We've watched this on the telly every New Year's Day for over 40 years. I know all about the murky Nazi origins of the concert, and about the misogyny that's plagued the Vienna Phil for decades (thankfully undergoing a thaw), so maybe I shouldn't be watching, but I do. So.

I thought today's concert, in spite of the tribulations of no audience, etc, was lovely. I've been an admirer of Maestro Muti ever since we saw him at the Royal Festival Hall in the mid-seventies. He's a troublesome character all right, but he has always stood up for the arts and for culture (famously taking on Berlusconi), and his speech today hit the mark perfectly. He had a great rapport with the orchestra and they responded beautifully.

I was, however, disappointed with the Blue Danube. The rest of the concert was great, but in the Blue Danube there was a heavy tread at times and he pulled the tempo around far too much for my taste. In my misguided yoof I'd always regarded Strauss and his ilk as pleasantly lightweight. Then, in 1989 and again in 1992, Carlos Kleiber was at the helm. He lifted the Blue Danube into heaven for me, and, if you watch him conducting it on YouTube, he seems to be dancing it on the podium and hardly conducting at all. What a revelation it was ( for me).

Kleiber left frustratingly few recordings behind when he died, but, for me, he was the best. If you only ever listen to one thing of his, make it the 1983 live recording of the Pastoral Symphony. The story goes that the orchestra's recording setup failed that evening, but, fortuitously, there was a cassette machine at the back of the hall...You have to ignore the rather crude sound quality, which isn't as bad as it ought to be, but get past that and you will hear Beethoven as never before...