El concierto de Año Nuevo

·21 min·2 clips

The Vienna New Year's Concert began as a Nazi propaganda tool during World War II, created by a conductor with a secret mission.

The episode begins with the Radetzky March, connecting the familiar New Year's Concert music to its 1848 battle origins. Host Nacho introduces guest Martin Llade, author of 'The Last Concert of Vienna,' published by Ediciones B. They establish the historical setting of 1930s-1940s Vienna during World War II, describing a city under bombardment and facing Soviet invasion. The discussion turns to music's dual role in wartime: as hope for prisoners and as propaganda for Nazis. Llade shares how women in Auschwitz survived by playing for officers, while Dmitri Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony was smuggled to allies. The central figure is Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor who led the Vienna Opera and founded the New Year's Concert in 1939. Krauss operated under Nazi patronage but secretly resisted, helping Jewish musician Mitya Mayer-Riesman escape with assistance from British sisters Aida and Louise Cook. The conversation explores Vienna's cultural landscape, mentioning exiled writers like Stefan Zweig and composers like Arnold Schoenberg. Richard Strauss appears as a complex figure protecting his Jewish family while collaborating with the regime. A key scene describes Hitler meeting Krauss during the Munich Accords, where Hitler reveals his private record collection containing banned Jewish and Russian artists. Hitler admits his failed musical ambitions, having attempted to compose like Wagner before turning to politics. The New Year's Concert's creation is detailed: Gauleiter Baldur von Schirach moved it to January 1, 1941, featuring waltzes and polkas to assert Austrian identity within the Reich. The Vienna Philharmonic's history is noted, with half its members joining the Nazi Party and Jewish musicians like violinist Max Eksterman sent to Auschwitz. Llade introduces historical figures like Unity Mitford and Heinz Heydrich, brother of Reinhard Heydrich, who discovered the Final Solution and began saving Jews. The episode concludes with the concert's legacy: from Nazi propaganda tool to a global event broadcast in 150 countries, representing a transformation from racism to human concord.

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