The music is mostly that of the Strauss family. The flowers that decorate the hall are a gift each year from the city of San Remo, Liguria, Italy.
The concert always ends with several encores after the main programme, the the musicians collectively wish the audience a happy new year, and close with Johann Strauss II's Blue Danube Waltz followed by the Radetsky-March. During this last piece, the audience clap along in time and the conductor turns to conduct them instead of the orchestra.
The concert was first performed in 1939.
wikipedia.org dumped 2003-03-17 with terodump