Nothing about Daniel Barenboim, 81, has ever been routine. He made his London debut – as pianist, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – when he was just 13 years old, on 17 January 1956. Ten years later he made his conducting debut at Abbey Road studios, with the English Chamber Orchestra. His career was prodigious long before he added global humanitarian – for which he has been awarded countless honours – to his CV. Born in Argentina, based in Berlin, in 2008 he became the first person to hold an Israeli and a Palestinian passport. He is a citizen of the world, with a special affection for the UK. This is not said out of nationalist fervour. A one-time resident, frequent visitor and former BBC Reith lecturer, he has stated it himself. That he was married, long ago, to the British cellist Jacqueline du Pré (who died in 1987) is only part of the story.
This background gives context to the exceptional atmosphere of admiration and poignancy at last Sunday’s Prom. There had been every possibility that Barenboim, unwell since 2022, might not manage to travel. Those who know him never doubted that willpower, if not good health, would get him here. They might needlessly have added, especially in current circumstances. He was here to conduct the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the ensemble he founded 25 years ago with the Palestinian-American philosopher Edward Said. Musicians from Israel, Palestine and other Arab countries meet each summer for rehearsals, workshops, discussions and an international tour. Of its many offshoots, the Barenboim-Said Akademie, Berlin, is the most prominent. The orchestra’s title comes from Goethe’s collection of lyric poems exploring the division between cultures. Barenboim, steeped in literature, would certainly have read them. Song settings from them by Schubert, Robert Schumann, Schoenberg and others he reveres might have piqued his interest.
