Daniel Barenboim & the Staatskapelle Berlin

Perhaps, one of the reasons I love classical music is because I love stories and classical music is full of them: the story of the composers, the historical and social changes that shape the story of Western music and the stories within every individual composition. However, I did not expect when Daniel Barenboim returned to the stage on Tuesday’s concert at the Royal Festival Hall, after having played and conducted a sublime Beethoven’s piano concerto No.3, that he was about to spend a good deal of the second half of the concert telling us the story of Schoenberg’s Variations, Op 31. What a wonderful, life enhancing evening - Barenboim is such a great communicator, like a favourite teacher, funny & wise & generously making you feel as if he is discovering new things as well. He made Schoenberg’s Variations seem as natural as a Strauss waltz (actually, Strauss’ "Thunder & Lightening Polka" was the killer encore) and not scary at all ! I’m sure many people in the audience felt the evening was as magical as I had because by the end we were all on our feet cheering. Truly, an evening to treasure. Lots of love tt