Guest
Daniel Barenboim is an Israeli pianist and conductor who was noted for—apart from his musical talents—his bold efforts to promote peace through music in the Middle East. As a pianist, Barenboim was admired particularly for his artistic interpretations of the works of Mozart and Beethoven. As a conductor, he was recognized especially for his leadership of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Barenboim’s parents were both pianists, and his father, Enrique Barenboim, was also a noted music professor. The family moved from Argentina to Salzburg, Austria, when Daniel was nine and then on to Israel in 1952. Barenboim had already debuted as a pianist at age seven, and in Europe he became known as something of a child prodigy. He made his debut in London (with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) in 1956 and in the United States (at Carnegie Hall) in 1957. As a pianist, he became especially known for his somewhat colourful interpretations of the works of Mozart, Beethoven, and other Classical and Romantic composers. Barenboim started conducting professionally in 1962, first in Israel and then in Australia with the Melbourne and Sydney symphony orchestras. He thereafter was guest conductor in several cities in European countries as well as in Israel and the United States. He served as music director of the Orchestre de Paris from 1975 to 1989. In 1987 he signed to become musical and artistic director of the new Bastille Opera in Paris, but he fell into disputes with representatives of the socialist government in Paris and was dismissed (in January 1989) before the first season was to commence, in 1990. Almost immediately, in January 1989, he accepted the post of music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in succession to Sir Georg Solti. Barenboim took over his full duties as music director there when Solti retired in 1991, and he held the post until 2006. He also became music director of the Berlin State Opera in 1992. In Jerusalem in 2001 Barenboim sparked controversy by conducting the Prelude to the opera Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner; Wagner’s music had been unofficially banned in Israel because of his anti-Semitic beliefs and the fact that he was Adolf Hitler’s favourite composer. Barenboim also conducted Tristan und Isolde when he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 2008. VLADIMIR ASHKENAZY: Vladimir Ashkenazy, is a Russian-born Icelandic pianist and conductor whose extensive piano repertoire included works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt, and Sergey Rachmaninoff. Both of Ashkenazy’s parents were professional pianists. Beginning piano lessons at age six, Ashkenazy studied for 10 years at the Moscow Central School of Music and entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1955. He attained international prominence when he won the gold medal at the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Competition in Brussels in 1956; he also shared first prize at the second Tchaikovsky Competition in 1962. In 1963 he emigrated to the West, assuming Icelandic citizenship in 1972. In the mid-1970s Ashkenazy became active as a conductor. He was noted for his ability to communicate with both orchestra and audience. From 1987 to 1994 he was music director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (in London), and in 1989 he was named music director of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (renamed as German Symphony Orchestra in 1994). Ashkenazy later served as chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (1998–2003) and of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (2009–13). In 2020 it was announced that he would no longer perform in public.“
