Directory
Piano and conductor
DANIEL BARENBOIM was born in Buenos Aires in 1942, where he gave his first public concert as a pianist at the age of seven. Three years later the family moved to Israel, and soon after he enrolled in Igor Markevitch's conducting class in Salzburg. After hearing him play in 1954, Wilhelm Furtwängler wrote that "Daniel Barenboim is a phenomenon". His career as a soloist began at the age of ten, initially in Vienna and Rome, then in Paris conducted by André Cluytens, in London with Josef Krips, and shortly afterwards in New York as soloist with Leopold Stokowski.
Since 1965 Daniel Barenboim has also devoted himself to conducting. He quickly established a close relationship with the English Chamber Orchestra, which lasted over ten years. In 1967 he made his debut as a symphony orchestra conductor with the New Philharmonia Orchestra in London, then in Berlin and shortly afterwards in New York and Chicago. He has also performed chamber music for many years, with his late wife Jacqueline du Pré, Gregor Piatigorsky, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman, and lately with Yo-Yo Ma and Maxim Vengerov.
Daniel Barenboim conducted opera for the first time at the Edinburgh Festival in 1973 in productions of "Don Giovanni" and "The Marriage of Figaro". Since 1981, he has conducted at the Bayreuth Festival; including Tristan and Isolde, the Ring and Meistersinger. He was Music Director of the Orchestre National de Paris from 1975 to 1989, and became Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in September 1991. He works with the Berlin Philharmonic on a regular basis, and whenever possible with the Vienna Philharmonic. Since 1992 he has been Artistic and Musical Director of the legendary Staatsoper Unter den Linden, and of its orchestra, the Staatskapelle Berlin. The same year he published his first book "A Life in Music" and he signed an exclusive contract with Warner Classics.
The "Berliner Festtage", initiated by Daniel Barenboim and the Staatsoper in 1996, has become a popular yearly event in the city during the Easter period.
In March 1997, Daniel Barenboim conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Vienna, Paris, London, Los Angeles and New York. In June 1997, he performed five concerts at the 'Musiktriennale' in Cologne. During November 1997, the Staatsoper Berlin was invited to give performances in Tokyo, where it enjoyed an enormous success. Alongside several opera productions, Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin performed the complete Beethoven symphonies and piano concerti. This cycle was repeated in London in May 1998 and will be given in Vienna and in New York in 2000. He gave recitals in New York, Chicago, Geneva,Turin, Paris and London in February 1999. He also played piano four hands with Radu Lupu in Chicago, Berlin and Paris.
In September 1998, Daniel Barenboim conducted the Chicago Symphony on a European tour with concerts in London, Birmingham, Brussels, Baden-Baden, Munich and Vienna, and at the festivals of Lucerne and Bucarest. He has renewed his contract with the Chicago Symphony until 2003.
Daniel Barenboim's recordings are countless. Amongst them are two complete recordings of the Beethoven sonatas and piano concertos, as well as the complete Mozart concerti. He now records exclusively for Warner Classics.
"Barenboim's conducting was simply inspired, combining the spontaneity and rugged power of Furtwängler with the clarity and linear dimension of Karajan."
The Sunday Times
Feb 2000
Contact details and further information
E-mail Askonas Holt
For further details, see Askonas Holt