Daniel Barenboim has been hailed as a “phenomenon” since the age of 12, when his piano playing was compared to Mozart. Now just a few months from the 50th anniversary of his stage debut, the maestro reflects on his career and the sad demise of classical music’s audience. “It is beginning to look as endangered as the Siberian tiger. There is no music education now in the schools. The crossover business, and all the other trivialisations of classical music, is a result of this basically unhealthy state of affairs.” – The Telegraph (UK)