In 1999, conductor Daniel Barenboim and his good friend, author Edward Said, decided to found an orchestra made of up both Israeli and Arab musicians. Lots of people said they were crazy. Others said it might lead to peace in the Middle East. Barenboim is too much of an optimist and just enough of a pessimist to believe either argument. Still, he says what it can do is open up the dialogue between the two sides of the conflict. All this week, we'll hear Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in symphonies by Beethoven, from the Proms in London.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Franz Liszt: Concert Etude, S. 145, No. 1 (Forest Murmurs)
William Wolfram, piano
Ludwig van Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72b
The Boston Symphony Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnanyi, conductor
Tanglewood Music Festival, Lenox, Massachusetts
Franz Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No. 1, S. 514
Denis Matsuev, piano
Verbier Festival and Academy, Verbier, Switzerland
Alexander Scriabin: Etude in D sharp Minor, Op. 8, No. 12
Denis Matsuev, piano
Verbier Festival and Academy, Verbier, Switzerland
Johann Sebastian Bach: Flute Sonata in E Minor, BWV 1034
Erik Bosgraaf, recorder, Francesco Corti, harpsichord
Oriol Martorell Hall, Barcelona, Spain
Hour 2
Felix Mendelssohn: Songs Without Words No. 2 in A Minor and No. 3 in A (Hunting Song), Op. 19
Daniel Barenboim, piano
Leonard Bernstein: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano
Bil Jackson, clarinet, John Novacek, piano
Colorado College Summer Music Festival, Colorado Springs, Colorado
George Gershwin: Prelude No. 2
Michael Newman, guitar, Robert Bonfiglio, harmonica
Grand Canyon Music Festival, Grand Canyon, Arizona
Johann Sebastian Bach: Adagio from Keyboard Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, BWV 974
Alexandre Tharaud, piano, Les Violons du Roy, Bernard Labadie, director
Victoria Hall, Geneva, Switzerland
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 in C , Op. 21
The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim, conductor
The BBC Proms, London, England
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