Music, due to its untranslatability, benefits from personalities such as that of Daniele Barenboiman emblematic figure capable of projecting it with power and also linking it with other areas of life, beyond the concert hall, with education, the social and the political.
At a time when the value of music in society is declining and music education has become impoverished, artistic personalities of global charisma like Barenboim, who defend their importance in intellectual and human development, becomes necessary and essential.
Crossing boundaries by making music
In musical life, the maestro maintains, the relationship between the individual and the collective is experienced. There are very few figures like Barenboim, the result of a strong humanistic education, who manage to transcend outside their sphere.
His profound conviction that music is one of the most important elements of human existence, which teaches us to live in society, has materialized in concrete facts.
He created a foundation and an orchestra, West-Eastern Divan, to promote cooperation between young musicians from Israel and Arab countries. The idea of crossing borders by making music together was developed together with Edward W. Said, a philologist specializing in literature.
The first time Barenboim presented his extraordinary musical feat in our country, in 2005, he made a more than eloquent statement when he finished the last concert of the tour at the Colón.
“Each of these musicians who are here with me has a lot of courage, because these musicians come from Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, they have been in front of the public opinion of their respective countries for many years. And here they are, playing together, not because they accept each other’s point of view, but because they respect it”.
The “Barenboim Said Academy” in Berlin is the materialization of another of his obsessions to strengthen music education. The founding of the Academy in 2012 took the project to a new level and, funded by the German federal state and private donors, launched the university which combines music education with university courses for Arab and Israeli musicians.
hold on to the music
“What can music give us? What should we do to achieve it?” Barenboim asks himself in one of his many series dedicated to outreach that can be seen on the Internet, and his answer was the following: “I consider it very important that music is listened to with total concentration. “
He added: ‘When the music starts, let’s hold on to the first note we hear and don’t start thinking about things like our mother, girlfriend, grocery list or doing the dishes. Let’s hold on to the first note and take flight with music that lasts until the last note. The amount of pleasure will be absolutely unique…as long as we are fully dedicated to it. We must have the will to keep our ears to the music.”
Barenboim devoted himself completely to music, has lived in and through it, since making his international debut as a pianist at the age of 10, before becoming a noted conductor. Tireless on all fronts, his concern to bring and broaden the classical music audience was and is a constant.
On the other hand, the musician holds firmly to the belief that rational thought is inseparable from emotion, that in music it is not possible to create solely with reason or emotion, which is why he called it “Music and Reflection”. in which he has included personalities from politics and culture to discuss various topics guided by the idea of learning to think in and with music.
Strong political commitment
His artistic activity transcended a strong political commitment and political personalities such as Chancellor Angela Merkel and the President of the Bundestag Wolfgang Schäuble accompanied Barenboim on some of his projects.
The musician thanked them, including Senator Klaus Lederer, after his recent statement announcing his resignation from the music directorship of the Berlin State Opera due to persistent health problems.
We have to Barenboim not just some of the the best performances that can be heard in the history of music but his constant effort to bridge the gap between the music world and the cultural, social and political milieu.
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Source: Clarin
