Semyon Bychkov lashes out at EU
mainThe international conductor has added his voice to the condemnation of the EU’s decision to defund its youth orchestra. He writes:
The decision taken by the European Community to stop subsidizing its Youth Orchestra is a grave political error on the part of those whose role it is to protect culture and its institutions, the education of young people and society in general.
The EUYO was formed 40 years ago to represent exceptionally gifted and carefully selected young artists from what is now a 28-member political, economic and cultural entity. It doesn’t require great imagination to appreciate the impact that this orchestra has on forming the young generation of musicians and the audiences it performs for internationally.
These musicians are destined to represent the world of classical music for decades to come. They are the mirror of what the European Community aspires to be. To stop supporting them constitutes a betrayal of a fundamental belief that culture too defines every civilization. Not only wars.
No response yet from the Juncker bunker.
“People are craving this great progress in electronics, going after computers, the Internet, etc. It’s a giant progress technologically. But they must also have a balance of soul, a balance for human beauty. That means art has an important role.”
Mstislav Rostropovich
A civilization that has no culture is no real civilization, it’s a fake one. Even the worst civilizations in history are remembered because of their culture, not because of their flaws. Bychkov is just entirely right.
I would think this comment is axiomatic. Recent events show the European unwillingness to preserve anything of its ‘culture’, so I’m not one bit surprised by any of this.
The civilization of Germany in 1936 was, using your barometers of “culture”, WAY more cultured than Germany/Europe today.
Food for thought….
Yes, indeed.
Not really. After the Nazi mob had caused thousands of Jewish artists and German artist with highest ethics to leave the country, Germany of 1936 was certainly much less cultured than e.g. Germany around 1930.
Indeed…. and the artists who stayed, were either entirely opportunistic and cynical, or were so naive to think that ‘things would improve later-on’, or simply did not have the means and contacts to flee, or weren’t Jews and were rich enough to lock themselves up in their villa (Amadeus Hartmann).
Some artists might have had good intentions and thought they could make a change, perhaps? This does not imply naivity, but rather a strong connection with the country, people and culture you feel connected to. Your analysis shows little understanding of reality as opposed to backwards understanding of history.
What makes you say that Hartmann was “rich enough to lock himself up in his villa”?