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Daniel Barenboim, the eminent conductor and pianist who stepped back from engagements in recent years citing health concerns, said Thursday that he has Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n
Announcing the diagnosis in a short news release, Barenboim, 82, said that he still planned to fulfill \u201cas many of my professional commitments as possible,\u201d including concerts with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, an ensemble he founded in 1999 to bring Israeli and Arab musicians together.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I am unable to perform, it is because my health does not allow me to,\u201d Barenboim said, adding that he was adjusting to \u201cnavigating this new reality\u201d and that his focus \u201cis on receiving the best available care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three years ago, Barenboim announced that he was suffering<\/a> from a \u201cserious neurological condition\u201d that was affecting his work. In January 2023, he resigned as general music director<\/a> of the Berlin State Opera because of poor health.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A spokeswoman for the Daniel Barenboim Foundation said that the conductor was unavailable for interview. His next scheduled performance is in August as part of a West-Eastern Divan Orchestra summer tour, the spokeswoman said, adding that Barenboim was continuing to teach at the Barenboim-Said Academy, a music school he established in Berlin that brings together students from across the Middle East<\/a>.<\/p>\n Born to Jewish parents in Argentina, Barenboim has been a titan of classical music for almost seven decades, first as a piano prodigy and later as a conductor and music director. He took over the leadership of the Berlin State Opera in 1992 and transformed into one of the world\u2019s leading houses, and he also held music director positions at the Orchestre de Paris, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Teatro alla Scala, in Milan.<\/p>\n Since the 1980s, Barenboim has also been an outspoken political figure, as much as a revered musical one \u2014 a rarity for a conductor. In 1989, just days after the Berlin Wall fell, Barenboim led the Berlin Philharmonic in a concert for East Germans. A decade later, along with the Palestinian writer Edward Said, he founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra<\/a> in the belief that music could lead Israelis and Arabs to mutual understanding.<\/p>\n In his statement on Thursday, Barenboim said he considered the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra his \u201cmost important responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is essential for me to ensure the orchestra\u2019s long-term stability and development,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n