The pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, suffering from a serious neurological disease, announced this Friday his resignation as musical director of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin. “Unfortunately, my health has deteriorated significantly in the last year; I can no longer provide the performance that is rightly required of a general music director,” Barenboim, 80, said in a statement.
The Argentine-born musician, one of the greatest virtuosos of the 20th century, specified that he will leave his post at the Staatsoper on January 31. His contract as such is until 2027, for which he has asked the Senate (regional government) of the land of Berlin to dissolve it with this new date.
In the announcement note, Barenboim recalls that he has been General Music Director of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden since 1992. “The years have inspired us musically and personally in every way; I think the Staatsoper and I were very lucky with each other. What makes me particularly happy and proud is that the Staatskapelle [orchestra] elected me chief conductor for life. We have become a musical family over the years and will continue to be so.”
In October 2022, Daniel Barenboim had announced that his state of health forced him to temporarily withdraw from the stage “for the next few months.” He resumed the baton to conduct Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in two New Year’s concerts, on December 31 and January 1, to a packed Staatsoper to a standing ovation.
In the note, Daniel Barenboim shows a silver lining. “Of course, as long as I live I will remain closely associated with music and I am willing to work as a conductor in the future, also and especially with the Berlin Staatskapelle.”
Daniel Baremboim, an Argentine Jew nationalized in Spain, Israel and Palestine, created in 1990 together with the Palestinian philosopher Edward Said a foundation and an orchestra to promote cooperation between young musicians from Israel and Arab countries, the Orquesta del Divan de Oriente y Occidente, an inspired name in a book of Goethe’s poems. In 2016 he created for them a new concert hall in Berlin, designed by Frank Gehry, along with a peace school.
