First string

His father is the pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim. His mother is the pianist Elena Bashkirova, and the force behind the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival. His grandfather, Dmitri Bashkirov, is also a pianist, as are his paternal grandparents.

	Michael Barenboim. “When my father conducts the orchestra, he’s not my father, he’s the conductor.”
	Photo by: David Bachar

"I started studying piano at age four," says Michael Barenboim. "After two years, we moved from France to Berlin, but they just couldn't find a suitable teacher for me. That's how I got to the violin, an instrument I've loved for as long as I can remember." (Only his maternal grandmother, Vera Bashkirov, is a violinist.)

You basically switched to a more problematic instrument.

"I don't think so. The initial stages with the violin are more difficult, but beyond a certain level - when you want to be a truly good artist - the difficulty is similar."

Michael Barenboim followed the classic route (unlike his older brother David, who is now studying jazz in New York ) while studying violin. He also managed to study philosophy for two years at the Sorbonne ("I found it very interesting, but stopped because of the musical overload" ).

Unlike his multilingual parents (Daniel speaks at least five languages, Elena speaks four ), Michael is fluent in only three - French, German and English. What language does he think in? While puffing on a pipe, Michael says this changes often, as it does with his father. "Mom would also speak to me in Russian when I was little, so actually I speak three and a half languages."

In a previous interview, Barenboim described himself as German; after all, he grew up in Berlin. "Yes, in interviews I say that, but only under pressure. Really, I was born in Paris." In that same interview, when asked what it's like to be Daniel Barenboim's son, he answered, "I can't judge, I'm unfamiliar with any other situation."

Doesn't take sides

Ten years ago, Barenboim joined the West-Eastern Divan - an international youth orchestra founded by his father and the late Palestinian author Edward Said - and for the last seven years has been its first violinist.

What's it like to be the first violinist in an orchestra conducted by your father?

"When my father conducts, he's not my father, he's the conductor."

Are there political discussions among the Divan musicians?

"We talk about politics in an open, friendly way. We try to see the perspective of the other. And no, I don't take sides."

Apart from his work with Divan and other performances, Michael founded the Berlin-based string quartet Erlenbusch, and is its first violinist. They will give several performances at the Jerusalem festival, which opens tonight with bass singer Robert Hall performing a Hugo Wolf lieder, with Elena Bashkirova on piano. Immediately after, Erlenbusch will perform Schumann's first quartet.

The two Schoenberg quartets Erlenbusch will perform make this year's festival daring and challenging. The finale concert (September 11) will be a family affair: Michael Barenboim will join his father and the cellist Alisa Weilerstein in a performance of Beethoven's "Winds" trio, and then Daniel Barenboim and Elena Bashkirova will perform a piano duo - the first such pairing at this festival.

Do you ever play sonatas at home with Mom or Dad on the piano?

"Just for fun? It has never happened. We play together when there is a rehearsal, preparations for a concert."

Which composer is closest to your spirit?

"There is no composer particularly close to me emotionally, more beloved than others... For me, Boulez is no less interesting than Bach. To play them gives me the same pleasure. In general, I'm very interested in contemporary music."

And do you have any hobbies outside of music?

"I like soccer, not playing but watching from a couch."

Your brother is involved in pop music. What do you think of pop?

"I can't say it's a significant part of my leisure time."