Journal

Carter premiere, piano concerti, and leading conductors celebrate Daniel Barenboim’s 70th birthday

Daniel Barenboim will celebrate his 70th birthday with a series of concerts that include the Filarmonica della Scala, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Wiener Philharmoniker, and musical colleagues from throughout his career. The Teatro alla Scala and Staatsoper unter den Linden have commissioned American composer Elliott Carter to write Dialogues II, which will be performed in concerts with the Filarmonica (October 25, November 7) and the Staatskapelle (November 15).

In the weeks leading up to Barenboim’s birthday November 15, the maestro will be joined by leading conductors to perform piano concerti close to his heart. On October 25, the Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel will lead the Filarmonica della Scala in Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Barenboim at the keyboard.

Claudio Abbado – a longtime friend of the maestro – returns to the Teatro alla Scala on October 30, leading Chopin’s First Piano Concerto with Barenboim and also conducting Mahler’s Sixth Symphony with the Filarmonica della Scala and the Mozart Orchestra Bologna. 

On November 7, Barenboim will perform Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto with the Filarmonica under the baton of Daniel Harding. The English conductor leads Barenboim once again with the Wiener Philharmoniker in two Vienna Konzerthaus performances that feature Chopin’s and Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerti (November 10 & 11).

On November 15 Barenboim’s longtime friend Zubin Mehta will conduct the Staatskapelle Berlin, performing Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto with the maestro as soloist. The November 15 concert benefits the Musikkindergarten Berlin.