The 2026 Shanghai Spring Festival Concert welcomes the Vienna Waltz Orchestra back to Shanghai for a Lunar New Year special. Led by artistic director Chen Lei, the concert features tenor Gëzim Berisha and soprano Laura Olivia Spenger performing a program of waltzes, operetta excerpts, opera arias, and classic vocal works. Designed as a festive holiday concert, it’s suitable for audiences of all ages.

The 2026 Shanghai Spring Festival Concert marks the Vienna Waltz Orchestra’s second consecutive appearance in Shanghai during the Lunar New Year period. The orchestra brings a traditional New Year concert format centered on Viennese waltzes, combined with operetta highlights, opera excerpts, Italian folk songs, and selected Chinese works. The program includes well-known seasonal favorites such as An der schönen blauen Donau (The Blue Danube) alongside vocal pieces like ’O Sole Mio, creating a celebratory concert experience for the Spring Festival.

Performers

Vienna Waltz Orchestra

Founded in 2002 and based at the Brucknerhaus Linz, with members drawn from leading Austrian orchestras including the Bruckner Orchestra, Vienna Volksoper, and Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

Laura Olivia Spenger (soprano)

Berlin-born soprano active on European stages, winner of the Berlin International Vocal Competition and Vienna Summer Vocal Competition, with performances at Vienna State Opera and major concert halls.

Gëzim Berisha (tenor)

Opera master’s graduate from the Vienna University of Music, regularly performing in Austria and across Europe in opera and operetta productions.

Chen Lei (conductor / violin)

Artistic Director of the Vienna Waltz Orchestra, concertmaster of the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, and professor awarded by the Austrian government, serving as conductor, soloist, and host in this concert.

Song List

• Jetzt geht’s los – Franz Lehár
• Wiener Blut – Johann Strauss II (from Wiener Blut)
• Ballsirenen Walzer – Franz Lehár (from Die lustige Witwe)
• Night in Chengdu – L. Penzeli
• Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja – W. A. Mozart (from Die Zauberflöte)
• Ich gehör’ nur mir – from Elisabeth
• Türkischer Marsch – W. A. Mozart
• Horizon – L. Penzeli
• Les tringles des sistres tintaient – G. Bizet (from Carmen)
• Auf Ferienreisen – Josef Strauss
• ’O Sole Mio – Italian folk song
• What I Want in My Life – I. Penzeli
• Klarinetten Muckl
• Da geh’ ich zu Maxim – Franz Lehár (from Die lustige Witwe)
• Jokey Polka – Josef Strauss
• Wish – I. Penzeli
• Im Feuerstrom der Reben – Johann Strauss II (from Die Fledermaus)
• An der schönen blauen Donau – Johann Strauss II
• Tanzen möchte ich – Franz Lehár (from Die lustige Witwe

Program and order subject to change.

Why people should go see this show

This concert offers a classic Viennese-style New Year program performed by an Austria-based orchestra with European vocal soloists. With a mix of orchestral waltzes and well-known vocal works, it’s a seasonal concert designed for celebrating the Spring Festival in a concert hall setting.