“It is with a mixture of pride and sadness that announcement that I am stepping aside in my activities, especially commitments to direct, for the next few months”. This is how the statement begins. Daniel Barenboim posted on social media.
The pianist and director, who will turn 80 on November 15, explained that “My health has deteriorated in recent months and I was diagnosed with a severe neurological condition” so “I have to focus on being physically fit as well as possible.”
He added that “music was and will continue to be an essential part of my life. I have lived my whole life through music and will continue to do so as long as my health allows it”; and he closed with the idea that “looking back and looking forward, I am not only happy, but deeply fulfilled”.
last may had to cancel a tour with the West-Divan Orchestra (the project that brings together musicians from Israel and the Arab world) due to medical prescription.
Born in Buenos Aires in 1942, Barenboim debuted at the Teatro Colón in 1950 and a few months later he settled with his family in Europe. He became one of the leading pianists of his generation and those career as a renowned conductorwith an immense piano and orchestral repertoire.
Israeli naturalized, Barenboim received Palestinian citizenship in 2008 and has advocated a peaceful solution to the conflict in the Middle East. In recent years he has visited Argentina on a recurring basis with the West-Divan Orchestra, in performances in which featured Martha Argerich as a guest.