After concluding the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra’s 2025 summer tour at the Lucerne Festival, Daniel Barenboim shared a reflection on social media, underlining the ensemble’s founding principles of dialogue and humanism. Referring to the current conflict in the Middle East, he wrote that “humanism is the only way forward.”
The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra closed its 2025 summer tour on 17 August at the Lucerne Festival, with Daniel Barenboim conducting and Lang Lang as soloist in Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1. The programme also included Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica”.
Just two nights earlier, the orchestra had performed at the Salzburger Festspiele, continuing a tradition of nearly two decades of appearances under Barenboim’s direction.
The tour had opened on 9 August at the Musikfest Bremen, where the orchestra and Lang Lang played to a full house at the Bremen Bell.
The following evening, the ensemble appeared at the Waldbühne in Berlin before a sold-out audience.
Schleswig-Holstein – 12 August
At the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Lübeck, Lang Lang’s performance of Mendelssohn’s concerto was praised for its lightness and deep expressiveness.
Tour chronology:
- 9 August – Musikfest Bremen
- 10 August – Waldbühne Berlin
- 12 August – Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival
- 13 August – Rheingau Musik Festival
- 15 August – Salzburger Festspiele
- 17 August – Lucerne Festival
Background
Founded in 1999 by Daniel Barenboim and the late Palestinian-American scholar Edward Said, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra brings together young musicians from across the Middle East, including Israel, Palestine, and neighbouring Arab countries, as well as from Spain, to promote dialogue and understanding through music. Based in Seville and with a year-round academy in Berlin, the ensemble has performed at leading festivals and concert halls worldwide. Barenboim has served as its music director since its inception, shaping both its artistic vision and its role as a cultural ambassador.
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