Strauss Music Waltzes Into Costa Mesa : Alfred Eschwe to Conduct Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra’s West Coast Debut

Despite a striking resemblance to Johann Strauss Jr., Viennese conductor Alfred Eschwe insists he is not a member of the Strauss family. “It must be the mustache,” he chuckles when considering the comparison.

Yet the resemblance is at least convenient. Eschwe, 39, is the frequent conductor of an orchestra that has traditionally featured a flamboyant member of the Strauss family at its podium.

Eschwe will make his West Coast debut tonight when he conducts the Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. On the program will be waltzes, polkas, quadrilles and marches by Johann Strauss Jr., including the famous “An der schonen, blauen Donau,” a.k.a. the “Blue Danube” Waltz.

“All of the concerts we do consist of works by 19th-Century Viennese composers,” he explained Friday in a telephone conversation from Washington, D.C., the first stop on the orchestra’s current tour, which continues with performances Saturday and Sunday at Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena. “But mostly we play the music of the Strauss family: Johann Sr. and his two most popular sons, Johann Jr. and Josef.”

The original Strauss family orchestra was formed in 1825 by Johann Sr. Its sole purpose was to perform the music of the famous Strauss family.

The orchestra nearly monopolized Viennese music halls and ballrooms for more than a half-century. Then, it disbanded when a lesser-known march composer, C.M. Ziehrer, took it over and combined it with his own orchestra.

In 1966, Eduard Strauss--a fourth-generation member of the Strauss family--started what is now the Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra in an effort to revive the old orchestra’s traditions of performing the compositions of the Strauss family. Although Eduard died only 3 years later, the orchestra has continued and, as Eschwe puts it, “eagerly awaits its 25th anniversary in 1991.”

“It was about 8 years ago that (Willi) Boskovsky asked me if I would tour with the orchestra in Spain and Barcelona,” Eschwe said. Boskovsky had led the orchestra since Eduard’s death.

“We’ve played in Vienna and Salzburg before, but we are basically a touring orchestra made up of members from several different local orchestras, including the Tonkunstler Orchestra and the Volksoper Orchestra.”

With the exception of a busy, eventful 7-year stay in Germany, Eschwe, who was born in a small suburb just outside of Vienna, has lived in the Austrian capital all his life. His primary studies took place at the University of Vienna and the Vienna Conservatory.

“I was one of the last students of Hans Swarowsky in Vienna,” he said of the conductor and teacher of Zubin Mehta and Claudio Abbado, among others. “My work is now about half opera and half symphonic. To date, I have conducted over 50 operas from ‘Don Giovanni’ to ‘Wozzeck.’

“I don’t have an official permanent position with an orchestra--including this one. But the Strauss orchestra has sort of adopted me. I have toured with them all over the world, including Japan, where they found the waltzes . . . well, . . . very interesting, at least.”

Yet in his prodigious career, until this week he had never even visited the West Coast, although the orchestra’s performed in the Southland in 1984 under another conductor.

“I look forward to my first time in Los Angeles, “ he said. “As long as I get out of the snow, I’m sure I’ll be happy.”

The Johann Strauss Orchestra of Vienna performs music of Johann Strauss Jr. Josef Strauss and Eduard Strauss at 8 p.m. at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Tickets: $10 to $30. Information: (714) 642-8232.