FULL Belshazzar’s Feast (Walton) Paris 2023 Willard White
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Belshazzar's Feast
- Composer: Walton William
- Libretto:
- Venue & Opera Company: Philharmonie de Paris, France
- Recorded: May 30, 2023
- Type: Concert Live
- Singers: Willard White
- Conductor: Klaus Mäkelä
- Orchestra: Orchestre de Paris
- Chorus: Chœur de l'Orchestre de Paris, Cambridge University Symphony Chorus
- Chorus Master: Ingrid Roose, Marc Korovitch, Richard Wilberforce
- Stage Director:
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: ARTE
- Date Published: 2023
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: ARTE FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Programme :
Dmitri Chostakovitch – Suite pour orchestre de jazz n°2
Dmitri Chostakovitch – Concerto pour violoncelle n°2
William Walton – Belshazzar’s Feast
Belshazzar’s Feast is a cantata by the English composer William Walton. It was first performed at the Leeds Festival on 8 October 1931, with the baritone Dennis Noble, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Leeds Festival Chorus, conducted by Malcolm Sargent. The work has remained one of Walton’s most celebrated compositions. Osbert Sitwell selected the text from the Bible, primarily the Book of Daniel and Psalm 137. The work is dedicated to Walton’s friend and benefactor Lord Berners.
In the story of Belshazzar’s Feast, the Jews are in exile in Babylon. After a feast at which Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, commits sacrilege by using the Jews’ sacred vessels to praise the heathen gods, he is miraculously killed, the kingdom falls, and the Jews regain their freedom.