Representatives of the Soviet Foreign Ministry, and other Soviet official organs, as well as leading personalities in the world of art and literature in Moscow attended last night a reception here by Josef Tekoah, Israel’s Ambassador to the Soviet Union, to the Israeli pianist Daniel Barenboim who is now on a concert tour in the USSR, the Soviet press agency Novosti reported today.
Novosti reported that Barenboim, who arrived here on January 7, gave concerts in Moscow, Leningrad and Vilnius which were “a big success,” and that he is scheduled to perform in various cities in the Ukraine. Giving in great detail the biography of the young Israeli pianist, the Soviet press agency said that in the past five years Barenboim had given about 100 concerts annually in different countries.
In an interview with Novosti, the pianist said “I am very pleased with my performances in the Soviet Union. Audiences received me very well, constantly requesting encores. Leningrad, possessing wonderful musical traditions, impressed me particularly. The orchestra of the Leningrad Philharmonic Society, with which I performed Beethoven’s third and fifth concertos, is I think the best in the world.”
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