The Vienna Pops Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Mark Coughlan, brought 2025 to a triumphant close with a spectacular New Year's Eve celebration at the University of Western Australia's Winthrop Hall. The event marked the 38th Perth Rotary New Year's Eve Gala, continuing a beloved tradition that saw the orchestra return to the venue where its year began.
A Night of Musical Journeys
True to its name, the concert celebrated classic Viennese spirit with detours across Europe and the Americas, before a final return to the iconic strains of The Beautiful Blue Danube. Coughlan noted the program's circular theme was mirrored by the guest artists—violinist Audrey Jarvis and sopranos Bella Marslen and Beth Redwood—all Western Australian-raised talents who have honed their skills overseas before sharing their expertise back home.
The evening launched with a burst of energy via Johann Strauss II's Thunder and Lightning Polka, its explosive percussion and quicksilver strings setting an exhilarating pace. The mood then shifted to the graceful, waltz-like Viennese Spirit, with Coughlan shaping the sound of a silky string octet with elegant, flowing gestures.
Star Performances Light Up the Stage
Soprano Beth Redwood commanded the stage with a dramatic and provocative rendition of Franz Lehar's My Lips Kiss So Hot, her powerful voice filling the historic hall. The heat was tempered by Josef Strauss's comedic Fireproof!, complete with an anvil and automotive brake drum for rhythmic, slapstick effect.
Bella Marslen offered a moment of serene beauty with Song to the Moon from Dvorak's Rusalka. Her lavish, maturing tones, supported by delicate harp and flute, revealed a voice of impressive range and dramatic power. Violinist Audrey Jarvis then dazzled the audience with Saint-Saens' Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, navigating frenzied passages and a virtuosic cadenza with crisp, expressive mastery.
From Intimate Moments to Grand Finales
The program showcased the orchestra's versatility, from the infinitesimally light plucked strings of Johann Strauss II's Pizzicato Polka to the mesmerising minimalism of Nature Boy. In the latter, clarinettist Ashley Smith delivered a masterclass in controlled phrasing, his whispered cadenza weaving through the orchestra with a gossamer touch.
Romance filled the hall with Offenbach's dreamy Barcarolle, fronted by the sonorous sopranos, before the stage erupted with the Latin fervour of Mambo from Bernstein's West Side Story, complete with bustling beats and enthusiastic audience participation.
The journey culminated, as all great Viennese celebrations must, with Strauss's The Beautiful Blue Danube. The waltz worked its timeless magic, building from a gentle trickle to a torrent of orchestral colour, painting an aural vista of the river in full flood. As the final notes faded, balloons rained down on the hall and the traditional Radetzky March rang out in a blaze of symphonic colour, officially welcoming 2026.
