Barenboim cancels piano concert in Monaco, citing health

FILE - Argentine-born pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim talks with The Associated Press during an interview, at La Scala theatre in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 14, 2023. Barenboim has canceled a piano recital at the Opera de Monte Carlo due to the effects of a serious neurological condition, the opera house announced on Wednesday March 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File) (Luca Bruno, Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

MILAN – Prominent pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim has canceled a piano recital at the Opera de Monte-Carlo due to the effects of a serious neurological condition, the opera house announced on Wednesday.

Barenboim expressed his regret in a message to the audience, saying that ā€œdespite my best efforts, I have not yet built up the muscular strength to perform piano recital programs.ā€

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Barenboim was diagnosed last year with the condition, which forced him step down in January as music director at the Berlin State Opera after three decades.

The 80-year-old musician has returned to conducting, appearing in Milan, Berlin and Vienna since mid-February, and he noted that his health ā€œhas improved greatly over the past weeks.ā€

During the Berlin concerts, he accompanied soprano Cecilia Bartoli on the piano, and in Vienna performed a piano duet with Martha Argerich, whom he has known since childhood.

He said he was saddened to cancel the upcoming recital, but added that with his ā€œhealth improving, I am very much set upon returning to the Opera de Monte-Carlo on the first possible occasion, be it as a pianist or a conductor.ā€

Bartoli, who is the Monte Carlo opera's director, said the performance on Friday had been planned as a homage to Barenboim's 80th birthday last Nov. 15. Violinist Maxim Vengerov will step in, playing music by Beethoven, Franck and Tchaikovsky with pianist Roustem Saitkoulov.


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