Exactly a century after after the armistice agreement was signed to bring an end to the First World War, on 11 November 2018 conductor Franz Welser-Möst led the Wiener Philharmoniker in a memorial concert at the Versailles Opera House – where the peace treaty was signed in 1919. The concert featured works representing either side of the conflict or otherwise referencing war and piece, and the stellar performers include pianist Yuja Wang.
Featuring
Franz Welser-Möst
Yuja Wang
Elsa Dreisig
Ekaterina Gubanova
Daniel Behle
Ryan Speedo Green
Wiener Philharmoniker
Chœur de la Radiodiffusion Française
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Claude Debussy
Gustav Holst
Richard Wagner
Maurice Ravel
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ludwig van Beethoven
Charles Ives
Did you know?
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Composer Biography
Ralph Vaughan Williams, who composed 'Dirge for Two Veterans,' volunteered for service in France, where the artillery noise caused hearing damage that eventually led to his deafness.
Composition History
Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand was commissioned by Paul Wittgenstein, a pianist who lost his right arm on the Eastern Front during World War I and continued his career as a virtuoso.
Historical Context
This album is a recording of a memorial concert held on November 11, 2018, at the Palace of Versailles, commemorating the end of the First World War exactly a century earlier.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Franz Welser-Möst, the conductor, chose works for this concert that either represented the warring factions of WWI or had a thematic connection to war and peace.
Historical Context
The concert's program begins with Mozart's Overture to The Magic Flute, which, despite its humanist values, also alludes to the violent upheavals of the French Revolution and subsequent Revolutionary Wars.
Composer Biography
Gustav Holst, composer of 'Mars, the Bringer of War,' volunteered for military service in 1914 but was deemed medically unfit; he also anglicized his name during WWI to distance himself from his German roots.
Composer's Artistic Vision
In Beethoven's Missa solemnis, the 'Dona nobis pacem' section, which he titled 'Plea for inner and outer peace,' is dramatically interrupted by march fanfares from brass and timpani, symbolizing the intrusion of war.
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