2009 BBC Prom 50: Daniel Barenboim conducts the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra,
BBC Singers and Geoffrey Mitchell Choir. 
最開始喜歡把人上不知為什麽，
Daniel Barenboim interviewed by BBC 08/2010
BBC 080210 - Daniel Barenboim (born November 15, 1942) is a pianist and conductor. He lives in Berlin and holds citizenship in Argentina, Israel, Spain and Palestine. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina; his parents were Russian Ashkenazi Jews. Barenboim first came to fame as a pianist but now is as well-known as a conductor, and for his work with an orchestra of young Arab and Jewish musicians, based in Seville, Spain, called the 'West-Eastern Divan Orchestra', which he co-founded with the late Palestinian-American intellectual and activist Edward Said, whom Barenboim has called his best friend. Barenboim, supporter of Palestinian rights, has been an outspoken critic of the Israeli settlements and of Israel's government since Rabin.
The West-Eastern Divan is a youth orchestra based in Sevilla, Spain, consisting of musicians from countries in the Middle East, of Egyptian, Iranian, Israeli, Jordanian, Lebanese, Palestinian, and Syrian background. The Argentine-Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim and the late Palestinian-American academic Edward Said founded the orchestra in 1999, and named the ensemble after an anthology of poems by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The first orchestra workshop was in Weimar, Germany in 1999, [ 1 ] after the organisation had received over 200 applications from Arab music students. [ 2 ] Daniel Barenboim has also expressed interest in musicians from Iran (a non-Arab country but in conflict with Israel) and three Iranian musicians are to play in the Orchestra each year.
The aim of the West-Eastern Divan is to promote understanding between Israelis and Palestinians and pave the way for a peaceful and fair solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Barenboim himself has spoken of the ensemble as follows:
"The Divan is not a love story, and it is not a peace story. It has very flatteringly been described as a project for peace. It isn't. It's not going to bring peace, whether you play well or not so well. The Divan was conceived as a project against ignorance. A project against the fact that it is absolutely essential for people to get to know the other, to understand what the other thinks and feels, without necessarily agreeing with it. I'm not trying to convert the Arab members of the Divan to the Israeli point of view, and [I'm] not trying to convince the Israelis to the Arab point of view. But I want to - and unfortunately I am alone in this now that Edward died a few years ago - ...create a platform where the two sides can disagree and not resort to knives." [ 3 ]
One of the young musicians of the orchestra reinforced this point:
"Barenboim is always saying his project is not political. But one of the really great things is that this is a political statement by both sides. It is more important not for people like myself, but for people to see that it is possible to sit down with Arab people and play. The orchestra is a human laboratory that can express to the whole world how to cope with the other." [ 4 ]
The orchestra has performed around the world, including Israel and the Palestinian territories. It has an annual summer school in Seville. Since 2002, Junta de Andalucía (Regional Government of Andalusia) and a private foundation have provided a base for the ensemble in Seville, Spain. Young musicians from Spain now also take part in the orchestra.
The West-Eastern Divan Workshop takes place during several weeks each summer in Andalusia. Once the working period is over, the concert tour of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra starts. The orchestra has been awarded several prizes since its creation, among them the Prize Príncipe de Asturias of the Concorde in 2002 for Said and Barenboim, and the Premium Imperiale awarded by the Japan Arts Association.
In 2004, the Barenboim-Said Foundation, based in Seville and financed by the Junta de Andalucía (Regional Government of Andalusia), was established with the purpose of developing several education through music projects based on the principles of coexistence and dialogue promoted by Said and Barenboim. In addition to managing the orchestra, the Barenboim-Said Foundation assists with other projects such as the Academy of Orchestral Studies, the Musical Education in Palestine project and the Early Childhood Musical Education Project in Seville.
In 2007, the Orchestra received the Praemium Imperiale Grant for Young Artists. A film by Paul Smaczny about the Orchestra, Knowledge is the Beginning, won the Emmy Award for best documentary related to arts of 2006. The orchestra has recorded for the Teldec label
(wiki)
以色列裔指揮暨鋼琴家巴倫波音（ Daniel Barenboim ）跟以色列裔美國哥倫比亞大學教授薩依德（ Edward Said ）兩人共同創辦「 東西會議廳管絃樂團」（ West-Eastern Divan ）
這個樂團特殊之處，是團員來自於中東各地，包括埃及、伊朗、以色列、約旦、黎巴嫩、巴勒斯坦以及敘利亞等地，甚至還有西班牙。他們的目的是希望讓恐怖組織猖獗，戰火頻仍，國與國人民之間交流受限的地區，能夠透過音樂，做一個國際性的交流。不僅是團員本身能夠跨界思考彼此間政治藩籬的議題，也能夠讓國際重視和平的重要性。這個過程充滿了衝突與和諧，值得所有人關注。可惜的是，核心人物薩依德教授在樂團成立未滿五年就過世了（ 1999-2003 ），而巴倫波音則持續著薩依德教授的初衷，帶領樂團繼續前進。整個樂團的顛峰，在巴倫波音把樂團帶入了巴勒斯坦的 Ramallah 城市，一個被以色列用圍牆封住，視以色列人為仇人的地區，舉辦一場音樂會。樂團裡的以色列人因為安全因素，必須跟所有的團員分開前往開地，而且必須要當天來回。一路上還有武裝警察護衛。巴倫波音在演奏後，說了一段話。他表示這個樂團無力為中東帶來和平，也無意強調任何政治的立場。他們隻希望能夠表達：無知架起藩籬，關心才能走向和平。無論是否能夠達成共識，至少他們架起了一個橋樑，讓不同背景的人們能夠避免用武力來進行友善的溝通。
巴倫波音在祖國以色列獲頒（ Wolf Foundation ）的音樂獎頒獎典禮上，公開抨擊自己的國家以色列有關他們佔領巴勒斯坦土地的行為，也就公開指責自己的家人。這是非常需要勇氣的行為，令人敬佩
http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/veryexy/article?mid=1065&prev=-1&next=1064
作為一個音樂家，巴倫博伊姆打開了一個討論的空間，讓哲學與音樂有了對話的可能。
巴倫博伊姆如今已是古典音樂指揮界炙手可熱的人物， 2009 年，他甚至擔綱指揮了維也納新年音樂會，而他創立的東西方第凡樂團 (West-Eastern Divan Orchestra) 也已經成為猶太人與阿拉伯年輕音樂家消弭積怨，增進理解的橋梁所在，盡管 2009 年初，他們的音樂會因為以色列入侵加沙而取消，但是巴倫博伊姆在“以音樂消除仇恨”方麵所作的努力，已得到大眾的認可，他在專業與公眾知名度方麵，已經達到其人生的一個高峰。
不過於我而言，相較其指揮與鋼琴演奏，更讓我感興趣的是他對音樂的一些哲學思考。他這種深思的特質，或許是有賴於其猶太人的身份，使得他對一些基本的存在問題從小就有耳濡目染的感受；又或許是因為他從小跨越南美、歐洲與中東的複雜經曆，一直刺激著他去思考音樂與他的人生經曆之間的關聯。不管是何種原因，巴倫博伊姆對於音樂的一些看法，已不再局限於技術或直覺的層麵上，而是進入到哲學性反思的境地。
因而在這本由其口述的《生活在音樂中》裏，你一方麵可以跟隨他，了解他作為音樂家的成長過程，當中有獲得福特文格勒的青睞提攜，有與祖賓梅塔之間的友誼，還有與前妻杜普蕾的婚姻經曆。
無論在何時，才華橫溢的音樂家都不鮮見，但是卻很少有人能清晰地描述出，音樂這種藝術形式對人的存在到底具備何等的意義，它為人類的心靈到底開啟了怎樣的一扇窗。相反有趣的是，許多哲學家卻不遺餘力地論述音樂的哲學意義，比如謝林，比如尼采。
或許有人會懷疑，這些哲學家們解說音樂的方式，是否會陷入無休止的玄談。不過巴倫博伊姆卻坦承，斯賓諾莎和亞裏士多德的思想使他有可能對音樂有更深的理解。
我很吃驚的是，巴倫博伊姆將音樂看作是一個始於空，終於空的過程。他甚至認為這種空乃是一種沉默，因此音樂的本真意義並不僅僅限於它所演奏的這個過程，而是與演奏前和演奏後的“無聲”存在非常奇妙的關聯。對於這種看法，巴倫博伊姆並沒有交代其思想來源，不過就我來看，這種對於時間的看法，有非常強烈的猶太宗教哲學的色彩，即把有與無當作是一對互為依存的關係來看待，即音樂的發生和意義是與 “ 無聲 ” 作為一對二元關係緊密相聯，正是在沉默中，我們才能發現音樂的一些深層本質。
巴倫博伊姆從亞裏士多德的《靈魂》一書中引申出我們對“聲音”的理解過程，我們首先是依靠感官知覺，然後是依靠想象力和記憶，最終是理智，而在演奏中，我們實際上是先通過理性去理解作品，然後再逐漸恢複早先的感官經驗。這種對亞裏士多德學說的移用十分粗糙，因為音樂對人的吸引力，或許是一種綜合性的把握，而不是亞裏士多德意義上的階段認識論。
我們無需將巴倫博伊姆的看法奉為圭臬，但是作為一個音樂家，他卻打開了一個討論的空間，讓哲學與音樂有了對話的可能。在我閱讀所及，除開那位對胡塞爾的現象學迷戀的切裏比達克，少有音樂人物會以哲學來觀照音樂的本質，因此，巴倫博伊姆的這種思考的方向，方顯彌足可貴。
不過我們切莫單純地認為，巴倫博伊姆隻是以哲學的理論與概念去附會音樂的表達，細心的讀者會注意到，巴倫博伊姆的關懷在於，他應該如何理解音樂作為一種生活方式的意義所在，它給我們的生活到底提供了怎樣的可能性。隻有在這個根本的關切背景下，我們才能了解巴倫博伊姆以哲學探討音樂的衝動何在，或許才會真正地理解他念茲在茲的一句話：音樂是逃避人類生存困境的最好手段。
