Yuja Wang’s marvelous performance at the Royal Opera House at the Palace of Versailles commemorating the end of the First World War is now available on CD, and will soon be released on Blu-ray on December 6. Released by Deutsche Grammophon, the performance, which took place in November 2018 with the Vienna Philharmonic, marked the 100th anniversary of the “Treaty of Versailles” and the end of the Great War. For the concert, Maestro Franz Welser-Möst chose works that either represented the warring factions –not only the Central Powers but also the Allies –or included some reference to war and peace.
Ms. Wang joined the Vienna Philharmonic for Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand. Ravel, who was a volunteer medic in the war, composed the work for the Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein who lost his right arm on the battlefield. The program also featured Mozart’s overture to Die Zauberflöte, Debussy’s Nocturnes, Holsts’ “Mars, the Bringer of War” from The Planets, Ives’ The Unanswered Question, The Funeral March from Wagner’s Götterdämmerung, Vaughan Williams’ “Dirge for Two Veterans” from Dona nobis pacem, and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with soprano Elsa Dreisig, mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova, tenor Daniel Behle, and bass Ryan Speedo Green. For more information and purchase links, click here.