Daniel Barenboim discussed a number of issues with the Wall Street Journal -- an interview well worth reading, and Opera Chic's favorite quote by the Wagner-loving honorary -Palestinian conductor came when he sent a well-deserved shoutout to Herr Doktor Wilhelm Furtwängler, the mentor of DB's youth and a man whose recordings, judging by Barenboim's own performances, must still be played quite often by DB.
Quote:
Mr. Barenboim: Wilhelm Furtwängler for me represents
all that is good about music-making, because he was a very cultured
person. He was extremely well read, had many interests -- he saw music
in that context. He saw the connection between Beethoven's slow
movements and Greek philosophy. And that's what is missing from
music-making today. Because of the influence of the movies, music is
descriptive of other things now. Or else it's something completely
outside the real world, something for a small number of very
enthusiastic people who play it, and for a very small number of people
who are passionate about listening to it. Furtwängler's music-making
was based on the fact that music was really part of humanity, that it
has human value.
In the photo above, via the Lebrecht Collection, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Adolf Hitler.
