Vienna, Austria (June 18, 2025)—To celebrate the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss II and the 50th anniversary of the European Space Agency on May 31, 2025, a performance of the composer’s “Blue Danube Waltz” was performed and transmitted live toward Voyager 1, currently more than 15 billion miles from Earth.
The audio production was entrusted to Vienna-based studio tonzauber, led by Georg Burdicek, who deployed a mobile production studio centered around a Lawo mc²36 MkII audio production console. Inside the tonzauber OB truck, a Lawo mc²36 MkII with integrated A__UHD Core handled central routing and real-time mixing of all audio signals. Using RAVENNA AoIP technology, the team was able to route all elements, from on-site commentary to playout and surround streams.
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The 40-piece orchestra, conducted by the Vienna Symphony’s new chief conductor, Petr Popelka, was recorded using 28 Schoeps condenser microphones. The tonzauber crew used the Waves integration within the Lawo console: “Multiband compression, dynamic EQs—we used every tool available to shape a mix that wasn’t just audible, but emotionally resonant,” Burdicek says.
The concert was transmitted in real time to an ESA ground station in Spain. From there, the electromagnetic signal was beamed into deep space. Within 23 hours, the “Danube Waltz” was projected to overtake the Voyager 1 spacecraft, a symbolic gesture of recognition, as the piece had not been included on the original “Golden Record” that accompanied the 1977 probe.
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Surprisingly, the main technical challenge wasn’t the orchestra but the room, Burdicek notes: “It’s not a concert hall; it’s an exhibition space with a glass ceiling and hard surfaces. Acoustically, that’s a nightmare. We had to compensate with a lot of know-how and the right tools. To be able to say that I’ve mixed a program for the universe—that’s something truly special.”
