Can you buy a culture? In 2008 Qatar decided to do just that, pulling in world-renowned conductor Lorin Maazel to set up the Qatar Philharmonic. But without a history of western musical training Qatar had to buy in its players from around the world. We visit one of the world's richest oil nations to find out the motivations and the cost behind the experiment as well as hearing the struggles that players have faced adjusting to living and working in Doha's sand blasted deserts.
With Allen Fromherz (author of Qatar: A Modern History), Kurt Meister (Executive Director of the Qatar Philharmonic), Issa Boulis (of the Qatar Music Academy), music critic Norman Lebrecht and Her Excellency Sheikha Mayassa.
First broadcast on 28th April 2012 BBC Radio 4 Presented by Razia Iqbal Produced by Francesca Panetta and Lucy Greenwell
