The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra was the brainchild of Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim and the late Palestinian-born writer Edward Said, and is a unique musical collaboration dedicated to further the cause of a peaceful co-existence in the Middle East. A chance meeting between Barenboim and Said in a London hotel led to an intense friendship between two creative spirits who should have been poles apart politically. The orchestra was born out off their aspirations for closer Israeli/Palestinian co-operation and contains the finest young musicians between the ages of 14 and 25 from both sides of the divide. This new CD documents the orchestra's August 2005 concert in the Palestinian Territory in the city of Ramallah, and includes repertoire for which Barenboim is celebrated - Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat major and Elgar's Nimrod (from Enigma Variations). These recordings involve musicians - possibly the only people involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict who know people 'from the other side' - making music together under the baton of a legendary conductor. Their playing attains to levels normally only achieved by the leading orchestras of the world - an unheralded coming together of musical and humanitarian concerns.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. MOZART : SINFONIA CONCERTANTE IN E-FLAT MAJOR, KV 297B - I ALLEGRO
2. MOZART : SINFONIA CONCERTANTE IN E-FLAT MAJOR, KV 297B - II ADAGIO
3. MOZART : SINFONIA CONCERTANTE IN E-FLAT MAJOR, KV 297B - III ANDANTINO CON VARIAZIONI
4. BEETHOVEN : SYMPHONY NO. 5 IN C MINOR OP.67 - I ALLEGRO CON BRIO
5. BEETHOVEN : SYMPHONY NO. 5 IN C MINOR OP.67 - II ANDANTO CON MOTO
6. BEETHOVEN : SYMPHONY NO. 5 IN C MINOR OP.67 - III ALLEGRO
7. BEETHOVEN : SYMPHONY NO. 5 IN C MINOR OP.67 - IV ALLEGRO
8. DANIEL BARENBOIM SPEECH AT RAMALLAH CONCERT 21-AUGUST-05
9. ELGAR : ENIGMA VARIATIONS - NIMROD