The Russian-based Greek conductor Teodor Currentzis has picked up another award – 75,000 Euros from the Kairos Prize of the highly controversial Alfred Toepfer Stiftung.
Currentzis, 44, was honoured as a ‘thinker and creator’.
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Questionable “conductor,” questionable prize. Makes sense.
Biggest fraud on the podium ever….
I would agree
I wouldn’t.
I would, and I thought that 18 years ago!
I quite enjoy being defrauded by Currentzis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM4q-UN0-PI
… do you have anything to say by way of a cogently argued point of view?
My comment was aimed at Harold Braun, not Michael.
Haters gonna hate! Fair enough to have one’s own opinion, particularly if one has actually been a part of Currentzis’s rehearsals and subsequent performances. Personally though, within that experience, I found him to be one of the greatest conductors I have worked under (even if is his personality grates slightly). Separately, if one wishes to criticise him from the point of view of a listener/audience member, one would be criticising (mainly I would suppose) his interpretation and performance, which is admittedly always extremely different to bog-standard versions of the repertoire generally on offer. In that case though, why let him bother you? One can always just go and listen to one’s Karajan recording for the 1000th time, or attend any number of more conservatively performed orchestral concerts, which style of performance is arguably in the greater majority world wide, certainly conservative in comparison to Currentzis’s interpretations.
If a fraud is someone who can tell you precisely what any instrument is playing at any given bar in, for example, Berg’s Lulu, without looking at the score, and but then who is also inspirational, dedicated, knowledgeable, passionate and visionary, I’d be interested to know of the non-frauds who surpass Currentzis in Harold’s eyes, and to hear how different and unique their interpretations are to the norm! Cheers.
Reading the shocking article about this Toepfer Foundation makes it clear that it is not a ‘highly controversial’ organisation, but an outright immoral, scandalously mendacious club – because of the money involved. The evil of this nazi should be widely published and honours be returned.
The Toepfer foundation does not deny its problematic roots. Anyay who has the illusion that culture can exist without money and the money on which it exists is clean? Salzburg-Festival is sponsored by Nestlé, Verbier by UBS, and there the Credit Suisse Prize. Your Volkswagen, your Mercedes, your BMW, your VARTA-battery and your BOSS-suit are made by firms who worked for the Nazis, And who has the right to throw stones if Currentzis collects money offered for the survival of his band in difficult conditions.
And before pretending that he is questionable hear this: http://www.arte.tv/guide/de/059603-000-A/mendelssohns-violinkonzert . Few are able to deliver such quality.
So, if the quality is good, what we are talking about?
And then, one may not compare brand name such as BMW or BOSS with the person’s name because the brand BMW means the car which is itself pretty neutral, whereas the name means certain person with his well known deeds. That’s why association with trademark and association with person’s name are completely different things
I see your point regarding BMW, but BOSS gets its name from Hugo Boss, founder of the company and an ardent Nazi.
and still BOSS is a brand’s name of household appliances, fashion etc
So, we associate it with products.
Almost all German industry in a certain time was involved into politic and war. Still industry itself is neutral as opposed to people
What about Henry FORD, an ardent Nazi sympathizer and anti-semite?
The top ten Nazi regime supporting companies in the US, and doing so voluntarily – unlike some German companies – without being subjugated to Nazi government legislation and control.
IBM
General Motors
Ford Motor Company
Alcoa
Woolworth
Brown Brothers Harriman
Dow Chemical
Chase Manhattan Bank
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Coca-Cola
If the Toepfer foundation has come clear with its past, then their philanthropy should be commended, not condemned. Money itself is innocent. It is always, what people do with it, that matters.
Very well said L:F!
So Mrs.Arshinova, you want persons. Take the music Siemens Prize of 250’000 Euros.
Look at Siemens and Hitler visiting the Siemens factory: http://www.gettyimages.ch/license/545708009
See the Siemens factory workers frenetically applauding Göbbels and Hitler:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3l–TeAqvc
Hear Hitlers hate-speech against the jews in the same factory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE6rZ7dOvFE
Siemens used up to fifty-thousand slave labourers at a given time during WWII. The total of their slave labourers must be much higher. http://www.siemens.com/history/en/history/1933_1945_the_national_socialist_economy_and_the_war_years.htm
And now see the list of the winners who did NOT refuse the Siemens prize:
1974 Benjamin Britten
1975 Olivier Messiaen
1976 Mstislaw Rostropowitsch
1977 Herbert von Karajan
1978 Rudolf Serkin
1979 Pierre Boulez
1980 Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
1981 Elliott Carter
1982 Gidon Kremer
1983 Witold Lutosławski
1984 Yehudi Menuhin
1985 Andrés Segovia
1986 Karlheinz Stockhausen
1987 Leonard Bernstein
1988 Peter Schreier
1989 Luciano Berio
1990 Hans Werner Henze
1991 Heinz Holliger
1992 H. C. Robbins Landon
1993 György Ligeti
1994 Claudio Abbado
1995 Sir Harrison Birtwistle
1996 Maurizio Pollini
1997 Helmut Lachenmann
1998 György Kurtág
1999 Arditti-Quartett
2000 Mauricio Kagel
2001 Reinhold Brinkmann
2002 Nikolaus Harnoncourt
2003 Wolfgang Rihm
2004 Alfred Brendel
2005 Henri Dutilleux
2006 Daniel Barenboim
2007 Brian Ferneyhough
2008 Anne-Sophie Mutter
2009 Klaus Huber
2010 Michael Gielen
2011 Aribert Reimann
2012 Friedrich Cerha
2013 Mariss Jansons
2014 Peter Gülke
2015 Christoph Eschenbach
2016 Per Nørgård
Any questions?
Dear Mrs Arshinova, you want persons: Hitler visited the Siemens factory and was received by Mr.Siemens and frenetically applauded by the workers for his famous hate speech against jews. Siemens used well over 50’000 slave labourerers dring WWII. You find all this on Youtube and Google.
And now the list of the musicians who did NOT refuse the 250’000 Euro Siemens-prize:
1974 Benjamin Britten
1975 Olivier Messiaen
1976 Mstislaw Rostropowitsch
1977 Herbert von Karajan
1978 Rudolf Serkin
1979 Pierre Boulez
1980 Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
1981 Elliott Carter
1982 Gidon Kremer
1983 Witold Lutosławski
1984 Yehudi Menuhin
1985 Andrés Segovia
1986 Karlheinz Stockhausen
1987 Leonard Bernstein
1988 Peter Schreier
1989 Luciano Berio
1990 Hans Werner Henze
1991 Heinz Holliger
1992 H. C. Robbins Landon
1993 György Ligeti
1994 Claudio Abbado
1995 Sir Harrison Birtwistle
1996 Maurizio Pollini
1997 Helmut Lachenmann
1998 György Kurtág
1999 Arditti-Quartett
2000 Mauricio Kagel
2001 Reinhold Brinkmann
2002 Nikolaus Harnoncourt
2003 Wolfgang Rihm
2004 Alfred Brendel
2005 Henri Dutilleux
2006 Daniel Barenboim
2007 Brian Ferneyhough
2008 Anne-Sophie Mutter
2009 Klaus Huber
2010 Michael Gielen
2011 Aribert Reimann
2012 Friedrich Cerha
2013 Mariss Jansons
2014 Peter Gülke
2015 Christoph Eschenbach
2016 Per Nørgård
Any questions?
you still don’t see difference between Name and Brand
Sorry it was Mr. Siemens, as it was Mr.Töpfer. This is a play of words. Name and brand are interchangeable. Dirty money all the same.
One can safely observe that when it comes to money 99 &9/10 % of so called classical
musicians seem not to have a moral bone in their body They take money from wherever it comes while waxing poetic on the human condition & pretending to serve a “higher” calling .
It is not so much the money as the hypocrisy with which they cloak themselves .
It is always for the majority about money , the art form being a way to get that money .
Quickly Teodor! Put the money in a Tax Haven!! 😀 😀