Bringing the waltzes of Johann Strauss to Dorset (From Bournemouth Echo)

Bringing the waltzes of Johann Strauss to Dorset

12:00pm Saturday 6th February 2010

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THE haunting notes and pizzicato strings that Ultravox conjured in Vienna, their best known hit, are sure to be heard when Bournemouth’s Pavilion Theatre hosts the Johann Strauss Gala this weekend (Sun, Feb 7).

With highly-rated South African conductor David Juritz at the helm, the Johann Strauss Orchestra expertly tackles the great composer’s best known waltzes, marches and polkas, switching fluidly between dreamy, rolling string motifs and the rhythmic plucked violins that accentuate the more rustic elements of the music.

But for all the undeniable success of the Strauss musical dynasty in late 19th century Vienna, where Johann and his sons were afforded superstar status, the harsh realities of the time could still intrude.

“There’s a wonderful story about Johann, who suffered with ill health and was a nervous traveller,” says David. “Afraid of bandits that preyed on carriages, on a journey between Hungary and Germany, Johann made his musicians sell their violas to buy guns as a safety measure.

“I would have thought the threat of a viola would have been deterrent enough!”

Of all the great writers, Strauss seems to transcend the vagaries of fashion, and is at odds with the romantic notion of the struggling composer unrecognised in his lifetime.

“I hesitate to say that Strauss was the Simon Cowell of his day, but he was definitely a huge star,” says David.

“There are reports of a concert in Boston in which an orchestra of 1,000 musicians played to an audience of 50,000 or more. That’s mind blowing – events like that would have only happened a few times in a century in those days.

“There was a poll taken at the time that ranked Strauss the third most popular person alive, behind Queen Victoria and Otto Von Bismark.

“What’s perhaps even more remarkable, is that the high brow, serious-minded composers of the day – people like Brahms and Wagner – all idolised Strauss as well.”

That commercially successful productions like the Johann Strauss Gala continue to sell out concert venues more than 150 years after the composer’s birth seems perfectly in keeping with the history of the music, which itself modified and popularised early peasant folk dances to create the waltzes and polkas that are so familiar today.

“It’s an attempt to recreate the look and feel of the Viennese ballrooms of the 1880s with the dancers in costume – I’m really looking forward to it,” says David, who’ll be returning to Dorset in August as artistic director of the Burton Bradstock Festival.

“Oh, the festival is a real pleasure to be involved with. We’re currently confirming the programme, but it looks like we’ve got the Mozart Clarinet Quintet, and the guitarist Craig Ogden, and I hope to bring down my tango band (the London Tango Quintet), plus the accordionist Milos Milivojevic, who is brilliant.”

I wonder if there’ll be any collaboration with Burton Bradstock’s best-known musical resident, Billy Bragg?

“Billy came along a couple of years ago to join in the ceilidh we ran, and I’d hope he would come and do something again if he’s around. He’s incredibly supportive of what we do and it’s great to see the area get so involved with the arts.

“It’s interesting that the music of Strauss came from the folk tradition and yet it has enjoyed international popularity since it was written.

“So, on the one hand, I’m dealing with this music which is almost universally known.

“And yet there’s also this wonderfully vernacular folk music scene where you can watch someone like the Bride Valley Band, playing in Burton Bradstock, singing songs about the village you’re standing in – completely different music, but it’s all about humans just communicating.”

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