It began with an affectionate "Welcome back Master!"
and the extraordinary open rehearsal of the concert by the Filarmonica della Scala (scheduled for Monday in the Piermarini Hall) conducted last night by Daniel Barenboim in favor of the Sons of the Shoah Association ended with enthusiastic, warm and grateful applause on Remembrance Day.
Before the start the maestro, who has an Israeli and Palestinian passport, addressed the audience explaining that "the Shoah was one of the most horrible moments in human history. Unfortunately it didn't end there: we have recently seen how a horrifying act began on 7 October against Israel. And immediately after a horrifying act by Israel. Unfortunately, the violence remains. And we must do everything possible to make it stop: violence is not a right. I believe that for our part, making music on the day of remembrance is the best that can be done Do".
The Maestro, who appeared to have lost weight and perhaps a little tired from the illness which in the last year forced him to abandon many of his commitments at the most important theaters in the world, conducted two of Beethoven's most famous symphonies, n.
6 'Pastorale' and n.7, with his usual passion, great sensitivity and decisive attitude, interrupting the professors of the La Scala Philharmonic several times when he was not satisfied with the performance.
The audience who occupied all 1420 seats in the Sala Verdi rewarded him with sincerely enthusiastic applause and with all the esteem and affection he had accrued since 2007 as maestro at La Scala and then from 2011 and 2015, when he was musical director of La Scala.
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