Irenen-Polka, Op. 113 - Josef Strauss

"Irene". On the outskirts of one of Vienna's busiest streets, the so-called Lastenstrasse, one finds the sad remains of a park which formerly adjoined the Glacis in front of the walls that once enclosed the inner city. When the walls were demolished in 1857 and the Glacis built, the owner of the Weghuber café was able to have an unenclosed garden alongside his venerable old pub and build a music pavilion thereon. Since the activity at the Volksgarten had to be reduced on account of the development of the new Ringstraße in place or the city walls, the Strauss orchestra moved temporarily to Weghuber's café. On 23rd August 1861, a holiday concert was held. There, the Irenen-polka was performed for the first time. The new Lastenstrasse destroyed the garden. The sorrowful remnant would one day become Weghuber Park in front or the Hungarian Guards' palace (today's federal ministry of justice). Although the adroit Polka by Josef Strauss contained no dedication, it conjures up for the connoisseur memories of Weghuber!

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Painting: Café Weghuber, opposite of the Volksoper
Artist: Karl Wenzel Zajicek

Wiener Philharmoniker
Zubin Mehta
Neujahrskonzert 2007