A remarkable interview with Daniel Baranboim about his concerns for the Middle East crisis and how he has used his music to take steps for reconciliation. If only there were more like him:
Taking a stand The one to one interview series in which Fergal Keane talks to people who have stood up for what they believe in. From the BBc website.
Daniel Barenboim, musical director of the Berlin State Opera and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, is one the most talented musicians of his generation. But it is Daniel Barenboim's stand toward the Middle East that has most recently put his name into the headlines.
Daniel Barenboim, who is Jewish and an Israeli citizen, believes that the crisis in the occupied territories cannot be solved by military means alone. He argues that unless the state of Israel embraces "peace and opens her borders she risks becoming a ghetto". Daniel Barenboim has played concerts in the West Bank and has brought young Arab and Israeli musicians together with students from around the world. He also took the controversial step of playing the music of the anti-Semitic Wagner in Jerusalem.
From the web page below you will be able to access an audiofile with the complete programme until early on the 28th January, 2003:
click for access to the radio programme <small>[ 23 January 2003, 05:12 PM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>