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MEET THE ARTIST: DANIEL BARENBOIM
By Fred Plotkin
For the gala opening of its 112th season, Carnegie Hall, New York's landmark temple of music, drew upon the artistry of a great orchestra and conductor who played popular music in an unusual way.
Daniel Barenboim, the prodigiously talented conductor and pianist, led the Chicago Symphony in works inspired by Spain. Barenboim, who was born in Argentina and is now an Israeli citizen, is a musician with an internationalist's approach, equally at home playing Beethoven or tangos, conducting symphony orchestras or great opera companies.
This year is one of many anniversaries for Barenboim, who became the music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1991. He was born in Buenos Aires in 1942, sixty years ago November 15, and studied piano with his parents. He made his debut at the age of seven and performed in Europe for the first time 50 years ago, playing in Rome and Vienna in 1952. In that same year, his family immigrated to Israel, where he continued his musical education. He later studied conducting, and appeared for the first time as a conductor in 1962.
Although he is the music director of the Chicago Symphony as well as the Deutsche Staatsoper in Berlin, Barenboim continues a very active career as a pianist. This includes playing concertos while conducting, as well as performing chamber music and accompanying singers such as Cecilia Bartoli in recitals. In 1999, at Carnegie Hall, he pulled off the astonishing feat of conducting and playing the five Beethoven piano concertos and nine symphonies over six nights with the Staatskapelle Berlin. He will play all 32 Beethoven piano sonatas at Carnegie Hall in eight concerts in June 2003. At the same time, he will lead master classes on these iconic compositions.
Barenboim has also played a sometimes-controversial role in the political sphere. His attempts to introduce Wagner to Israeli audiences have met with a mixed response. Many Israelis have welcomed this move, stating that Wagner (1813-1882) wrote outstanding music even though he was a professed anti-Semite. Others consider it too sensitive an issue to perform music by Hitler's favorite composer in a nation that is the home to many of the last survivors of the Holocaust. Recently, Barenboim crossed through military lines into Palestinian territory to play music for and give lessons to Palestinian children. The day before he performed at Carnegie Hall's opening night, Barenboim's new book, PARALLELS AND PARADOXES: EXPLORATIONS IN MUSIC AND SOCIETY, a collaboration with Palestinian scholar Edward Said, was published.
Both Carnegie Hall and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra were born in
1891, and the two institutions have been linked almost from the start. The CSO first appeared at Carnegie Hall on March 7, 1898. The performance you will see was the orchestra's 109th appearance on the Carnegie Hall stage. In 1916, it became the first major American symphony orchestra to record under its own music director; since then the CSO has made more than 900 recordings and has earned 58 Grammy Awards, more than any other orchestra in the world.
Top banner photos: Chicago Symphony Orchestra and conductor Daniel Barenboim. |
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Violinists of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. |
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Daniel Barenboim, the music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. |
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