MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Conductor Daniel Barenboim admits to neurological condition

Barenboim was made a KBE in 2011

Argentine-born conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim, KBE, has canceled his musical engagements for the coming months due to health issues, it was reported Wednesday.

“I have lived my whole life through music and will continue to do so as long as my health allows me,” said the 79-year-old Barenboim, who admitted he has a neurological condition.

“It is with a mixture of pride and sadness that I announce that I am stepping aside from my activities, especially conducting engagements, for the next few months,” the musician posted on social media.

“My health has deteriorated in recent months and I have been diagnosed with a severe neurological condition, he added.

Barenboim, who will be turning 80 on Nov. 15 said he needed to focus ”on being physically well as best as possible.“

He added that ”music was and will continue to be an essential part of my life. I have lived my whole life through music and will continue to do so as long as my health allows me to do so“; and closed with the idea that ”looking back and looking forward, I am not only happy but deeply fulfilled,” he went on.

Barenboim had to cancel a tour in May with the West-Divan Orchestra, the project that brings together musicians from Israel and the Arab world, on his doctor's advice. Regardless of his unchallenged musical talent, Barenboim gained additional world fame in 2001 for playing in Israel some works of Richard Wagner, an author often associated with Germany's Nazi regime. He was knighted in June of 2011 for his tireless campaigning for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. A KBE is the highest British honor for foreign citizens. Barenboim holds citizenships of Argentina, Israel, Palestine, and Spain.

Born in Buenos Aires in 1942, Barenboim made his debut at the famed Teatro Colón in 1950. A few months later he settled with his family in Europe to become one of the leading pianists of his generation and make a career as a renowned orchestra conductor.