Contemporary with a touch of intimacy at the Pierre Boulez Saal

By Mark Thomas, 10 July 2020

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“modern music at its most intimate and stimulating”

Reviewed at Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin on 10 July 2020

Boulez, Messagesquisse, arranged for solo cello and six violas (arr. Christophe Desjardins)

Jarrell, Le Point est la source de tout..., for solo flute (World premiere)

Pintscher, beyond II (bridge over troubled water) for Flute, Viola and Harp (World premiere)

Francesconi, Lichtshatten, for flute and ensemble (World premiere)

Daniel Barenboim, Conductor, Piano

Emmanuel Pahud, Flute, Piccolo

Michael Barenboim, Violin

Yulia Deyneka, Viola

Joost Keizer, Viola

Volker Sprenger, Viola

Mathis Rochat, Viola

Shira Majoni, Viola

Katrin Spiegel, Viola

Anna Lysenko, Viola

Alexander Kovalev, Cello

Aline Khouri, Harp

Dominic Oelze, Percussion

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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Mark Thomas

A lifelong devotee of classical music, Mark caught the bug after listening to The Planets, The Rite of Spring and Beethoven’s Fifth when he was knee-high to a grasshopper. He has degrees in non-musical subjects and currently works as a Chartered Governance Professional, but these have proved to be mere distractions from the wonders of sonatas, concertos and symphonies. He has been reviewing for Bachtrack since 2016, plays viola and violin (very shakily) and used to sing a bit (even more shakily).

Music for our times: contemporary with a touch of intimacy at the Pierre Boulez Saal