Von Himmel Auf Erden

Von Himmel Auf Erden (from heaven to earth) was the theme for this year’s Christmas in Vienna at the Konzerthaus.

The Vienna Boys Choir was among the guest performers, the Orf Radio Symphony Orchestra played the waltz from Tschaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, there were choral pieces by Mozart and Schubert, and songs from composers I didn’t recognise, including Bacalov and Canteloube.

It’s a winning recipe and not surprisingly, the house was full. There were smartly-dressed Viennese couples, quite a few mums and dads with two or three kids in tow, and even a tiara-wearing princess (self-appointed, we reckon) who couldn’t stop taking selfies.

For just over two hours, we enjoyed the musical equivalent of Vienna’s Sachertorte, a layered chocolate cake that’s so rich it’s almost sinful.

Which is not to dismiss this concert as a trifle. When mezzo soprano Marriane Crebassa sang Canteloube’s Bailero, it was so, so beautiful, I cried.

The Vienna Boys Choir, meanwhile, sounded exactly like the angels we imagine, while the Hallelujah from Handel’s Messiah worked a treat.

It was a Christmas indulgence, to be sure. A crowd-pleaser, too. We laughed, we cried, applauded loudly, and were rewarded at the very end with a sublime renditon of Silent Night.