A lavish performance with a history of
over a decade enchanted an audience of 2,600 in a sold-out concert at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on
January 2, 2005. The production that takes on the world-renown "Neujahrskonzert" in
Vienna featured Hungarian conductor András Deák, soprano Olga Szilágyi and dancers from the Hungarian National
Ballet. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra played pieces from the Strauss
family, Ferenc Lehár and Imre Kálmán.
Ambassador András Simonyi and Austrian Ambassador Eva Nowotny opened the
concert. The two ambassadors initiated a silent remembrance of the victims of the tsunami -- many of them Austrians
-- that hit Southern Asia a week
ago.
