Vienna Press Release – September 2025 Top Events for the Grand Finale of the Strauss Year 2025

September 15, 2025. – The musical festival year is heading towards its highlight, the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss II on October 25. Vienna is celebrating the Waltz King with a program that combines classical music tradition with visionary contemporary art – from the circus ring to the concert hall, from operetta classics to digital dance challenges.

The city will reveal its most creative side during the Strauss Autumn. Here are the highlights from the program between September and December 2025.

Cagliostro – Johann Strauss in the Circus Tent

The curtain rises in the ring of the Circus-Theater Roncalli for the world premiere of “Cagliostro – Johann Strauss in the Circus Tent.” Bestselling author Thomas Brezina weaves a story of magic, ambition and family conflict in the world of circus performers in his new libretto, inspired by themes from Strauss’s operetta “Cagliostro in Wien.” Johnny Bertl has rearranged Johann Strauss’ music for this circus operetta.

A clown, acrobats, and actors – including Thomas Borchert (in the title role of Cagliostro), Eva Maria Marold, Andreas Lichtenberger, as well as Katharina and Sophia Gorgi – deliver an immersive experience of operetta, pop, theater, and circus arts under the direction of Michael Schachermaier. The music is performed by a circus band led by Barbara Helfgott. In the circus tent at Heumarkt, the waltz is transformed into a high-wire act.

A production of Johann Strauss 2025 Vienna in cooperation with Circus-Theater Roncalli.
(10.–28.9.2025)

Die Fledermaus returns to its world premiere venue

The “Queen of Operettas” returns to her birthplace, the Theater an der Wien, with a new production. It was here on April 5, 1874, that “Die Fledermaus” was first performed – a milestone for Johann Strauss and for music history. After all, the work broke all the traditional conventions with relish: between boulevard theater and musical ambition, popular and classical, appearance and reality, festive ball and lively prison. Now, the general manager and artistic director of the MusikTheater an der Wien, Stefan Herheim, is taking the helm and is bringing the work back to the stage together with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Arnold Schoenberg Choir.

With musical direction provided by Petr Popelka, this production is not only an homage to the original but also opens up new perspectives on themes such as deception, disguise and social class.

A production of MusikTheater an der Wien with the support of Johann Strauss 2025 Vienna.
(4.–24.10.2025)

Dommayer Concert: a young Strauss takes the stage

A historic concert in the ballroom of the Austria Trend Parkhotel Schönbrunn commemorates the legendary debut of Johann Strauss II. On October 15, 1844, the then 18-year-old appeared publicly for the first time in Hietzing (the Dommayer’s Casino once stood on the site of today’s hotel), held his own against his famous father and became an overnight star.

The Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra, conducted by Katharina Wincor, will perform works from this very first performance, using the original instrumentation and with moderation by Teresa Vogl.

An event forming part of Johann Strauss 2025 Vienna.
(15.10.2025)

October 25, 2025: the 200th anniversary

Vienna will be celebrating the Waltz King (October 25, 1825 – June 3,1899) at two prominent venues: at Vienna’s City Hall with a birthday event hosted by Mayor Michael Ludwig, and at the Vienna Music Society – featuring the “Once Every 100 Years” gala concert by the Vienna Philharmonic in the afternoon and “Hommage to Johann Strauss” in the evening by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. (Only a few tickets remaining.)

New production: A Night in Venice

At the Volksoper Wien, Dutch director Nina Spijkers presents a bold new staging of Strauss’s classic. This sparkling operetta, full of disguises, confusion and Venetian masquerade magic, has been turned into a clever and entertaining reflection on role models and desire.

A production of the Volksoper Wien with the support of Johann Strauss 2025 Vienna.
(25.10.-19.12.2025)

FLEDER.STRAUSS – operetta in a state of emergency

At the Odeon Theater, Strauss and his music are literally thrown into turmoil. In their new performance, the Serapions Theater and das.bernhard.ensemble send an operetta on a journey around the world – but the flight ends in a crash landing. What follows is a struggle for survival, full of musical escapades, self-reflection and group dynamics.

Music by Mario Bergamasco and Bernhard Fleischmann, together with a creative production by Max Kaufmann and Ernst Kurt Weigel make this absurd experiment one of the most eccentric contributions to the Strauss Year.

A co-production of Serapions Theater and das.bernhard.ensemble in cooperation with Johann Strauss 2025 Vienna. (25.11.-31.12.2025)

A fairy tale reimagined: “Cinderella’s Dream”

At the Volksoper Wien, a nearly forgotten ballet fragment from Strauss’s repertoir becomes the starting point for a modern family operetta. Composer Martina Eisenreich and playwright Axel Ranisch interweave Strauss quotes with an emancipatory fairy tale approach: Cinderella embarks on a journey through time – from 1899 to the present – discovering not only her own story, but also the mysterious role of a certain “Ida Grünwald.”

A production of the Volksoper Wien with the support of Johann Strauss 2025 Vienna.
(29.11.-29.12.2025)

More highlights from the program:

“So This Is Vienna!” at METRO Kinokulturhaus
toxic dreams brings Strauss together with an Ernst Lubitsch silent film from 1926 (Nov 10–16, 2025)
“Imperial Ball” at MuseumsQuartier
Belgian star choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui stages a ball as a setting for power, control and social freedom, set to music by Strauss. Guest appearance by the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève. (3.-6.12.2025)
“By(e) Strauss” at MusikTheater an der Wien
The grand finale of the anniversary year – a concert featuring surprise guests, retrospectives and plenty of humor. Host: Nikolaus Habjan. (31.12.2025)
Strauss exhibitions beyond the stage events (open permanently):
at the House of Music, you can conduct the Blue Danube Waltz yourself as a “Virtual Conductor” and dive into the world of Johann Strauss in the multimedia experience “Johann Strauss. New Dimensions” for an immersive journey into Strauss’s world. Original Strauss venues that survive to this day include the House of Strauss and the Johann Strauss Apartment on Praterstraße.

“Strauss Waltz Challenge” in the ivie app

If you want not only to listen to Strauss but also to dance to his music, take part in the “Strauss Waltz Challenge” in 2025 – an interactive digital scavenger hunt through Vienna with augmented reality, waltz steps in the Stadtpark and quiz questions at historic sites. With the city guide app ivie, users can playfully discover the Vienna of the Waltz King and win prizes along the way: 40 Johann Strauss goodies are being given away each month and there is a weekend in Vienna for two up for grabs as the grand prize.

Download free for iOS or Android.
Link to: https://www.wien.info/en/travel-info/ivie-app/discover-vienna-dancing-with-the-strauss-waltz-challenge-873684

The full program for the festival year under the artistic direction of “Johann Strauss 2025 Vienna” can be found at www.johannstrauss2025.at

All the information about the Strauss Year “King of Waltz. Queen of the Music”: www.strauss.wien.info

Johann Strauss Audio Walk in the free City Guide App ivie: Discover eleven Strauss locations in Vienna on your own

More images relating to Vienna Tourist Board’s 2025 annual theme: www.foto.wien.info/Images/strauss