By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim ended his reign as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Saturday night with personal greetings and farewells to the musicians he has led for the past 15 years.
When applause from the audience called him back to the podium for the second time after the conclusion of his final piece, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Barenboim began threading his way between the musicians' seats, shaking hands with each of them and embracing a number of them.
The applause continued, rising to cheers at times - particularly when Barenboim hugged silver-haired principal horn Dale Clevenger, one of the orchestra's most distinguished and popular members.