Discussions for Barenboim's successor should start "soon".

Created: 09/01/2023 17:58

The conductor Daniel Barenboim conducts the preview of the New Year's Concert 2022. © Dieter Nagl/APA/dpa/Archiv

The search for a successor to Daniel Barenboim in the post of General Music Director of the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden should begin quickly.

The talks for this should start "promptly", it said on Monday from the house of Berlin's Senator for Culture Klaus Lederer.

As the council chairman of the Berlin Opera Foundation, the left-wing politician accepted the request of the 80-year-old Barenboim to have his contract terminated on 31 March.

Berlin - January accepted.

The further procedure is initially in the hands of Lederer, State Opera Director Matthias Schulz and his designated successor Elisabeth Sobotka.

The director of the Bregenz Festival will take over the management in Berlin in 2024.

Time pressure is not seen.

"The Staatskapelle is in the best possible position," it said.

There is no timetable or timeline.

After a long absence, Barenboim announced on Friday that he would not be able to hold the position due to illness and had asked for his contract to be terminated.

He has been in the post since 1992 and his contract was extended in 2019 for a further five years until 2027.

In 2000, Barenboim was elected principal conductor for life by the Staatskapelle.

According to the State Opera, this is a purely voluntary position and does not involve any further obligations.

Christian Thielemann is considered a possible Barenboim successor.

The 63-year-old had recently stepped in for Barenboim several times.

However, Thielemann has repeatedly referred to his contract with the Staatskapelle in Dresden, which runs until 2024.

Barenboim, who has been ill for a long time, wrote on Friday that his health had deteriorated significantly.

"I can no longer provide the performance that is rightly demanded of a general music director." He was ready "to continue to work as a conductor in the future, also and especially with the Staatskapelle Berlin".

At the beginning of October, Barenboim announced that he now had to concentrate as much as possible on his physical well-being.

He's been out a number of times recently.

In February he underwent surgery on his spine.

dpa