Conductor Daniel Barenboim suffered a fainting spell just hours before a concert. As the Dortmund concert hall announced on Friday, the 83-year-old had participated in a rehearsal on Thursday morning. However, in the afternoon he suffered a post-viral collapse and had to cancel his participation in the concert.

Daniel Barenboim

Karl-Heinz Steffens stepped in at short notice to conduct the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (WEDO) on Thursday evening. Before the concert, Konzerthaus director Raphael von Hoensbroech sent his warmest wishes for a speedy recovery to Barenboim and emphasized the orchestra's unique message, which "was shaped by one person like no other." The conductor and founder of WEDO was "like a mentor, like a father figure" to the musicians, the statement said.

The conductor and pianist Barenboim, who served as General Music Director of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin from 1992 to 2023, among other positions, announced his Parkinson's disease diagnosis in February 2025.

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