The leftist Britten
Synopsis
Coming of age in the first half of the 20th century were two exceptionally talented children of the wealthy Austrian steel magnate Karl Wittgenstein: Ludwig Wittgenstein became a famous philosopher and Paul Wittgenstein a concert pianist.
Paul served in the Austrian army in World War I, and, for a concert pianist, suffered a horrific injury: the loss of his right arm. Undaunted, he rebuilt his career by commissioning and performing works for piano left-hand. The family fortune enabled him to commission the leading composers of his day, including Richard Strauss, Maurice Ravel and Sergei Prokofiev.
Unfortunately, even the Wittgenstein fortune couldn\u2019t protect the family from the racial laws of Nazi Germany, given the family\u2019s Jewish heritage. In 1938, he left for the United States after Austria\u2019s Anschluss with the German Reich.
In America, he commissioned a concert work from young British expatriate Benjamin Britten, also living in America at the time, and gave the premiere performance of Britten\u2019s Diversions for piano left-hand and orchestra on today\u2019s date in 1942, with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy. Wittgenstein later confessed that of all his commissions, Britten\u2019s work came the closest to fulfilling his needs and wishes.
Music Played in Today's Program
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) Diversions; Peter Donohoe, piano; City of Birmingham Symphony; Simon Rattle, cond. EMI 54270