Valery Gergiev: ‘I have no plans to perform in Turkey’
mainThe Mariinksy and Munich music director was asked at a Tokyo press conference whether he had plans to perform in Turkey. The question was tagged to the shooting down of a Russian military plane by Turkish ground forces.
Gergiev, who is often an apologist for President Putin, said (according to the semi-official Tass news agency): ‘I do not have plans to perform in Turkey. This is a very dangerous region. It is not the job of artists to find a solution in this region, it is the task of politicians.’
Gergiev is touring Japan with the Munich Philharmonic.
He has not previously hesitated to perform in danger zones, and no Government presently considers Ankara and Istanbul to be areas of danger.
I have no plans to perform in Turkey either. I let the turkey perform on Sunday.
A better answer would have been: “Currently, I have no plans to perform in Turkey, but this has nothing to do with the political situation.”
But if you choose to make controversial political statements, don’t be surprised if you are judged by them.
Quite right too, how Turkey can get away with shooting down a Russian aircraft and at the same time bombing Kurdish fighters in the region, if it was the reverse all hell would break loose, the Turkish leader Erdogan is a man who cannot be trusted and according to his public statements is turning into a megalomaniac. Anyone who has any sense will stay well away from this despotic little empire.
Also empires where if you hold a contrary political opinion you can get conveniently killed while crossing a bridge .Ring a bell?
Or empires where you get killed, riding in a convertible limo passing a book depository on a sunny day.
You may of course “stay well away” from that country all you want, but this “analogy” makes no sense whatsoever.
Oh for goodness sake. He is booked months if not years ahead and no dates include Turkey. What do you expect him to do?
No way, Gergiev would have never said anything like that, escpecially not in those words, I can bet. He has no plans to perform in many other countries either.
I will never forget his concert performance of Pique Dame at Aspendos ampthitheatre with Mariinsky forces.
That statement only lasted ten seconds, but he was warned for years. He should not complain, if he is shot down, I guess.
Stupid question.Why should he?
Because he performs everywhere… on the same day…