Conviction and courage: Barenboim kicks off his Beethoven cycle

By Hugo Shirley, 29 October 2018

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“we were never far away from the sense that this music being played for a circle of friends”

Reviewed at Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin on 26 October 2018

Beethoven, Piano Sonata no. 8 in C minor "Pathétique", Op.13

Beethoven, Piano Sonata no. 12 in A flat major, Op.26

Beethoven, Piano Sonata no. 25 in G major, Op.79

Beethoven, Piano Sonata no. 28 in A major, Op.101

Daniel Barenboim, Piano

Joy and hope from Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

Chris Garlick, 4th November

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra are on fire with the joy of music-making to the delight of a very sympathetic and enthusiastic audience at London's Southbank Centre.

*****

Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan return to the BBC Proms

Asher Rubenstein, 11th August

Marking 25 years of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim returns to the Proms with violin legend Anne-Sophie Mutter.

***11

Clumsy Liszt, listless Berlioz from Barenboim and the Staatskapelle

Mark Pullinger, 7th March

Some conductors get better with age, ripening like fine wines, but age wearies others. Daniel Barenboim’s decline is difficult to bear.

Don Giovanni laughs off his own death at Staatsoper Berlin

Zenaida des Aubris, 10th April

Finishing up their Mozart-Da Ponte trilogy with Don Giovanni, Daniel Barenboim and Vincent Huguet rely on mild punchlines and dignified tempi

***11

West-Eastern Divan Orchestra shows its stars at the Salzburg Festival

Alexander Hall, 13th August

Daniel Barenboim offered an unusually Germanic take on César Franck, while section leaders Michael Barenboim and Kian Soltani pulled double duty as soloists in Brahms' Double Concerto.

****1

Daniel Barenboim steps in to conduct Brahms at Berlin Philharmonie

Edward Sava-Segal, 24th April

Replacing Mikko Franck at short notice, Barenboim joins Yefim Bronfman for a revised, all-Brahms programme.

****1

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Hugo Shirley

Hugo Shirley is a Berlin-based writer and musicologist. He has written widely as a critic in the UK, including for The Spectator, the Financial Times and Daily Telegraph, and has held editorial posts at both Opera and Gramophone. He was editor of 30-Second Opera (Ivy Press, 2015) and has a PhD in musicology from King's College London, where his thesis focused on Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s Die Frau ohne Schatten.

Conviction and courage: Barenboim kicks off his Beethoven cycle at the Pierre Boulez Saal