„Donau Symphonie“ – The Voice of the Danube FRANK WILDHORN & Die Wiener Symphoniker

Composer of Whitney Houston’s number-one-hit Where Do Broken Hearts Go, he became the first American composer in twenty-two years – second only to Stephen Schwartz – to have three shows running simultaneously on Broadway: Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Civil War. His tribute to the voice of the Danube is a dream come true for Frank Wildhorn, who has created a history-making symphony.

This “Donau Symphonie” (Danube Symphony) premieres on the 3^rd of November, at the Wiener Musikverein.

In Walter Feucht – entrepreneur and musical-enthusiast – Tony-, Grammy- and Emmy-Award nominee Frank Wildhorn has not only found a friend, but also a mentor for this complexly-crafted production and its illustrious stage debut.

First, however, came a CD production – capturing the composition with an extraordinarily large cast of 96 members of the Vienna Symphony, recorded by MG-SOUND STUDIOS at the Viennese Konzerthaus in 2021 and produced by HitSquad Records. Now, in 2022, the same sixty minutes that make up the symphony are celebrated with what will be a first climax in the composition’s history: its world premiere at the historical Wiener Musikverein.

The palatial great hall of the Musikverein (Großer Musikvereinssaal) with its inimitable acoustics famously hosts the Vienna Philharmonic’s annual New Year’s Concert (Neujahrskonzert) since its creation, making it a household name among millions of music lovers. The concerts second encore – traditionally Johann Strauß II’s An der schönen blauen Donau (The Blue Danube) – is similarly dedicated to Europe’s second largest river, further connecting Wildhorns Donau Symphonie with the historicity of its premiere’s location – while still filling it with entirely new sounds.

Between pure-kitsch romanticism and belligerent terror, the symphony thus describes a delicately blossoming spring, or a waltzing Viennese summer, as well as heroic processions and a history of the Danube contorted by the changing of the seasons.  

The sixty minutes that make the Donau Symphonie are a vastly romantic declaration of love to the river and its history, reiterating the story of a stream of 1 770 miles, which traverses Europe from West to East as a unifying force. It is an American interpretation of European immortality that takes up a water-locked musical tradition and transports it into the present.

In the conductor’s stand – congenially mediating Wildhorn’s vision between composition and orchestra – is Koen Schoots, whose work on a variety of highly successful productions – including, for example, the Komische Oper Berlin – as well as his many years as musical director of the Vereinigten Bühnen in Vienna have left him well-known and regarded throughout Europe.  

“Frank Wildhorn has created beautiful, emotional music with lots of heart”, praises Anton Sorokow, concert master at the Vienna Symphony.