Daniel Barenboim directs his first Beethoven symphony cycle in London – and becomes the first conductor since Henry Wood in 1942 to survey all nine symphonies in a single Proms season. His dynamic West–Eastern Divan Orchestra – famously bringing together Arab and Israeli players to form less 'an orchestra for peace' than 'an orchestra against ignorance' – goes far beyond the symbolic in its goal of building bridges through music. Expect further fireworks as Barenboim pairs Beethoven's revolutionary classics with music by one of today's senior musical figures, the ever-innovative composer-conductor Pierre Boulez, with whom Barenboim first collaborated in the mid-1960s