Commemorative albums, whether festive or serious, rarely go beyond ritual observances, but this concert, held at the Versailles opera house on the 100th anniversary of the World War I armistice, is different. It's a unique sequence of works that approaches the phenomenon of war from different perspectives, falling into a roughly chronological sequence and making a strong emotional impact. One might question some of the interpretive choices made by conductor Franz Welser-Möst, leading the Wiener Philharmoniker. Although the ...
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Commemorative albums, whether festive or serious, rarely go beyond ritual observances, but this concert, held at the Versailles opera house on the 100th anniversary of the World War I armistice, is different. It's a unique sequence of works that approaches the phenomenon of war from different perspectives, falling into a roughly chronological sequence and making a strong emotional impact. One might question some of the interpretive choices made by conductor Franz Welser-Möst, leading the Wiener Philharmoniker. Although the Mozart's Overture to The Magic Flute, K. 620, is supposed to be there to exemplify humanist values, Welser-Möst takes it at an oddly blistering clip, but then the more specific program begins. Debussy's set of Sirènes, in line with the ominous prewar mood of this work, are jittery indeed, and this inaugurates the long emotional arc of the program as it leads through Holst and Wagner. Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand shows the impact of war from a different direction: its...
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