Michael Barenboim

“Barenboim makes it all sound easy, though, with performances spilling over with life and drama. Every work’s soul has been ignited and revealed, every second telling a story, all unmarred by a single glitch in intonation or articulation […] this is indisputably exciting playing across an indisputably effective programme.” – Gramophone

Michael Barenboim lets music, in its diverse and enduring ways, speak for itself through his violin.His performances are praised by the critics as “stunning”, “exciting, “utterly persuasive and breathtaking”.

Committed to the core classical and romantic repertoire, he is deeply invested and specially recognized for his performances of the 20th century and contemporary repertoire. Barenboim celebrates a long history of collaboration with the late Pierre Boulez, whose pieces he regularly performs in recital and with the Boulez Ensemble. He has recorded both Boulez’s Anthèmes 1 & 2 on Accentus Music. His second solo recording, presenting works by Sciarrino, Tartini, Berio and Paganini, was released in January 2018 and hailed by the critics as “visionary programming” (BBC Music Magazine), “breathtakingly compelling, and one that’s full of brilliant revelations” (The Strad).

Recent highlights included Michael Barenboim’s debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, performing Schönberg’s Violin Concerto under the baton of V. Petrenko. This followed other successful debuts playing this particular concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic under D. Barenboim, Chicago Symphony under A. Fisch, and Israel Philharmonic under Z. Mehta.
He also returned to the Israel Philharmonic for a tour under G. Noseda, performing Bruch and Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos, appeared at the Enescu Festival with the Philharmonia Orchestra, performing Prokofiev Violin Concerto No.1, and with the BBC Philharmonic performing Berg Violin Concerto.

The 18/19 season brings debuts with Los Angeles Philharmonic under G. Dudamel, performing Mozart Violin Concerto No.1, with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic under Robert Trevino playing Berg Violin Concerto, and with San Diego Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, Orquestra de Minas Gerais and Tenerife Symphony, performing Glazunov Violin Concerto. Barenboim will perform J. Widmann’s Insel der Sirenen for violin solo and strings orchestra for the first time at the Boulez Saal, and premiere Kareem Roustom’s Violin Concerto No.1 under Lahav Shani.

He will also appear in solo recital at the Paris Philharmonie, Boulez Saal, Gulbenkian Auditorium, Monteverdi Festival, Rosengarten Manheim and Cal Performances in Berkeley. Additionally he will tour in Europe with the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, and will join his father Daniel Barenboim and the cellist Kian Soltani in a newly formed Piano Trio, performing the complete Mozart and Beethoven Piano Trios at the Salzburg Festival and the Boulez Saal.

Past seasons have seen Michael debut with the Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony, HR-Sinfonieorchester, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Academia Santa Cecilia, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Filarmonica della Scala, Tonhalle-Orchester, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Spanish National Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony, Guangzhou Symphony and Boulez Ensemble among others.

As a recitalist Michael has appeared at such venues as the Royal Albert Hall (PROMS), Wigmore Hall, Barbican Centre, Carnegie Hall, Elbphilharmonie, Dortmund Konzerthaus, Boulez Saal, Melbourne Recital Centre and Sydney Opera, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, Teatro Comunale di Bologna and Kumho Art Hall.

Michael is a founding member of the Erlenbusch Quartet and frequently invited at such festivals as the Lucerne Festival, Verbier, Salzburg, Rheingau Musik Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, Aix en Provence, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Granada, and Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival. He collaborates regularly with his mother, the pianist Elena Bashkirova, as well as with such artists as Franz Helmerson, Julian Steckel, Guy Braunstein, Denis Kozhukhin, Andras Schiff and Martha Argerich, among others.
Parallel to his solo concert and recital performances, Barenboim also serves as concertmaster of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and cultivates a continuous and strong involvement in educational activities. He is Head of Chamber Music in the newly founded Barenboim-Said Academy and gives master classes around the world.

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Concerts with Michael Barenboim