MUSIC

Daniel Barenboim, 46, the newly appointed music director of the Chicago Symphony, says some contemporary music is in the future for the orchestra that has made its reputation playing Mahler, Wagner and Beethoven. Barenboim met with reporters in Chicago this week for the first time since being named Jan. 30 to replace Sir Georg Solti in September, 1991. While he does not plan any sweeping changes, he said, “If we are limited to the music of the past, all our institutions . . . (will become) like well-equipped museums.” Added the conductor, “I don’t expect everybody to agree with my choices and like them.” Barenboim declined to discuss his much-publicized dispute with officials of the Bastille Opera in Paris, where he was fired last month as musical and artistic director.