NEW BOOK
November 2007

Daniel Barenboim’s new book, La Musica Sveglia il Tempo (music awakens time), will be released by Feltrinelli of Italy on 29 November. The book, a collection of essays relating to the author’s lifelong pursuit of knowledge and understanding, not only of music and of life, but of one through the other. As he himself says in the introduction, “this is not a book for musicians, nor is it one for non-musicians, but rather for the curious mind that wishes to discover the parallels between music and life and the wisdom that becomes audible to the thinking ear.” Indeed, the topics covered in the book range from the problems of timing—whether in a piece of music or a political process—to the philosophy of Spinoza and its relevance to musical interpretation. The leitmotif of the book is the impossibility of separating music from other, more accepted realms of intellectual pursuit; Barenboim makes an argument for the integration of music and musical thought into our everyday lives. He does not hesitate to raise difficult and uncomfortable questions, such as whether to perform Wagner in Israel. His unconventional and often controversial views of conflict in the Middle East are illustrated in an essay about the destinies of two Palestinians, one from the occupied territories and one from Israel. A good deal of attention is also devoted to one of Barenboim’s most celebrated and ground-breaking projects, itself a manifestation of the power music holds over lives: the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. Barenboim explains in detail how an understanding of music among the young Israelis, Palestinians and Arabs of other countries in the orchestra can contribute to the comprehension of their existential dependence on one another and, ultimately, to a better human understanding of one another. For, as he says, “the power of music lies in is its ability to speak to all aspects of the human being—the animal, the emotional, the intellectual, and the spiritual. Music teaches us, in short, that everything is connected.”

Editions in other languages will follow:
Germany: Siedler, August 2008
France: Fayard, August 2008
United Kingdom: Weidenfeld.  December 2008/January 2009
United States: Verso. November 2008

DANIEL BARENBOIM IS AWARDED THE PRAEMIUM IMPERIALE IN JAPAN
October 2007

At a ceremony in Tokyo on October 16th, Prince Hitachi, brother of the Japanese Emperor and honorary patron of the Japan Art Association, presented Daniel Barenboim with the 2007 Praemium Imperiale. The prize, created to honor artists whose work has had a significant international impact, comes with an award of 15 million yen. Claudio Abbado, Mstislav Rostropovich, Steve Reich and Oscar Peterson are previous recipients.

Other winners named in 2007 were the sculptor Tony Cragg, painter Daniel Buren, architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron and theatre director/producer Ellen Stewart.

DANIEL BARENBOIM CONDUCTS THE WIENER PHILHARMONIKER IN TWO PROGRAMS AT THE BBC PROMS
September 2007

Daniel Barenboim brought the Wiener Philharmoniker to the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London for two performances on September 3rd and 4th. Their first program consisted of Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4. The following evening, they performed Ligeti’s Atmosphères,Bartók’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, Kodály’s Dances of Galanta and Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody No. 1.

Of the first program The Daily Telegraph wrote, “The special Viennese sound as embodied in the Vienna Philharmonic seemed treasurable, and defiantly enduring. … There was a palpable sense of sound, music and performance style all wrapped in one unbroken tradition. … In Daniel Barenboim the orchestra had a conductor who knew when to guide and when to keep out of the way. Providing a pulse is something he rarely did; always his mind and his gestures were focused on moulding the melodic phrase, and pointing up the moments of tension and repose. It’s in the massive arches of Bruckner’s symphony that a conductor’s presence is really vital. Barenboim knows that pacing this music is partly a matter of engineering, of balancing strains and stresses…. But he also knows that all this musical masonry must be leavened with surprise, drama and lyricism to come alive. It’s a difficult balancing act, but he brought it off magnificently. The result was something wonderfully human, as well as grandly majestic.”    

The Times said of the second program, “Who said the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dead? It certainly wasn’t on Tuesday at the Proms, when the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra turned east and found the Hungarian composers Bartók, Kodály and even Ligeti waiting with abrupt folk rhythms and orchestral textures ghostly and glinting. …the Vienna Philharmonic, cream of the cream, kissed Ligeti’s spectral whispers with the delicacy of true connoisseurs. … For sonic subtlety, the Ligeti was outclassed by the orchestra’s silky quiet in the opening movement of Bartók’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta … the spell held, as it did in the third movement’s night shivers. Throughout, Barenboim’s control of dynamics was masterly…. In the whirlwind stomp of Kodály’s finale, the VPO woodwinds’ high-speed articulation was a marvel. …. In the Enescu, too, orchestral perfection … Hail to Barenboim and the Vienna Philharmonic.”

U.N. NAMES DANIEL BARENBOIM AS AN AMBASSADOR FOR PEACE
September 2007

Marking the International Day of Peace, September 21, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon named Daniel Barenboim as a Messenger of Peace to help raise global awareness of the world body’s work and ideals.

Others named as Messengers of Peace were the Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, the Japanese-American violinist Midori Goto and Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of Jordan, First Lady of Dubai, who is the first Arab woman to compete in equestrian events at the continental, world and Olympic levels. They join existing Messengers of Peace primatologist Jane Goodall, actor Michael Douglas, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Eli Wiesel and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. 

On his appointment, Barenboim said, “Music teaches us to express ourselves to the fullest whilst simultaneously listening to the other. I will do my very best to carry this message to all the corners of the world.”

DANIEL BARENBOIM LEADS STAATSKAPELLE BERLIN ON TOUR TO ITALY AND SPAIN
July 1-8 2007

The Staatskapelle Berlin toured Italy and Spain in the first week of July under conductors Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez. The repertoire conducted by Daniel Barenboim included Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 5 and 7 and the same program as the June 27 and 28 Berlin concerts, Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Lang Lang as soloist and Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote. The concerts in Italy took place at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, the Teatro Comunale in Florence (two programs) and the Palazzo Mauro de André in Ravenna. In Spain, the two concerts took place at the Teatro Carlos V in Granada.

Ionarts wrote that “The Staatskapelle’s long-time director, Daniel Barenboim stamped this performance of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony with his idiomatic style. …This was a full-voiced Mahler, with Barenboim massing sound into monolithic blocks. Thrilling moments, dominated by the impressive brass section abounded in the middle part of the funeral march, and even more in the vehement opening of the second movement and the crushing loudness of the last. … [In the Adagietto] the gentle sound began imperceptibly, and Barenboim allowed the movement to unfold in a calm, suspended way, not bending or distorting the tempo through too much rubato.”

DANIEL BARENBOIM LEADS STAATSKAPELLE BERLIN IN WORKS BY BRAHMS AND STRAUSS
June 27 and 28 2007

The Staatskapelle Berlin’s program on June 27 and 28 at Berlin’s Philharmonie and Konzerthaus featured Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote. Lang Lang was the soloist in the Brahms concerto.

The Berliner Zeitung wrote that “Under Barenboim the Staatskapelle find a natural and free, almost narrative tone.” The Maerkische Allgemeine remarked that Barenboim “dresses the sounds of Brahms with the Berliner Staatskapelle in a beautifully earth-colored darkness.” Regarding the performances of Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote [with Claudius Popp as soloist], Neues Deutschland said, “Barenboim and the orchestra expressed the wit and drama of the unmistakable situations of Don Quixote in a most pleasurable manner.”

WALDBÜHNE CONCERT ATTRACTS OUTDOOR AUDIENCE OF 15,000
June 23 2007

Before an outdoor audience of 15,000, Daniel Barenboim led the Staatskepelle Berlin in performances of Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3 and Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 5. Lang Lang was the soloist in both piano concertos. It was raining through the Leonore Overture and picnickers wore raincoats and held up umbrellas. Fortunately, the skies cleared for the remainder of the concert.

Lang Lang told the Süddeutsche Zeitung that “Barenboim taught me how to play Beethoven. He is for me the greatest living Beethoven pianist with his mixture of spirituality and precision.”

After the official program concluded, Lang Lang played a Chinese song called “To Happy Holidays” and Daniel Barenboim joined him for four-hand encores of Schubert’s March Militaire and Brahms’s Hungarian Dance in F-sharp Minor. The Waldbühne audience erupted with applause.

DANIEL BARENBOIM PERFORMS BACH’S WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER IN VIENNA
June 2007

Daniel Barenboim performed Book II of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier at Vienna’s Konzerthaus on June 11th. The Wiener Zeitung said that, “beautiful sounding and sensual Bach flowed through the large concert hall. This was mainly thanks to Barenboim’s outstanding key strokes, carrying the gentlest whispers through the hall and making even the orchestral effects sound colourful and never harsh.”

Die Presse wrote that, “Daniel Barenboim played the Well-Tempered Clavier Book II in an irresistibly rich manner; indeed, he created the dramatic momentum of a veristic operatic act in some of the musical developments and conjured up pastel-coloured gentle images from some of the preludes. Barenboim has all manner of piano skills at his disposal, from impressionistic keystrokes to the accelerating grasp of the calibrated Liszt player. He uses these to clarify Bach’s artistic lines without robbing the music of its sensual allure. … Barenboim … is foremost an interpreter who searches for beauty and expressiveness in music.”

DANIEL BARENBOIM PERFORMS BRAHMS PIANO CONCERTOS
June 2007

Daniel Barenboim started the month of June with performances of Brahms’s Piano Concertos with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Simon Rattle, with the NDR Symphony Orchestra and Christoph von Dohnany and with the Bayerisches Rundfunk with Mariss Jansons.

On June 1, 2 and 3, there was Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Simon Rattle at Berlin’s Philharmonie. The Nürnberger Zeitung wrote, “Daniel Barenboim … demonstrated his brilliance as a pianist in this summit of classical repertoire; Brahms’s second piano concerto was transformed into a transcendental show of souls though his eruptive grasp and finest sensuality of sound. The eye contact with conductor Simon Rattle was intense and fruitful: with Barenboim as an intermediary, the Berliner Philharmoniker responded with seductive, almost improvisatory but perfectly cultivated intensity.  One can hardly imagine a higher plane of music making.”

With the NDR Symphony Orchestra and Christoph von Dohnanyi, there were both Brahms Piano Concertos on subsequent days, June 8 and 9, at Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle.

With the Bayerisches Rundfunk and Mariss Jansons, Daniel Barenboim performed Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in concerts on June 14 and 15 at Munich’s Gasteig.

DANIEL BARENBOIM AWARDED HONORARY DOCTORATE BY OXFORD UNIVERSITY
June 2007

As part of the annual Encaenia Ceremony at Oxford University, Daniel Barenboim received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music on June 20th at the Sheldonian Theatre. Among his seven fellow honourees, from the fields of Science, Letters and Civil Law, were the former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the Booker Prize-winning author A.S. Byatt.

DANIEL BARENBOIM PERFORMS BEETHOVEN PIANO CONCERTOS CYCLE WITH THE STAATSKAPELLE BERLIN
May 2007

Daniel Barenboim was both conductor and soloist in performances of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1 – 5 with the Staatskapelle Berlin in Bochum as part of the 2007 Klavier-Festival Ruhr 2007.

DANIEL BARENBOIM PERFORMS ALL-LISZT RECITALS IN ITALY AND FRANCE
May 2007

Daniel Barenboim performed all-Liszt programs in Rome, Florence, Bologna, Milan and Paris in May. The repertoire included the Sonetto 47 del Petrarca,  Sonetto 104 del Petrarca, Sonetto 123 del Petrarca, St. François d'Assise. La prédication aux oiseaux, Après une lecture de Dante. "Fantasia quasi sonata." In the second half, Barenboim performed three Liszt transcriptions from Verdi, the Miserere du Trovatore, Aida: Danza sacra e duetto finale and Rigoletto: Paraphrase de concert.

DANIEL BARENBOIM PERFORMS WITH ORCHESTRAS IN ITALY
May 2007

Daniel Barenboim performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 on May 1 and 2 with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai in Turin under conductor Jay Friedman. Later that week he travelled to Rome for three concerts with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale diSanta Cecilia conducted by Antonio Pappano, where the program included Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. On May 18th, Daniel Barenboim was in Florence for a performance at the Teatro Comunale with Zubin Mehta conducting the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. This time, Mr. Barenboim was the soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 and Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

Daniel Barenboim’s participation in the 2007 Maggio Musicale Fiorentino was part of the Progetto Barenboim, which also included an all-Liszt recital on May 12 and two appearances as conductor of the Staatskapelle Berlin in early July in performances of Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 5 and 7.

DANIEL BARENBOIM CONDUCTS THE BERLIN PREMIERE OF NEW MANON PRODUCTION
April 29, May 16 & 19 

When the original conductor for the new Manon production at the Staatsoper Berlin pulled out of the production, Daniel Barenboim stepped into the breach at short notice. On April 29th he conducted the Berlin premiere of a new production of Jules Massenet’s opera, directed by Vincent Paterson, a co-production with Los Angeles Opera. Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón sang the main roles, Manon Lescaut and Chevalier des Grieux.  Mr. Barenboim also conducted performances at the Staatsoper Berlin on May 16 and 19 in which the Brazilian tenor Fernando Portari took on the role of des Grieux, replacing Rolando Villazón, who was ill.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said Daniel Barenboim had transformed a negative into a positive situation. Orchestrally, he showed “a great deal of feeling for the ars galica …the audience was beside itself with joy.”

On May 19, BMW sponsored Staatsoper For All, through which the Manon production was projected onto a massive screen in the open area (Bebelplatz) outside the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. There 20,000 Berliners and visitors took advantage of the free performance in excellent sound and picture quality.

FESTTAGE BERLIN 2007 CELEBRATES MAHLER
April 1-12 2007

Festtage Berlin 2007 took place between April 1st and 12th and consisted of ten programs by the Staatskapelle Berlin featuring the rarely performed complete cycle of nine Mahler symphonies, the large cycles for voice and orchestra -Kindertotenlieder, Rückert Lieder, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with Thomas Quasthoff as the soloist, and Des Knaben Wunderhorn with Christine Schäfer as the soloist- and Das Lied von der Erde with singers Michelle DeYoung and Burkhard Fritz. Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez shared the conducting. The concerts took place in Berlin’s Philharmonie.

Daniel Barenboim conducted the Kindertotenlieder, Rückert Lieder and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Das Lied von der Erde and Symphonies Nos. 1, 5, 7 and 9. The Berliner Zeitung wrote, ˝The Festtage at the Philharmonie opened ... with the first symphony and the Kindertotenlieder. Immediately, it becomes clear where the advantage of Barenboim’s exploration of Mahler lies.” Barenboim’s performance of the first movement, performed “vitally, concentratedly and demonically … pulls the listener out of his seat. The Staatskapelle performs with an enormous variety of sounds. It is able to clearly separate the layers of the score from one another and yet to hear them together in complete roundness … “

Paul Moor, the Berlin correspondent for Musical America, described how in the first twelve days of April, Gustav Mahler “single-handedly took over Berlin’s teeming music scene” with performances of “all nine of Mahler’s completed symphonies plus the big cycles for solo voice with large orchestra. The … world-renowned … Staatskapelle Berlin played all ten evenings, assorted among two of the world’s foremost Mahlerians, … Daniel Barenboim and … Pierre Boulez.” Daniel Barenboim conducted “Mahler's valedictory Ninth, in the faltering opening of which some psychologically oriented Mahlerians believe to have detected a foreshadowing of the heart failure that in 1911 felled one of music history's greatest composer-conductors at the age of only 51. He made it genuinely poignant especially for anyone who knew what that work meant to the dying composer.”

DANIEL BARENBOIM LEADS LA SCALA ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS IN PERFORMANCE IN ACCRA, GHANA
April 2007

On April 23, Daniel Barenboim and the Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala, Milan, performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (“Choral”) at the National Theatre in Accra, Ghana, as part of the country’s celebration of 50 years of independence. It was the Orchestra’s first performance in sub-Saharan Africa and it came about through the efforts of Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations, who is Ghanian by birth. The BBC’s Rome correspondent, reporting from Ghana, described the “1,400 seat ultra-modern National Theatre … packed with local officials and diplomats. … The evening began in an unusual way, with the beating of a traditional tribal drum, a traditional Ghanian welcome.”

Then the orchestra and chorus performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. “The impact of the music on those lucky enough to be present,“ continued the BBC correspondent, “was electric.”

DANIEL BARENBOIM ACCOMPANIES ROLANDO VILLAZÓN IN LIEDERABEND
March 2007

So many music lovers looked forward to this Schumann, Duparc and Liszt Liederabend on March 26th with tenor Rolando Villazón and Daniel Barenboim, that the concert was sold out months in advance. On the night, Villazón announced that he had a cold and asked for the audience’s understanding. As it turned out, Villazón’s musicianship went far in projecting the songs, even though his voice was not in optimal condition. Der Tagesspiegel wrote of the Dichterliebe cycle, “With Daniel Barenboim at the piano, [Villazón] had a Schumann expert and Schumann lover on which to build.” Der Neue Merker said, “Barenboim was, unsurprisingly, an equally gentle as well as stylistic partner at the Steinway. Even after the intermission, the master proved himself as a great fortune for Villazón with his attention and soft key strokes.”

DANIEL BARENBOIM PERFORMS LIEDERABEND WITH HANNO MÜLLER-BRACHMANN
March 2007

Daniel Barenboim joined bass-baritone Hanno Müller-Brachmann in a program of lieder by Michael Gielen, Brahms and Schubert on March 19 in the Apollo-Saal of the Staatsoper Berlin. The recital, in honor of Michael Gielen’s 80th birthday, was sold out and there were many disappointed people waiting in the lobby without tickets, who were eventually accommodated with extra chairs.

Müller-Brachmann and Barenboim were joined in Gielen’s Six Songs for Bass voice and Three Instrumentalists by violinist/violist Felix Schwartz and clarinettist Sylvia Schmückle-Wagner. The Berliner Zeitung wrote, “It fell to the accompanists to illuminate what might be called ‘expressiveness’ in Gielen’s lieder, which are worked in twelve-tone sequences. Daniel Barenboim at the piano, Sylvia Schmückle-Wagner with her clarinet and Felix Schwartz playing the violin and viola, achieved this with their sensitive tonality, abject loneliness, nervous anxiety and unexpected serenity.”

The program also included Brahms’s Vier ernste Gesänge, Op 121 and a group of nine Schubert lieder: Der Schiffer, Auf der Donau, Selige Welt, Der Wanderer, Waldesnacht, Der Wanderer an den Mond, Der Einsame, Gruppe aus dem Tartarus and Sehnsucht.

DANIEL BARENBOIM CONDUCTS MUSSORGSKY’S BORIS GODUNOV
March 2007

Daniel Barenboim conducted performances of Boris Godunov in the production by Dmitri Tcherniakov at the Staatsoper Berlin on March 15 and 22. René Pape sang the title role, Nikolak Gassiev was Schuysky, Alexander Vinogradov played Pimen, Burkhard Fritz was Grigory and Silvia Schwartz sang the role of Xenia.

DANIEL BARENBOIM NAMED COMMANDEUR DANS L'ORDRE NATIONAL DE LA LÉGION D'HONNEUR
March 2007

Daniel Barenboim was named Commandeur dans l’ordre national de la Légion
d’Honneur in a ceremony held on March 25 during a European Union summit in Berlin. The French President Jacques Chirac presented the highest French honor to Mr. Barenboim, calling him a great artist and intellectual and a friend of France. Chirac said, “Your weapon for peace is the conductor’s baton.”

DANIEL BARENBOIM AWARDED THE GOETHE MEDAL
March 2007

Daniel Barenboim has been awarded the 2007 Goethe Medal by the Goethe Institute. The medal, an official decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany, is awarded each year on March 22nd, the anniversary of Goethe’s death, to non-Germans whose work is in keeping with the aims of the Goethe Institute. Because Mr. Barenboim had to be in Berlin on March 22nd to rehearse and perform Boris Godunov, a member of the West Eastern Divan Orchestra accepted the award on his behalf in Weimar.

The Goethe Medal was introduced in 1955 and has been awarded to 312 people from 57 countries. The other winners of the 2007 Goethe Medal are the writer and translator Dezsö Tandori and the theater director Min’Gi Kim.

DANIEL BARENBOIM AND MEMBERS OF THE WEST-EASTERN DIVAN ORCHESTRA PERFORM A CHARITY CONCERT TO BENEFIT RELIEF PROJECTS IN DARFUR
March 2007

Daniel Barenboim and four members of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, violinist Michael Barenboim, violist Amihai Grosz, cellist Kyril Zlotnikov and double bass player Nabil Shehata, performed Schubert's "Trout Quintet" on March 20, as part of a week-long campaign to benefit relief projects in Darfur. The campaign, "Darfur: Crimes Against Humanity," was organized by the Jewish Museum in Berlin in cooperation with Human Rights Watch and under the patronage of former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.

The evening began with a welcome address by S.E. Eugène-Richard Gasana, Ambassador of the Republic of Rwanda, who described the conflict in Darfur from the Rwandan perspective. The entire proceeds of the evening will benefit relief projects in Darfur by Médecins Sans Frontières. Tankred Stöbe, a board member, reported on their projects in the region. The aim of the campaign week was to draw public attention to one of today's most brutal conflicts.

DANIEL BARENBOIM CONDUCTS THE VIENNA PHILHARMONIC ON TOUR
February/March 2007

Daniel Barenboim led the Vienna Philharmonic on a tour to Budapest, Oslo, Moscow, Valencia, Madrid and New York City in the second half of February and early March. Their repertoire included Schumann's Symphony No. 4, Wagner excerpts from Tannhäuser, Götterdämmerung and Die Meistersinger, Schubert's Symphony No. 5, Bruckner's Symphony No. 7, Mozart's Piano Concerto KV 595, with Mr. Barenboim as soloist, Bartók's Dance Suite, Piano Concerto, with Lang Lang as soloist, and Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta.

DANIEL BARENBOIM CONDUCTS PARSIFAL AT THE STAATSOPER BERLIN
February, March and June 2007

Daniel Barenboim conducted  performances of Parsifal on February 8 and 11 and March 18, 25 and 29 in a production by Bernd Eichinger premiered at the Staatsoper Berlin in 2005. The role of Amfortas was sung by Roman Trekel on the first evening and by Hanno Müller-Brachmann thereafter and that of Kundry by Michaela Schuster on February 8 and Michelle DeYoung thereafter. The other major roles were sung by Andreas Bauer, René Pape, Burkhard Fritz and Jochen Schmeckenbecher.

DANIEL BARENBOIM LEADS STAATSKAPELLE BERLIN ON TOUR TO GERMANY, LUXEMBURG, BELGIUM AND HOLLAND
January/February 2007

Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin toured Europe in January with an all-Mahler program consisting of the symphonies Nos. 5, 7 and 9. They performed in Baden-Baden, Luxemburg, Brussels, Munich, Cologne, Dortmund, Amsterdam, Hannover and Hamburg. The Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung said, “The audience in the Dortmund concert hall felt that something unusual had occurred, that Daniel Barenboim delivered something that has become very rare today: Truthfulness and big feelings.”

The Staatskapelle Berlin, under Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez, will present a complete cycle of Mahler Symphonies at the Easter-Festtage 2007. The Festtage, to be held at Berlin’s Philharmonie, will also feature performances of Das Lied von der Erde and other vocal works with orchestra.

DANIEL BARENBOIM COMMEMORATES THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS CARNEGIE HALL DEBUT
January 2007

On January 20th 2007, 50 years to the day from his Carnegie Hall debut, Daniel Barenboim performed Book 1 of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier in the same hall. The following day he played Book 2. At his 1956 debut, he performed the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 1 with the fabled (NBC) Symphony of the Air under the baton of the illustrious Leopold Stokowski.

The New York Times reported that, “[the 14-year old Barenboim] scored a distinct success. He had the assurance and easy skill of one born to the piano, and, with his strong technique, the work presented no difficulties he could not solve. His playing had rhythmic impetus, but it was always well controlled.”

This year, after Barenboim’s performances of the Bach epic, The New York Times wrote, “Playing both books over a weekend and making each prelude and fugue leap off the page is a tall order. … Mr. Barenboim undertook a marathon, playing Book I on Saturday evening and Book 2 on Sunday afternoon. A listener never knows what to expect from Mr. Barenboim’s piano recitals. He personalizes his performances to the point of perversity at times, but in a field so clogged with cookie-cutter players, there’s something to be said for that, not least because Mr. Barenboim is as likely to play with insight and beauty.”

CONCERT AT LA SCALA FOR THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF TOSCANINI
January 2007

Daniel Barenboim returned to the Filarmonica della Scala on January 16th for a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in a concert commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of Arturo Toscanini. The arrangement of the orchestral instruments involved having the cellos in the center and to the left, the double basses behind them and behind the last row of first violins. In the words of il giornale della musica, this layout “helped give compact depth to the strings and a dark-hued sound to the orchestra.”

The gala concert was attended by the President of Italy and other officials, as well as by members of the public admitted free of charge, tickets having been distributed through residents’ associations and others.

The newspaper went on to describe how Mr. Barenboim took the microphone during the dress rehearsal and spoke to the audience about Toscanini and how he believed that music was never separate from life. Barenboim recalled how Toscanini had “defined his stance against Nazi-Fascism to be a humane rather than a political act.” He also added that in 1936, after having refused to conduct in Beirut in Hitler's presence, Toscanini had gone to conduct the newly formed Palestine Orchestra (today’s Israel Phiharmonic Orchestra).

DANIEL BARENBOIM OPENS “DISCOURSES ON EUROPE” IN BRUSSELS
January 2007

On January 29th, in Brussels, Daniel Barenboimappeared as the first prominent speaker in a new series of public debates entitled “Discourses on Europe.” His speech was hosted by the European Economic and Social Committee as part of the initiative “A Soul for Europe”, under the patronage of the European Commission and the European Parliament.

Barenboim’s speech, on the subject of Europe’s commitment to the Middle East and on the power of music as a means for mutual understanding and acceptance, was attended by 150 guests drawn from political institutions and members of the European Parliament.

In his speech, Barenboim stressed that “it is critical for Europe to reassess its role as an important mediating power for present and future generations through education and culture. … There is a necessity to integrate the Israeli and the Palestinian state into some form of European Context. Peace in the Middle East is a rational, reasonable dream.” To read the full text of Daniel Barenboim’s speech, please click here.

The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, opened the subsequent discussion. Among the participants were European Economic and Social Committee President Dimitris Dimitriadis, Vice President of the European Parliament Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou, President of the Bulgarian Parliament Georgi Pirinski, MEP Anna Michalkova and a representative of the EUSTORY history-network.

The President of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Pöttering commented that Europe can contribute to reconciliation in the Middle East “by talking about our experience in Europe. There is no guarantee of success, but to do nothing would mean to bear the heaviest guilt. This is why we are obliged to actively get involved.”

THE WEST-EASTERN DIVAN ORCHESTRA PERFORMS IN THE U.S.A.
January 2007

December 2006 saw Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra do a mini-tour of the United States that included a farewell concert at the United Nations for outgoing Secretary-General Kofi Annan, as well as performances in Providence, Chicago and New York's Carnegie Hall. Their program consisted of Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 3, Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Oboe, Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon and Brahms's Symphony No. 4. Encouraged by standing ovations at every concert, the Orchestra gave as an encore Wagner's Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde.

The first concert took place in Providence, Rhode Island on December 16th at Brown University, which had invited the Orchestra and Mr. Barenboim to do a residency. During their four day stay, WEDO rehearsals were open to the public and the University sponsored their concert at Veterans Memorial Auditorium. Mr. Barenboim also rehearsed the Brown University Orchestra in Beethoven's 'Emperor' Concerto with soloist Saleem Abboud Ashkar and led a discussion afterwards. Another discussion followed the performance of the first movement of Mendelssohn's Octet for Strings by members of the Providence String Quartet and four members of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.

The Rhode Island News/Providence Journal wrote, "[The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra] is a serious musical entity, capable of giving some of the best professional orchestras a run for their money . the group played with unbridled passion. "

The next stop was Chicago, where Daniel Barenboim concluded his 15-year music directorship of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in June 2006. It was his first appearance in the city in six months.

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra was already known in Chicago as its summer workshop in 2001 had been hosted by CSO and Northwestern University. Their performance on December 17th took place at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park. The Chicago Sun-Times said, "Some of the electricity in the air had to do with the nature of this remarkable ensemble. . Some of it probably emanated from seeing rays of hope in a world that looks increasingly bleak, not least in the Middle East. . Here they all were - Jewish and Palestinian Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, Jordanians, Lebanese and even Syrians, 80 strong - and the proof of the musical pudding was in the hearing. "

The Chicago Tribune, wrote, "Sunday afternoon was awash in sentiment and electric music-making. . To behold Israelis and Arabs sitting at the same music stands and learning to understand one another better by making great music together (under an Israeli conductor with whom they are joined at the spiritual hip) is to be hopeful that Israelis and Palestinians one day can learn to co-exist harmoniously. . Seldom will you hear this degree of edge-of-seat engagement from an orchestra of adult professional musicians at your typical subscription concert. [In Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 3] Barenboim built his fiery interpretation in suspenseful degrees, climaxed by the ringing affirmation of the offstage trumpet. .[In the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante] Barenboim's first-desk soloists - clarinettist Kinan Azmeh, bassoonist Mor Biron, hornist Sharon Polyak and especially the superb oboist Mohamed Saleh Ibrahim - displayed their individual personalities in a spirited and spontaneous reading that had all the effortless grace and charm of chamber music. The Brahms symphony gave the orchestra's corporate mettle a stiff test but one that the young musicians passed with sweeping eloquence of feeling and firmly disciplined and balanced playing to match. Fine horn, flute and violin solos were set within an ensemble of athletic strings, articulate winds and saturated brass. . this was as engrossing a performance of the First Symphony as I have heard in a very long time."

The United Nations concert, held in the General Assembly Hall on December 18th and attended by United Nations staff members, was sponsored by the Government of Spain. The outgoing Secretary-General Kofi Annan thanked Daniel Barenboim, the late Edward Said and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra with the following words: "Your talent, your enthusiasm and your courage give us a glimpse of a future worth living for."

The last concert, on December 19th, took place at Carnegie Hall, where Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times was in the audience. "The concert was brilliant," he wrote. "The fire with which these young musicians make music might be anticipated. But their technical accomplishment comes as a surprise. It is all but impossible to identify the nationality of players either by their looks or their sound. [The four soloists in the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante] exhibited a sweet tone, a lovely feeling for the Mozart phrase, a lively playfulness and a touching camaraderie. . Barenboim demanded an enormous thrust in Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 3 that took no prisoners, or more accurately, in the context of Beethoven's opera, freed its political captives. The Mozart was more relaxed for the audience but surely not for the players who were impressively attentive to details. There was showing off in Brahms's First Symphony. Barenboim conducted more extravagantly that I had ever heard him before. In the first movement, he made grandiose swells that might have verged on mannerism had they not exhibited such swooping splendour by the orchestra that they could stop the breath. The slow movement was exquisitely beautiful. The Finale was grandiose again, but grandiose in a youthfully winning way. . The long encore was the Prelude and Love Death to Wagner's Tristan and Isolde, slow, sumptuous, the cellos rapturous and aglow."

The New York Times praised the "impassioned" performance of the Brahms Symphony No. 1, the "warm and elegantly expressive performance" of the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante and the encore, Wagner's Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, which performance he described as "radiant, teeming and magnificent." "Performances of Wagner are all but officially banned in Israel, " he continued. "Some of the musicians in the orchestra have probably never attended a Wagner opera. But here were Jews and Arabs, looking past the hateful prejudices of Wagner the man, in order to fathom the sublime human truths of his music. . This is indeed an orchestra against ignorance."