Renowned conductor Daniel Barenboim has revealed that he has Parkinson’s disease.
The 82-year-old maestro, who has led the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin State Opera, and La Scala in Milan, is also widely recognised for his efforts to foster peace through music in the Middle East.
In 2022, Barenboim scaled back his public performances after being diagnosed with a 'serious neurological condition.' On Thursday, he confirmed that the condition was Parkinson’s, a long-suspected diagnosis. 'I know that many people have been concerned about my health,' he wrote, expressing gratitude for the support he has received over the past three years.
Barenboim has stated that he intends to continue working as much as his health allows. His top priority remains securing the future of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which he co-founded in 1999 to bring together young musicians from Israel and Arab nations.
Describing the mission of the orchestra, which has been a BBC Proms regular since 2003, Barenboim has observed, 'It has very flatteringly been described as a project for peace. It isn’t. It’s not going to bring peace, whether you play well or not so well.
'The Divan was conceived as a project against ignorance — a way for people to truly understand each other’s thoughts and feelings, even without agreeing.' Barenboim and the orchestra made their most recent BBC Proms appearance at the 2024 Proms, performing Schubert's Symphony No. 9 and (alongside violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter) the Brahms Violin Concerto.
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Born in Argentina to Jewish parents, Barenboim gained international recognition as a prodigious young pianist before moving to Israel as a teenager. He later became a leading conductor, first in Israel and then in Australia, working with the Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras.
In 1967, he married British cellist Jacqueline du Pré in Jerusalem, converting to Judaism. After du Pré died in 1987, Barenboim married the Russian pianist Elena Bashkirova. Appointed general music director of the Berlin State Opera in 1992, the conductor played a key role in revitalising the institution after years of neglect under Communist rule.
In 2001, Barenboim sparked controversy in Israel by conducting the Prelude to Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner at the Israel Festival. Wagner’s music had been informally banned in Israel due to the composer’s anti-Jewish views and his association with Adolf Hitler.
Initially respecting protests from Holocaust survivors and political figures, Barenboim paused the concert to ask the audience whether they wished to hear Wagner’s music. Despite some opposition — some calling it 'the music of the concentration camps' — most of the audience approved, and the performance concluded with a standing ovation.
Defending his decision, Barenboim acknowledged Wagner’s anti-Semitism but argued that the composer had died long before the Nazi era and that his music was 'too important' to be dismissed.
'I didn’t want anyone who felt unable to hear this music because of its associations to be confronted with it,' he explained. 'But those without that association should have the choice to experience it.'
Barenboim is equally acclaimed as a pianist and conductor. He gained international recognition as a prodigious piano talent in his youth, giving his first public piano recital at the age of seven. Later, he moved to Europe to study with renowned teachers, including Nadia Boulanger.
He has become especially well known for his interpretations of Beethoven’s piano sonatas and concertos, and the Mozart piano concertos (which he has often conducted from the keyboard). The piano works of Chopin, Liszt and Bach have also been a central part of his repertoire.
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As a conductor, meanwhile, his recordings of the symphonies of Beethoven, Bruckner, and Schumann have met with particular acclaim.
