EFE.- Austria will celebrate in 2025 the bicentenary of the birth of Johann Strauss (1825-1899), the undisputed ‘king of the Waltz’, with a long series of events, exhibitions and concerts.
Among the exhibits, the immersive multimedia exhibition Johann Strauss-New Dimensions stands out, inaugurated last November at the Johann Strauss Museum in Vienna, located in the center of the Austrian capital.
“Strauss’s story will always be interesting to hear, not only on the anniversary,” which will be October 25, the museum’s director, Peter Hösek, told EFE.
The exhibition, which according to the director seeks to be an “informative, immersive and interactive” experience through seven rooms, takes a tour of the life story of the composer of the legendary waltz ‘The Blue Danube’.
A three-dimensional immersion
The exhibition culminates in an immersive room with 5.50 meter high walls with an audiovisual show in which the most important moments of Strauss’s life are recreated in 3D, including a concert conducted by the composer himself in Boston (United States) in 1872 before about 50,000 spectators.
For their tour, the visitor is offered special headphones, with an audio guide in eight languages (including Spanish), and 3D sound technology based on the user’s location.
Therefore, depending on where the person is at any given moment, the audio and music are played without the need to press any button, creating a three-dimensional experience.
According to Hösek, this is the first time these helmets have been used in a large-scale exhibition.
“I don’t know of any other composer who has an immersive museum like this,” said the director.
Compose your own waltz
The visitor can also try to feel like Strauss himself thanks to a composition machine that allows the creation of a personalized waltz, downloaded and recorded via a QR code.
“Even if you don’t know anything about music, you can put together several melodies and create your own composition,” explained the museum director, since the waltz always has the same structure.
Additionally, the museum used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to animate some of the images in the exhibition.
Since it was inaugurated, the museum welcomed more than 7,000 visitors in the first month alone and has already become one of the main attractions of the Austrian capital.
“Every time I come I see people’s reactions and when I asked them if they liked it, they told me: ‘it was fantastic.’ Furthermore, many people tell me that they did not know all this about the life of Johann Strauss,” Hösek said.
Strauss was in his time what would be a “pop and rock star” today, because “the music in each era is different, but the status is the same,” he explained.
More than a century and a half later, the music of the ‘king of the Waltz’ continues to fascinate people.
“Wherever you go in the world, the audience goes crazy for Johann Strauss for his happy and light music, it is something that no one can replicate,” concludes Hösek, who already has plans to move the immersive exhibition to other countries.
Vienna celebrates its ‘king of the Waltz’
Meanwhile, all of Vienna, birthplace of Johann Strauss Jr., is immersed in the celebrations of the famous composer’s jubilee, with at least one premiere dedicated to the ‘king of the Waltz’ every week of 2025, of ten different genres in various spaces, interiors and outdoors, spread across all 23 districts of the capital.
Large orchestras and contemporary artists perform in these shows, some of which have unusual settings such as the Cuentral Cemetery, the Danube Island Festival or heaven itself.
The program is completed with several exhibitions dedicated to the life and work of the author of the operetta ‘The Bat’, such as an ‘escape room’ in the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna and other exhibitions in the musician’s former residence or in the Theater Museum in Vienna. Lobkowitz Palace.
These exhibitions are added to the permanent exhibition on the Strauss musical dynasty offered by the “House of Strauss”. Located in the Zögernitz Palace, it houses the only original concert hall still preserved in the world, where the four legends of the family of composers and conductors performed: Johann Strauss Sr. and his three sons, Eduard, Josef and Johann.
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