who takes over the annual tours in Japan and New Years Concerts in the Wiener Konzerthaus. True to the tradition of Johann Strauss, they both conduct also with the violin in hand.

Guth and his colleagues won particular recognition with their series of CD recordings for Koch Discover International and for Arts Music with live recordings of the New Years Concerts 2000 and 2005 in the Wiener Konzerthaus. They attracted attention as pioneers of cultural exchange with China, which they have visited twelve times since 1993. With their TV broadcasts they are real stars in that vast country, and have performed several times together with Chinese musicians.

In the Strauss memorial year of 1999 the SFO reached some hights of it´s 30 years history. It was sent as official musical ambassador on tour of South America. For the American Concert Series “Salute to Vienna” it presented a television Gala Evening in the golden hall of Wiener Musikverein, with the legendary filmstar Gregory Peck as moderator. Since the millennium in 2000 the SFO performs New Years Concerts in the large hall of Wiener Konzerthaus, which have become a yearly tradition.

Selections of favourite highlights and alluring, less-known rarities, the rich diversity of forms of the classical dances, all the humorous pieces full of surprises and the music from operettas, make the programmes of the SFO, often joined by prominent singers, attractive for all audiences. Faithfulness to style and the beauty of pure sound, Viennese charm and joy of music-making, are characteristic features of this orchestra, which distinguish it from incompetent imitation. Commited to tradition without false sentiment and accomplished in today´s perfection, the SFO gets enthusiastic acclaim and appreciation from audiences and critics everywhere, as in November 2007 in the Philharmonic Hall of Cologne, where the SFO regulary performs, the Prinzregententheater in Munich, or the performances for the opening of the magnificent new concert hall in the garden city of Suzhou near Shanghai.

The Strauss Festival Orchestra Vienna, a leading European top ensemble, preserves a genuine Viennese musical culture and proclaims the eternally young fascination of Viennese music.

Photo „Strauss_Festival_Orchester_Vienna“, high resolution