Daniel Barenboim at 81: a life of two halves
OrchestrasHappy birthday to the eminence grise, now retired from all his involvements except as head of the West-East Diwan orchestra and its associated entities.
The first half of his life was conventional – an international solo career, giving way to music director posts with the Orchestre de Paris and the Opéra National.
The second half was unexpected – head of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Staatsoper Berlin, La Scala Milan and a growing obsession with the Middle East conflict which yielded a number of musical institutions but no political impact.
What next?
As Shakespeare put it, “Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”
That comment, though sadly true for many of us, is cruel and unnecessary.
How ugly of you!
Tasteless and disrespectful cherry picking of Shakespeare to make a point that says far more about inconsequential. yourself!
You speaking from experience?
His website has him conducting this month in Toronto, Chicago and Carnegie Hall. Wonder if these will happen
Also scheduled to appear in Philadelphia with the Staatskapelle Berlin.
Let’s hope his health and stamina is good enough appear.
Sadly, the program they bring is pretty much ‘coals to Newcastle’ 2 Brahms symphonies in a city once famed for oversaturation with exactly that…
I assume your question is merely based upon his health.
Carnegie Hall sent out a notice today that he is cancelling due to ill health, and will be replaced by Nezet-Seguin.
Friends Roman’s Countrymen……the good is oft interred with their bones…. Danny B and Edward Said-lest we forget
Actually Barenboim is still hanging on to the Sixth Stage. Unlike President Biden.
The remark on the Middle East is simply disgusting. I hope I won’t fall into reading these news again.
He was not aiming to have a political impact but a human impact – building understanding between Israelis and Palestinians, human relationships that see past countries, labels and races. Perhaps, some people don’t understand that. Anyone who cannot see how important this work is, considering the horrors in Israel and Gaza, must be living in an alternate universe.
Well, “no political impact” is preferable to the catastrophic harm perpetrated by other notable persons with an “obsession with the Middle East conflict”.
Yehudi Menuhin’s comments on teaching seem all the more applicable to those who get involved in politics: “The teacher must not be too arrogant and proud. One of his chief functions is to avoid doing harm. I would say that at least nine out of ten, and probably ninety-nine out of a hundred, teachers do harm; they are not aware, perhaps in their vanity and their blindness, of the damage they are doing. If a teacher can avoid this negative achievement, if he avoids doing any harm even if he does not do any good, he is already a pretty good teacher.”.
One of his early patrons around 50 years ago was the great Festival Director Peter Diamand. Running the Edinburgh Festival, Diamand realized that constantly importing Opera companies from the continent was always going to be a problem due to the very small stage in the King’s Theatre. He knew Barenboim wanted to conduct opera. So he arranged to mount the Mozart/da Ponte operas for him to conduct over a 6 year period. These marked Barenboim’s opera debut.
Although with a hand-picked cast and the ECO in the pit, the Don Giovanni which started the cycle was far from a success. Peter Ustinov’s production was quirky and disappointing, the more so given his earlier success with Zauberflote in Hamburg. Barenboim’s conducting also came in for criticism for being somewhat heavy handed!
Figaro was even more disappointing even with Fischer-Dieskau, Geraint Evans, Cotrubas, Harper and Berganza in the cast. I cannot recall who was the originally planned producer but he fell by the wayside and the production fell to “Fischer-Dieskau and friends”. Not that this helped for it was basically a mess with each artist, most being significantly older than their characters, doing their own thing. Although some criticism fell on Barenboim, it was a significant advance on the poor Giovanni.
The Cosi was then cancelled, an realisation perhaps that Diamand’s faith in his protege had not been fulfilled. His operatic exploits in his first four decades therefore did not have an auspicious start. Not sure what operatic endeavors followed these Mozarts until his Bayreuth debut 5 years thereafter.
How interesting. My first encounter with Barenboim at the EIF was 1977 I think, the last year of his tenure as director.
Any human with a head and a heart would not stand for inflicting pain on any other human.Constructs of Race, Nationality or Religion are hindrance to “Humanity”
I cherish my memories of playing under him and experiencing his piano performances. I hope he can continue to perform and conduct for some time to come.
As a professor of Middle Eastern politics who has met some of the West-Eastern Diwan musicians, I would not at all agree that Barenboim (and Said) have had no political impact with their work. At this moment, we should applaud people who have tried to bridge the divides in the conflict, not dismiss their efforts.
Of all the things one could and should say about the life’s work of Maestro Barenboim, the above 3 paragraphs are the most banal, patronising, simplistic, judgmental words written. The “first half of his life was conventional” and he had “a growing obsession with the Middle East conflict”???? What a foolish summary! He is one of the greatest virtuous pianists of our time, a grand awe-inspiring and innovative conductor, a superb communicator, leader and teacher – not to mention his consistent engagement for social justice and human rights. I’ll keep enjoying and admiring all aspects of Maestro Barenboim’s mastery and humanity
Three paragraphs.
Three.
I believe Daniel Barenboim deserves a more extensive, meaningful treatment. To deliver it, obviously you must have what it takes. Obviously, you don’t.
A Great musician.
A very poor politician defending the cause of his People’s enemies.
According to an email from the CSO.
“PATRON ALERT: Jakub Hrůša to step in for Daniel Barenboim”
I was very fortunate to have an opportunity to perform with the CSO under his direction at Ravinia. He was in his twenties and I was just a teenager. I’ll never forget Brahms 2 and the Bartok, Concerto for Orchestra. Thank you maestro!
Happy Birthday great maestro! We wish you many more!