REPORT: Vienna Philharmonic acknowledges honoring Nazi war criminal

The famed Vienna Philharmonic has acknowledged that many of its musicians were Nazi party members during Hitler's rule and that its director may have delivered a prestigious orchestra award to a Nazi war criminal two decades after the end of World War Two.                                              

One of the world's premier orchestras, the Vienna Philharmonic is most popularly known for its annual New Year's Concert, a Strauss waltz extravaganza that is broadcast to an audience of more than 50 million in 80 countries.                

Less well known is the fact that the concert originated as a propaganda instrument under Nazi rule in 1939. The orchestra rarely played the music of the Strauss family, known for the "Blue Danube" and numerous other waltzes, before this period.            

On Sunday, the orchestra published a list of recipients of its rings of honor and medals, which were traditionally given to artists but during the Nazi period were given to high-ranking officials and military leaders.     


REUTERS


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