Barenboim, in hospital, gives up tour

Barenboim, in hospital, gives up tour

News

norman lebrecht

May 03, 2022

Statement on Daniel Barenboim’s condition:

Barenboim was recently diagnosed with inflammatory vascular disease. He has been in hospital for two weeks. Doctors expect a full recovery. They urged him to complete his current treatment and step down from the upcoming West-East Diwan concert tour to focus on his recovery.

He is replaced by conductor Thomas Guggeis, Barenboim’s former assistant. Since the 2020/21 season he has been Staatskapellmeister at the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden, and from the 2023/24 season he will be General Music Director at the Frankfurt Opera.

Comments

  • alan says:

    Best place for him, as he’s been in poor health recently, not to mention being a lifelong sufferer of Barenbolitis (strange pseudo-musical affliction). I wish he’d recover soon.

    • Hugo Preuß says:

      What a nice and compassionate way to talk about a sick person. Good breeding always shows!

    • Sue Sonata Form says:

      Come on, now. There, but for the grace of god, go we!!

    • La plus belle voix says:

      Dear Allan,

      I sincerely hope that when you are in that sleep of death, seeing what dreams may come, and are about to shuffle off this mortal coil, you will give us pause.

      (With apols. to the Bard.)

    • Maria pianist says:

      Very bad taste.

  • Paul Dawson says:

    All good wishes for a speedy recovery. I’m glad the tour is still going ahead. I hope this doesn’t impact ticket sales too much.

    • Petros Linardos says:

      Arguably the West-East Divan Orchestra is Daniel Barenboim’s greatest legacy as a conductor and humanist. A successful tour without him will be a first class tribute.

    • MICHAEL ECKER says:

      GUGGEIS ist einer der kommenden Größen!
      Ein wirklich überragendes Talent! Nicht zu versäumen!!

    • Una says:

      Yes, there is that side of things too to consider when people are less well off after the pandemic, and certainly in Britain and Ireland, some making choices between heating and eating wth the extortionate rise in living costs. So pleased the tour is going ahead regardless. That will please Danny as well.

    • Achim Mentzel says:

      Nothing to discuss here. Boring, charisma-free student conducting. But he seems to be quite ok in the pit, so he rather should stick to it.

    • No Time Toulouse says:

      I was there. Must say I found TG underwhelming.

    • emilie35 says:

      Thanks!
      That’s really not good, not from him or from the singer.
      I don’t want to listen to ABSCHIED.

    • Max says:

      Overrated Kapellmeisterei

    • Walter says:

      Shockingly poor conducting. Not only unmusical, but entirely unclear in breath or shape. How can such an untalented prospect have reached such heights? He has nothing to say about the music and seems to be trying to stay one upbeat ahead and get out of town before anynody notices how utterly useless he is.

  • E says:

    It must be difficult to slow down,
    but I am glad that Maestro has
    agreed to this needed time for
    healing, and that his colleague Guggeis can take the orchestra
    on tour. With wishes for a good
    recovery.

  • Pam says:

    Shame. We could do with these dinosaurs (Barenboim, Argerich, Uchida, and all the rest) bowing out.

    • Petros Linardos says:

      Actually we are lucky that quite a few great pianists born in the 1940s continue to perform at the highest level.

      Let us hope that Perahia recovers soon.

      Nelson Freire and Radu Lupu are sorely missed.

    • Genius Repairman says:

      I guess, Pam, you were quite relieved Mozart and Schubert had the decency to bow out before they overstayed their welcome, unlike those selfish dinosaurs like Dvorak, Brahms and grumpy self obsessed Beethoven?

    • music lover says:

      Have you listened to Argerich recently????Or to Uchida´s stunning new recording of the Diabelli Variations?????Certainly not.Otherwise you wouldn´t post such crap.

  • Don Ciccio says:

    Interestingly enough, Guggeis has quietly replaced Jaap van Zweden in Der Fliegende Holländer at the Met next season.

  • Luana Miller says:

    Get well soon, Maestro. Do as your doctors direct. You’re not indestructible. Best wishes for your complete recovery! ❤️

  • Edgar says:

    …Maybe, just maybe, the Universe is communicating to the aged maestro that it is time to step down and enjoy a lovely retirement…? As for Thomas Guggeis: toitoitoi!

    • Tamino says:

      Personalities like DB do not find much meaning in life off the stage or pit. It’s not a desirable prospect for them, unlike so many (more boring) professions, to retire.

  • fflambeau says:

    Barenboim is one of the best conductors around.

  • Raja Shunmugam says:

    I first heard him as a young pianist in the 60s when he visited Kuala Lumpur. That performance has stayed in my mind. And I have watched him over the years as a conductor of great orchestras in Europe. I am sad to learn of his medical problems and wish him well in a speedy recovery.

  • Piano Lover says:

    “”I shall keep on giving concerts as long as I can”…but you can’t DB…
    He should stop being obsessed by the concert schedule.
    His best years are behind him.

  • Una says:

    Poor Danny. Wish him a speedy recovery, but as you get older it’s certainly harder and slower. Let’s hope he’s getting the best treatment possible.

  • Jane Brooke says:

    Get well soon, Danny.
    We really, really value your work with the East West Divan.

  • Ronald Smith says:

    Hope he will recover full

  • Daniele says:

    Hope everything will be better for him… We have s ticket for his concert in Lausanne we will thinking about him in it …

  • Pedro says:

    I wish Daniel Barenboim a speedy recovery. I was at his last performances in Berlin and he looked very ill. It’s incredible how he he was able to conduct three opera performances and one concert in five days!

  • Stephan von Cron says:

    A wise decision that he pass the torch : only to be wished that his choices for representation, unlike many in the past on his self-purported “list”, will be competent.

  • Guy says:

    People need to know when to call it a day. Barenboim is many years past his prime. Old ‘maestros’ serving nostalgia, not music.

  • henry williams says:

    come 65. ones health is not so good.

  • Aderval Cezario says:

    É o meu maestro preferido principalmente na 9 (nona)sinfonia.
    Meus votos de uma rápida recuperação.

  • Rod Cleary says:

    Get well soon Maestro…..and take it easy for while …

  • Piano Lover says:

    WHoever will “replace ” him is not worth seeing nor listening to.

  • fflambeau says:

    Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

  • Gloria says:

    When was he injected with the poison clot shot? That would be my first question. A regimen of enzymes, for life, is in order for the maestro. The world is upside down. Wishing him speedy recovery.

  • Margaret D says:

    As someone close in age to Daniel Barenboim I am somewhat appalled by some of the comments made by various so-called classical music enthusiasts on this site. Yes, he, like the rest of humanity is flawed and I suspect has pushed himself and Orchestra members too hard. However, whilst I agree that it may be time for him to ‘bow out’ soon, I really do not like to read comments which are reducing the abilities of himself, Martha Argerich and others. They are disrespectful and show the worst side of human nature.

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