Daniel Barenboim Named Musical Director of La Scala

Daniel Barenboim Named Musical Director of La Scala

Pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim has been named as the new music director of the Teatro Alla Scala in Milan. Barenboim has been maestro scaligero, or principal guest conductor, at La Scala since 2006, and has in that time spent approximately two or three months a year at the 233-year old operatic institution.

Pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim has been named as the new music director of the Teatro Alla Scala in Milan. Barenboim is the first person to hold the title formally since the departure of Riccardo Muti in 2005, who had held the position for nineteen years before being voted out by the staff of the theatre in acrimonious circumstances.

Barenboim has been maestro scaligero, or principal guest conductor, at La Scala since 2006, and has in that time spent approximately two or three months a year at the 233-year old operatic institution. In his new role, Barenboim will spend four months of every season at La Scala, conducting both operatic productions and concerts with the theatre’s orchestra.

In contrast to the upheavals of the latter stages of Muti’s tenure, Barenboim will inherit a relatively stable company, with management and staff structures seemingly secure. However, in accepting the position Barenboim highlighted the threat that even as august a cultural institution as La Scala feels in the face of government cuts of funding to the arts: ‘In today’s climate, where there is so much uncertainty about the importance of culture in society, it really needs a strong team to fight for that and to fight against the cuts in so many countries.’

Barenboim will formally commence his duties in the post on 1 December and is engaged on a five-year contract.

www.teatroallascala.org

Pictured: Daniel Barenboim with Maurizio Pollini and Claudio Abbado at La Scala in Milan.

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Published on 19 October 2011

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