News that one of the most respected — and outspoken — Israeli musicians in the world, Daniel Barenboim, is hoping to conduct a concert in Iran with the Berlin Staatskapelle drew a furious reaction this week from Israel’s right-wing culture minister.
Such a concert would most likely be seen as part of a greater cultural exchange with Iran after the United States and five another nations, including Germany, reached an accord with Tehran earlier this summer aimed at limiting Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Another orchestra from one of the nations that negotiated the nuclear deal, the China Philharmonic Orchestra, performed in Tehran earlier this month. But the participation of Mr. Barenboim, an Argentine-born pianist and conductor who holds both Israeli and Palestinian citizenships, would give the proposed Staatskapelle concert added significance, as Israel strongly opposes the nuclear accord.
The Berlin Staatskapelle, of which Mr. Barenboim is the music director, confirmed in a statement that it was in talks with Iran about a possible concert in Tehran. It said that it had the backing of Germany’s foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who “supports Daniel Barenboim’s commitment to make music accessible to people beyond any national, religious or ethnic boundaries.”
New of the proposed concert drew an angry reaction from Israel’s minister of culture and sport, Miri Regev, who denounced it this week on her Facebook page and said that she would that she would write German officials and urge them to cancel the concert. Ms. Regev, a member of the Likud faction who was criticized by some Israeli artists after she discussed withdrawing funding from groups that she believes hurt the state, accused Mr. Barenboim, who has had an Israeli passport since 1952, of “using culture as a platform for his political views against the state of Israel.”
Mr. Barenboim has long been a lightning rod in Israel over a number of issues through the years, from his advocacy of playing the music of Wagner to his criticism of Israel’s policies in the Palestinian territories. He founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, an ensemble of young Israeli and Arab musicians, with his friend Edward W. Said, the Palestinian literary scholar, who died in 2003. That orchestra just played concerts in London and Lucerne.
Gabby Sobelman contributed research from Jerusalem.