Musical New Year

We tend to think of Christmas as the big "musical" holiday - what with the Nutcrackers, Messiahs, caroling and holiday concerts and all - but New Years has its own musical delights.

As I nurse my champagne hangover this afternoon, I'm enjoying a Great Performances broadcast of the 2006 Metropolitan Opera "Live in HD" version of Mozart's "Magic Flute". It's a Julie Taymor production (she of the Broadway "Lion King" fame), and it's visually quite stunning (I laughed out loud to the floating food scene - you've gotta see it), and of course the music is wonderful. Immediately following is the New Year's Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic (complete, in its broadcast form, with ballroom dancers and prancing Lipizzaners). This year, Georges Pretre becomes the first Frenchman to conduct this annual concert in its nearly 70-year history.

But my favorite turn-of-year musical extravaganza is the inimitable "Red and White Song Festival" (Kohaku Uta Gassen), the annual Japanese music show of the NHK broadcasting company. Essentially, there are two teams: "Red" (women) and "White" (men), all popular singers of all genres, from teeny pop to old fashioned enka. There are judges, an audience vote, and a team is named winner a few minutes before midnight. It's been a Japanese tradition since 1951 - it's exquisitely over-the-top, full of jaw-dropping costumes and performances. In fact, a performance by DJ Ozma last year included costumes so...realistic, shall we say...that NHK was barraged by outraged viewers for days on end (really, watch that video to the end!). It's all in good fun, and a big part of my early childhood - I spent most of my winter breaks in Tokyo with the Japanese side of the family, and watching Kohaku was a great tradition.

Wishing all of you a healthy, happy, music-filled New Year!