Conductor Barenboim a hit at Cairo concert

CAIRO, April 18 (UPI) -- Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim says he enjoyed visiting Egypt for his Cairo Symphony Orchestra concert that ended with rapturous applause.

The 66-year-old conductor was invited to Egypt by the Austrian embassy in Cairo and the musician used his time in the country to speak out about the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the BBC reported Friday.

"For 60 years they have been trying with force and they haven't solved anything," Barenboim said while rehearsing for Thursday's successful concert. "Every military victory of Israel has left it politically weaker."

"I hope very much that this, my first visit to Egypt, will maybe allow another way of thinking to come."

Despite his outspoken political opinions, the British network said Barenboim earned applause from the concert audience thanks to his conducting duties during renditions of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony" and "Pathetique piano sonata."