Esteemed conductor Daniel Barenboim of Staatskapelle Berlin cancels Kimmel Center appearance

Citing health reasons, the esteemed Berlin-based conductor Daniel Barenboim has withdrawn from his upcoming appearance opening the Kimmel Center’s new visiting orchestra series, the arts center announced Friday. The conductor was to have led Staatskapelle Berlin Dec. 3 in an all-Brahms concert in Verizon Hall.

The concert will go on, but now with Yannick Nézet-Séguin leading the Berlin orchestra in a program that is unchanged: Brahms’ Symphonies No. 3 and 4. Nézet-Séguin will also take the Staatskapelle’s two Carnegie Hall dates, Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.

The cancellation is not entirely surprising. Barenboim, 81, announced in January that a “serious neurological condition” had forced him to conclude his tenure in Berlin.

Visiting orchestras were a regular feature of Kimmel programming after the center opened in 2001, but the orchestra series was dropped a decade later. Its return was announced in September, with three international ensembles this season.

Barenboim was music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1991 to 2006 and has been a longtime advocate for peace in the Middle East. In 1999, he founded, along with Edward Said, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra to illustrate understanding amid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Health simply does not allow me to undertake the strenuous transatlantic travel and the many domestic trips required for this tour,” said the conductor and pianist in a prepared statement.

Staatskapelle Berlin, Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m., $35-$119; Orchestre Métropolitain, March 5 at 7:30 p.m., $25-$99; Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, May 1 at 8 p.m., $35-$139. All concerts in Verizon Hall, Broad and Spruce Streets. Buyers of a three-concert package receive a 25% discount. Rush tickets may be offered, depending on availability, $15 online or $20 in person. kimmelculturalcampus.org, 215-893-1999.