The New Year Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in 2010, to be held in the Vienna Golden Hall, would be conducted by Georges Pretre for the second time, said the Vienna Philharmonic on Monday.
Chairman of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Clemens Hellsberg said at a Monday news conference that there was a "long-term and good cooperation" between the Orchestra and Pretre.
"Out of the respect and appreciation to his extremely rich experience in conducting of symphony orchestra," the Orchestra chose Pretre as the conductor of the New Year Concert for the second time, according to Hellsberg.
Pretre also noted that he felt honored to be the conductor of the New Year Concert again. He also introduced that the New Year Concert of 2010 would still focus on the pieces from the Strauss family.
Some additional pieces from other musicians, such as French composer Jacques Offenbach and Danish composer Hans Christian Lumbye, who was called the "Danish Strauss," would also be performed during the New Year Concert.
In addition, the pieces from Austrian musician Otto Nicolai, who was the founder of the Vienna Philharmonic, would also be performed, in order to commemorate his 200th anniversary.
Pretre was born in France in 1924, and had his first performance in comic opera of Paris in 1946. He is now a well- known contemporary music conductor.
He served as a permanent conductor of the Vienna Symphony from 1986 to 1991. In 2004, he became an honorary member of the Friends of Music in Austria. On Jan. 1, 2008, the 84-year-old Pretre conducted the Vienna New Year Concert for the first time.