Latest news with #Barenboim
The Independent
06-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Conductor Daniel Barenboim diagnosed with Parkinson's
Pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim has announced he has Parkinson's disease. The 82-year-old Argentinian- Israeli, who has performed at the BBC Proms and been given an honorary knighthood, was head of the Berlin State Opera until 2023. Writing on Instagram on Thursday, Barenboim said: 'I know that many people have been concerned about my health. I have been very touched by the support I have received over the last three years. 'I would like to share today that I have Parkinson's disease. Looking ahead, I am planning to maintain as many of my professional commitments as my health permits. 'As ever, I consider the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra my most important responsibility. It is essential for me to ensure the orchestra's long-term stability and development. 'I will continue to conduct the Divan whenever my health allows me to. At the same time, I will take an active role in ensuring that the Divan has the opportunity of working with excellent conductors going forward. 'I have been navigating this new reality of mine and my focus is on receiving the best available care. I thank everyone for their kindness and well-wishes.' Barenboim was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Jewish-Russian parents in 1942, and later moved to Israel, where he grew up. He met his wife, the British cellist Jacqueline du Pre, in London and they married in Jerusalem in 1967. She died in 1987 after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. In 1998, a film was made of Pre's life starring Dune: Prophecy actress Emily Watson as the cellist and True Blood star James Frain as Barenboim. Hilary And Jackie earned Watson and Muriel's Wedding star Rachel Griffiths – who played Pre's sister Hilary – Oscar nominations for best actress and supporting actress respectively. A year later, Barenboim founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra with Palestinian writer Edward Said to bring together Israeli and Palestinian musicians, and later the Barenboim-Said Academy. Barenboim has recorded with the Philharmonic Orchestra, delivered a 2006 BBC Reith Lectures in London, picked up the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal, and in 2011 was honoured with an honorary knighthood. He was the first to perform Wagner's opera at the BBC Proms as the 200th anniversary of the composer was marked in 2013, having previously done a debut of Wagner's entire 15-hour Ring Cycle in 2006 on BBC Radio 3, while conducting in Germany. Barenboim also founded the Daniel Barenboim Foundation to support cultural conversations through concerts. On a visit to Germany in 2019, Charles met the chairman of the Daniel Barenboim Foundation, Tabare Del Hum Perlas. He said at the time he played cello 'very badly', after being taught by Barenboim. Barenboim is also a Classic Brit and Grammy winner, and last year BBC Four released the documentary Daniel Barenboim: In His Own Words, about his life.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Daniel Barenboim announces he has Parkinson's disease
The conductor Daniel Barenboim has revealed that he has Parkinson's disease. The 82-year-old musician has been in failing health for some years, and in January 2023 resigned from his position as the general music director of the Berlin State Opera. Although increasingly frail, he has continued to make occasional appearances as a conductor, most recently in London with his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra at the 2024 Proms and then at the Royal Festival Hall in November. 'I know that many people have been concerned about my health and I have been very touched by the support I have received over the last three years. I would like to share today that I have Parkinson's disease,' he said in a statement released on Thursday. 'Looking ahead, I am planning to maintain as many of my professional commitments as possible. If I am unable to perform, it is because my health does not allow me to.' 'As ever, I consider the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra my most important responsibility. It is essential for me to ensure the orchestra's long-term stability and development. Barenboim, who was born in Argentina to Jewish parents, jointly founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in 1999 with Palestinian-American academic Edward Said. Based in Seville, the orchestra consists of musicians from around the world – of Egyptian, Iranian, Israeli, Jordanian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, and Hispanic backgrounds. The musician is a lifelong supporter of the two-state solution to the Israel Palestine conflict and a frequent critic of Israeli government policy. 'You can't make peace with an orchestra,' Barenboim said in an interview in 2008, 'but one can create the conditions for understanding and awaken the curiosity of each individual to listen to the narrative of the other. The Divan was conceived as a project against ignorance. It is absolutely essential for people to understand what the other thinks and feels, without necessarily agreeing with it.' His statement continued: 'I will continue to conduct the Divan whenever my health allows me to. At the same time, I will take an active role in ensuring that the Divan has the opportunity of working with other excellent conductors going forward.' 'I have been navigating this new reality of mine and my focus is on receiving the best available care. I thank everyone for their kindness and well wishes.'
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Daniel Barenboim reveals he has Parkinson's disease
The world-renowned Israeli-Argentine pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim revealed Thursday he is suffering from Parkinson's disease after years of persistent health problems. In a statement shared via his Berlin-based foundation, 82-year-old Barenboim said that he had been "very touched by the support I have received over the last three years". In October 2022, Barenboim said he was dropping some of his performing activities after he was diagnosed with a "serious neurological condition" and in January 2023 announced he was stepping down as general musical director of Berlin's State Opera. "I would like to share today that I have Parkinson's Disease," Barenboim said in Thursday's statement, adding that he was "planning to maintain as many of my professional commitments as possible". "If I am unable to perform, it is because my health does not allow me to." Barenboim said his most important responsibility was the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, a project he founded in 1999 with the late Palestinian-American writer and intellectual Edward Said to encourage rapprochement between young Israeli and Arab musicians. He said that he would "continue to conduct the Divan whenever my health allows" but wanted to ensure "the Divan has the opportunity of working with other excellent conductors going forward". Barenboim has been acclaimed for a stellar career which saw him begin performing internationally as a pianist aged 10 and then become a leading conductor. The son of Jewish piano teachers has also been an outspoken campaigner for peace in the Middle East. jsk/sr/phz
New York Times
06-02-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Daniel Barenboim Announces He Has Parkinson's Disease
Daniel Barenboim, the eminent conductor and pianist who recently stepped back from engagements citing health concerns, said Thursday that he has Parkinson's disease. Announcing the diagnosis in a short news release, Barenboim, 82, said that he still planned to fulfill 'as many of my professional commitments as possible,' including concerts with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, an ensemble he founded in 1999 to bring Israeli and Arab musicians together. 'If I am unable to perform, it is because my health does not allow me to,' Barenboim said, adding that he was adjusting to 'navigating this new reality' and that his focus 'is on receiving the best available care.' Three years ago, Barenboim announced that he was suffering from a 'serious neurological condition' that was affecting his work. In January 2023, he resigned as general music director of the Berlin State Opera because of poor health. A spokeswoman for the Daniel Barenboim Foundation said that the conductor was unavailable for interview. His next scheduled performance was in August as part of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra's summer tour, the spokeswoman said, adding that Barenboim was continuing to teach at the Barenboim-Said Academy, a music school he established in Berlin that brings together students from across the Middle East.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Celebrated conductor Daniel Barenboim reveals Parkinson's diagnosis
Star classical conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim publicly revealed on Thursday that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Barenboim, a renowned Berlin-based musician, has been unable to perform for some time due to illness. "I would like to announce today that I have Parkinson's disease," Barenboim, 82, wrote in a personal statement. "I know that many people have been concerned about my health and I am touched by the support I have received over the past three years." Parkinson's is a nerve-related movement disorder that mainly affects older people. Looking to the future, Barenboim said he plans to maintain as many of his professional commitments as possible. Barenboim was born in Argentina, grew up partly in Israel and as a young prodigy also trained in Austria and France. He is the long-serving general music director of the Berlin State Opera, where he leads the opera's resident Staatskapelle orchestra. He has been credited with building the orchestra's international reputation under his direction. He handed over the musical direction of the Berlin State Opera at the beginning of 2023 due to ill health to his successor, Christian Thielemann. "If I am not able to perform, it is because my health does not allow me to," he wrote in his statement. He said he has come to terms with his new reality and is concentrating on receiving the best possible treatment. The pianist is also known for his extensive recordings, guest appearances with major orchestras around the world, and co-founding the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, an ensemble made up of young musicians from Israel and Arab countries. Barenboim said he considers the orchestra to be his "most important responsibility" and that its "long-term stability and development" remains a priority.
