West-Eastern Divan Orchestra on Classical Showcase

On our Friday evening broadcast of Classical Showcase this week, we'll hear the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra with Daniel Barenboim conducting a program that includes two contemporary works and a concert performance of the second act of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra consists of young musicians from Israel and Palestine and other Arab countries who come together in harmony to make music in this ensemble led by Daniel Barenboim.  The orchestra was created to encourage better understanding between Israelis and Palestinians.  The group, based in Seville, Spain, was founded in 1999 by Argentine-Israeli Barenboim and the late Palestinian-American academic Edward Said. In this program, they'll perform the European premiers of two short works, Resonating Sounds, by the Israeli Ayal Adler, and Ramal, by the Syrian-born Kareem Roustom.  In the second half of the broadcast, the West-Eastern Divan orchestra will be heard in Act Two of Richard Wagner's opeara Tristan und Isolde in a concert performance with tenor Peter Seiffert as Tristan, soprano Waltraud Meir as Isolde, mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova as Brangane, and  bass Rene Pape as King Marke. Classical Showcase airs Friday at 7 pm on Classical 101.  Below, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra performs the Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde at the BBC Proms in 2009: http://youtu.be/jhzSI2y7aXY