Die Musik, mein Leben: Autobiografie

by Daniel Barenboim

The uniquely varied life of Daniel Barenboim as conductor, performer, and political activist makes this biography compelling reading. His parents, both musicians, taught Barenboim to play the piano at a very early age. When Arthur Rubinstein heard the young prodigy, he was so impressed he immediately brought him to the famous American impresario to the stars, Sol Hurok, who propelled Barenboim onto the world stage. Since then he has performed on virtually every concert stage throughout the world.

As both virtuoso pianist and conductor of symphonies and operas, Barenboim has known and worked with many of the most distinguished and exciting musicians of the twentieth century, including Arthur Rubinstein, Wilhelm Furtwangler, Zubin Mehta, Pierre Boulez, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Pable Casals, and not least his wife, Jacqueline du Pre. When in 1967, he married the high-profile, beautiful cellist du Pre, the golden couple made headlines as they traveled the world performing - often together - until Jacqueline's untimely death in 1987.

Following in the footsteps of Leonard Bernstein - whose keyboard virtuosity paralleled his brilliant conducting talent - Barenboim, too, achieved this pinnacle of his glorious musical career, in both professions, with equal panache.

Until recently, Barenboim was the musical director of the Paris Opera. He has now taken the post of musical director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, sharing his season's commitments with the Berlin State Opera, where he is also the musical director.

Barenboim's other passion - politics - earns the contentious artist constant reprimand in Israel. His championship of a peaceful coexistence with the Palestinians isregarded as highly controversial. Ignoring all dangers, however, he frequently crosses over to forbidden territory, holding master classes for Palestinians, as well as performing there. Further defying authorities, he started a musical summer camp in Germany for Middle Eastern students.

Genres: Music, Biography, Classical Music, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Autobiography

Paperback

First published November 1, 1991

About the author

Argentine-Israeli pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim performed widely with Jacqueline du Pré, his wife and the cellist.

He previously served as music director of the symphony orchestra of Chicago and the Orchestre de Paris. He served as general music director of la Scala in Milan, the state opera of Berlin, and the Staatskapelle. People also know work of Barenboim with the Seville-based west–eastern Divan orchestra of young Arab musicians, and he a resolutely criticizes the occupation of Palestinian territories.

Barenboim received many awards and prizes, including an honorary knight commander of the order of the British Empire, Légion d'honneur of France as a commander and grand officier, the German Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz and Willy Brandt award, and, together with the Palestinian-American scholar Edward Said, prince of Asturias concord award of Spain. He won seven Grammy awards for his work and discography. Barenboim, a polyglot, fluent in Spanish, Hebrew, English, French, Italian, and German.

Reviews

[Jaclyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the first page of his book, Daniel Barenboim makes it abundantly clear that this is NOT an autobiography. Any autobiographical details are purely for illustration of the musical concepts he wants to talk about. So if that's what you're expecting, well... go home. Methinks the pianist doth protest too much. It seems to me that this book is not an autobiography because if it was, Barenboim would have to explain and answer for his appalling treatment of his "first wife," Jacqueline du Pre, when she was dying. As it is, by writing a book on music with a few autobiographical details, he skates right on by that chapter in his life and doesn't ever acknowledge abandoning du Pre or conducting an eight year affair and fathering two children with another woman while she was terminally ill (and keeping it all secret from her, he's pretty sure). In that manner, I've got to call a spade a spade - he was a cheating coward when his wife was dying, as brave as he was about many other things.

Nonetheless, and all of my moral judgments and feelings about marriage aside, Daniel Barenboim is still:

1) A brilliant pianist;

2) One of the great conductors and musicians of our time; and

3) A fascinating man.

"A Life In Music" ruminates on everything from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - and possible solutions thereof, including Barenboim's own active efforts to bring young Arab and Israeli musicians together in one orchestra - to the differences between French and German music, to points of music theory and principle concerning how Barenboim prefers to manage and conduct an orchestra. Running throughout are fascinating discussions about culture, history, politics, war, peace and love. If only more people would listen to him, this world would be a happier, more peaceful place. It was an interesting book and I'm glad I read it, and for the most part I was able to separate my admiration for Barenboim as a musician, an intellectual and a professional from my feelings about his character, knowing what I do - and don't - understand about Jacqueline du Pre.

However, the best part of the book, for me, was Barenboim's assurance that my complete ineptitude at tuning my violin was NOT my fault. It was because I played the piano! Blame the piano! I feel completely vindicated and virtually stick my tongue out at my violin teacher from 500 miles away, because Daniel Barenboim has the same problems with intonation that I have. Hurray!

[Ardelean Simona · Rating 5 out of 5]

„... cît de falsă e ideea că, în fond, cultura e un lucru căruia i te poți dedica sau pe care ți-l poți permite doar după ce au fost rezolvate „problemele reale”. Este un argument folosit foarte des de politicienii care, atunci cînd e nevoie să se economisească bani, privesc mai întîi spre cultură. Cele două experiențe de care pomeneam mi-au arătat foarte clar că muzica poate și trebuie să însemne altceva decît presupune acest argument că ar trebui să fie atitudinea publicului. În Israel, în februarie 1961, cînd sunau sirenele din cauza atacurilor cu rachete lansate de Irak, trebuia ca oamenii să se scoale de două ori pe noapte, să-și pună mască de gaze, să intre în încăperi etanșate și să aștepte cinci minute ca să vadă dacă supraviețuiesc sau nu. Toate acestea au supus populația din Israel la o imensă presiune psihologică. Și totuși, de îndată ce n-a mai fost primejdios să o facă, Orchestra Filarmonică din Israel a început să dea două concerte pe zi, la douăsprezece și la trei după-amiaza, pentru că seara nu era suficient de sigur. Se permitea accesul în sala de spectacol a doar cinci sute de oameni odată, și toți erau obligați să aibă la ei masca de gaze. Exista o reală nevoie de muzică, muzicienii să poată cînta, iar publicul să asculte. Pentru unii acesta era un mod de a uita tensiunea din noaptea dinainte, pentru alții era un moment de speranță, în care să nu se gîndească la noaptea următoare, cu inevitabilul sunet de sirene. În orice caz, nimeni nu vedea muzica drept o formă superficială de distracție”.

[Ali Miremadi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absorbing book about music, philosophy and political culture told through a bare narrative of Barenboim’s life as a performer. Barenboim was a hero to me before I picked this up and he is perhaps more of one now I have had the chance to read him. I only wish I were either a pianist or conductor, as I suspect one would have to be a fellow practitioner to grasp the depths of much of his thinking on music. Wonderful book even for a simple listener regardless.

[Rick Rapp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought I'd find this book much more compelling than I did. I am a music aficionado and I know a good deal about many composers and musicians...but it never really captured me. There are good stories here and I can appreciate Barenboim's feelings about much of what he discusses, but it just never captured me.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is probably not enough autobiographical material here that merit the term autobiography, however this is a priceless book documenting many of Barenboim's experience and opinions about music, instruments, interpretation, famous pianists and conductors. I learned so much from his discussion, there are many powerful insights here. Barenboim's special perspective comes from the fact that he is one of the world's few top class conductor and pianist (a distinction he shares perhaps only with Vladimir Ashkenazy, I couldn't think of anybody else in their calibre, Bernstein, Furtwangler, and Karajan aren't in their level pianistically), so he has unique insight on various aspects of music making which can only come by having worked in different disciplines, which is becoming rarer in our world of specializations. One particular insight that I find interesting is his remark on how to give the illusion of portamento while playing the piano: make the second note come later and softer. He also said that tempo depends on the size and volume of sound. An orchestra in a room full of reverb can't play as fast as a pianist in a practice room. He also said that Germans, French, Italians etc. have their own inflections which carried over into the way their music is played or how their composers compose. If you like this kind of insights, then this book is for you. Highly recommended for any musician, and especially if you are an aspiring conductor. So many precious insights.

[Neil Fulwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

The great maestro delivers an autobiography that is only an autobiography in as much as a few slivers of his personal history serve to provide context to an explicitly musical recollection. There isn’t a single anecdote herein that doesn’t specifically connect to a piece of the repertoire, an orchestra or a fellow musician of whom he thinks highly. Or, to put it another way, he expends far more words on Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto than he does on his own family. Indeed, all references to his first wife, the cellist Jacqueline du Pré, are solely concerned with her musicianship. It’s an ascetic approach, but one that pays dividends. For what Barenboim achieves in ‘A Life in Music’ is nothing less than an account of the artist’s total immersion in the art. The last few chapters in particular take the book to a place where philosophy and metaphysics synthesise with craftsmanship and artistic purity. Barenboim goes deep in places and the technical detail is almost forensic. Full disclosure: I am not a musician; I can neither play an instrument nor read music. It’s a testament to Barenboim’s writing that even in the most detailed passages, so long as I applied assiduous re-reading in concert with a good recording of the repertoire under discussion, that I could follow his argument.

[Rachel Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important read for any classical musician. In the 2002 version, there is clearly more political content which is widely relevant to the events in 2025. I appreciated how the beginning of the book just discussed his travels and magical musical experiences.

[Molly Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was just great. Barenboim is an excellent writer.

[Fabiana Perobelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ótimo livro. Descreve a vida musical do Barenboim e traz várias reflexões e insights musicais.

[Fernanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha gustado mucho la parte en la que cuenta de la técnica de piano. Es como clase de piano por un gran pianista , es como una clase de piano en un libro

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part biography, part philosophy of music making, and full of great insights on conducting, performing, and listening to music intelligently.

[Ray Mo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real and delicate by his own experience. Suitable for those who want to study music.

[Ben Houge · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this book at the Mayersche Buchhandlung in Cologne maybe 2 years ago on a previous visit, and I remember flipping through it and thinking it was not too far above my German level to attempt, lots factual recounting, pretty easy to follow, and lots of relevant music vocabulary. But then I saw that it had been written in English and then translated into German, so I decided I would rather find something that was natively Deutsch. So I didn't buy it, but I kept thinking about and kind of regretting not getting it, so when I was back again last summer I was pleased to see it was still there and snapped it up.

It was indeed a great exercise in German reading comprehension. I like the idea or reading longer books rather than unrelated articles, because a writer will, theoretically at least, tend to repeat words and ideas and expressions, which is great for reinforcing vocabulary. The dream is to reach the critical momentum with a language where you can read fast enough to encounter new vocabulary words more than once and reinforce them through multiple contexts. Not quite there yet, but maybe getting close.

Oh, and also a great book! It introduced me to a bunch of music I wasn't familiar with, making me curious about some Mozart pieces that I never thought were very exciting, and in particular historical conductors and performers that I didn't know. He also writes with fascinating insight about Israel and the Middle East, really filling a big gap in my understanding of the history of that region. Very inspiring.

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

wasn't in the mood for it at the time. Will give it another chance some time