Not my first choice for New Year's music, not that I dont like it, I do. Just a surprising choice. Its a lovely, gorgeous, wonderfully uplifting music that soothes my soul, warms my heart, and scratches my brain. Maybe thats why you chose it.

Thanks Dan!

i know why you posted it, and you're a good son, dan.

@1: traditional in Austria to listen to it on new year's day.

I was watching this with my son at first, but the ballerinas' arms were so skinny I had to turn it off - didn't want him to get weird ideas about women's bodies.

@ 6, the Vienna Philharmonic is, "by tradition," a male-only ensemble. Fucked up, I know - they have a female harpist, but that's about it.

That's a relief, actually - at least it's on purpose.

Cuuuuute

Met Opera Radio on Sirius/XM rang in the New Year with lots of Strauss. Got a nifty 1957 rendition of Die Fledermaus.

@7: So you aren't going to let him see any dance performance, or I guess even go out on the street, unless you've first checked over the body type of everyone he might encounter?

Don't worry about skinny arms on dancers. I know that slender athletic people do not measure up to the normal US body which is overweight and covered in silly tattoos, then wrapped in clown clothes.
The male dancers did have a bit of a Beatles look. It was nice to see that the female dancers did not wear typical ballet shoes and were able to wear more normal shoes and still demonstrate the grace of ballet without pointe shoes.
I prefer "light classics" and classical or concert music to today's contemporary music. Under close objective analysis, you will discover that the classics are often at a faster tempo than contemporary popular music. They vary their rhythms and therefore are far more interesting than the canned beat of typical disco and therefore are far more danceable to one who allows creativity in his life.

@7 Yeah, but he will definitely get some weird ideas about his mother's control issues.

Vienna Phil now has a female concertmaster (one of 4 concertmasters I believe) and thought they had a female clarinetist. The (2nd?) harpist they had was always hidden behind a wall of flowers for years. I think that has changed too, but not 100%.

i know it's another strauss - but you must see this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1cPAGshz…

@7: Those ballerinas are essentially athletes, and their bodies reflect that. Nothing wrong with athletic bodies. Even if you did find it wrong, you could just point it out to your child without shutting it off. Leaping to the "Off" switch in desperation every time skinny people show on on screen is going to give him very strange messages indeed.