Barenboim leads free memorial concert

MADRID, July 9 (UPI) -- World-renowned conductor Daniel Barenboim is set to lead a free concert in Madrid to honor the victims of the March 11 train bombings.

Barenboim will conduct Berlin's Staatskapelle Orchestra in Beethoven's Third Symphony at the Plaza Mayor during the city's Summer Festival, which runs through Sept. 5, EFE reported Friday.

Barenboim, who said combating terrorism means "fighting ignorance," said he selected Beethoven's Third Symphony, known as "Eroica," because the word is "synonymous with hope."

The concert is expected to attract 5,000 people.

The March 11 explosions of several bombs in four crowded commuter trains killed more than 190 and injured more than 1,500 people.

"Although the pain's still there, we have to keep living with joy, struggling and taking delight, in this case through music," Barenboim said.

Barenboim, an Israeli born in Argentina, also holds Spanish citizenship.