The conductor Daniel Barenboim is ill and has canceled several concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic. Two concerts on April 26th and 27th in Berlin as well as the European concert in Tsinandali, Georgia on May 1st and in the capital Tbilisi on May 2nd are affected. British conductor Daniel Harding takes the podium at all concerts.
The 81-year-old was quoted as saying in a statement from the Berlin Philharmonic on Monday that he very much regrets having to cancel the planned concerts “for health reasons.” The long-standing general music director of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden has been absent several times due to illness in recent times.
In 1992, as general music director of the State Opera, Barenboim also took over the Staatskapelle, which gained an international reputation under his direction. His opera contract was originally supposed to run until 2027. However, he gave up the musical direction of the State Opera at the beginning of 2023 for health reasons; his successor will be Christian Thielemann. In 2000, the Staatskapelle elected Barenboim as chief conductor for life – this is now only considered an honorary position.
Broadcast: Radioeins, April 22, 2024, 6:30 p.m