Waltzing into the New Year with a Touch of Wonder

Both in the stock market and in classical music, female trailblazers are a rare breed. Not for lack of talent, of course – it’s the societal structures that turned trading floors and concert halls into male domains.

All the more delightful, then, that this year’s Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s Concert featured, for the very first time, a piece composed by a woman – originally performed in the days of Johann Strauss Sr.

Constanze Geiger composed the Ferdinandus Waltz at just 12 years old. On March 10, 1848, the Wiener Zuschauer. Zeitschrift für Gebildete. reviewed it with glowing praise: “All present were astonished by the soulful softness and delicacy of the motifs. By the originality of the youthful composer’s musical arrangement.”

Success and Ridicule

Anyone who aims to be successful in the stock market must endure periods when their decisions are met with ridicule. I vividly remember the late 1990s, when the media mocked Warren Buffett for not understanding “the new era.” Shortly thereafter, the dot-com bubble burst, and Buffett was quickly vindicated. Not that he cared much.

Constanze Geiger, too, had her fair share of ridicule at a young age. Did she care? Hard to say. Here’s an example from the satirical newspaper Der Humorist:
“Lullaby. To a Waltzing Wonder of a Wisp.
Rock-a-bye, what’s clucking in the barn?
A little goose, clucking for tomorrow’s ball!”

A Tradition with Staying Power

In Austria alone, 900,000 people watched this year’s New Year’s Concert from their living rooms. Globally, it is broadcast to over 90 countries. The Vienna Philharmonic has managed to maintain and expand its exceptional standing in musical history for over 180 years, earning praise from composers like Richard Wagner, Anton Bruckner, Johannes Brahms, and Gustav Mahler.

When we at Gutmann put together an investment portfolio, we pay just as much attention to the quality of each individual component. The result has its own unique dynamic. You might even call it a work of art, because managing the wealth of our clients is more than just science. It’s both art and science.

P.S.:
For the fifth year in a row, the Gutmann Viewpoint kicks off the new year with the topic of the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Concert. Perhaps a musician from the orchestra might be reading this – and enjoy this little tradition. Though, imagining Maestro Riccardo Muti as a subscriber? That would truly be a waltzing wonder of its own.