Munich books Valery Gergiev to 2025

Munich books Valery Gergiev to 2025

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norman lebrecht

February 21, 2018

Swallowing last-minute reservations about the conductor’s participation in Putin’s wars, the city council today confirmed the renewal of Gergiev’s contact with the Munich Philharmonic to 2025.

He’ll be in work to age 72.

Comments

  • harold braun says:

    Fine!MPO gets along very well with him.”Conductors participation in Putin´s wars”….laughing my ass off!!!!

  • Elizabeth Owen says:

    They are working a lot harder than the LSO did. Lots of tours etc.

  • Gregor Tassie says:

    What a truly stupid and juvenile statement for the editor of this website to make about an outstanding conductor. You should be ashamed of yourself!!!

  • anon says:

    I can’t believe Gergiev is only 65, he looks like he’s 85 going on 105.

  • Alexander says:

    “Conductors participation in Putin´s wars” …. it seems like a new Apollonious of Tyana should be born on Earth again to clear enlightened minds up from the dust of cold war way of thinking … just my opinion, of course …
    P.S. just F.Y.I. Apollonious unlike Jesus Christ had to work with the aristocracy and rich more often than with the poor , it was so-to-speak, his mission 😉

  • Walter says:

    While I don’t doubt that Gergiev is mostly concerned with obtaining funding for his work in Russia, if you cross the line into the political foray, you should be prepared to accept the consequences. Consistently agreeing with the discriminatory policies of a government should result in automatic blacklisting, and for a German organization not to show leadership on this issue is particularly unfortunate. Many musicians who showed much less support for the Nazis were refused entry into the US after WW II – Furtwängler was boycotted from Chicago despite having opposed Nazi policy right up to the end. It seems we are holding people to a much lower standard today. (just to dispel any anti German comments from the peanut gallery, my heritage is Munich – Vienna)
    Gergiev is without doubt an excellent musician – so let the Russians have him! You can still hear him on youtube. But he shouldn’t be earning his millions in countries that have at least some respect for democracy and human rights.

    • Anon says:

      Your comparison and equation of political Russia of today with the Nazis is simply extremely distorted. You have eaten too much of the “eternal evil Russki boogey man” propaganda of the US apparently.

      • Walter says:

        It’s true that the Nazis were responsible for millions of deaths while Putin’s regime is only responsible for thousands. But tell that to Ukrainians, Chechens or Syrians…. Where do you suggest drawing the line – how many deaths does a government have to be responsible for, at which point would you agree that an artist should not go out of his way (as Gergiev has done) to lend support to a regime which shows little respect for basic human rights?
        And by the way – I also wouldn’t want a conductor who campaigns for a p—y grabber to work with my orchestra. Would you?

        • Anon says:

          If you carefully analyze the build ups and the money trails to Chechen, Syrian or Ukrainian wars, you will find a force that was much more proactive than Russia, which was a more reactive, than proactive player. The US of A. And the death toll of US instigated conflicts in Eurasia in the last 25 years alone goes into the millions. Where does your hypocrisy and double standard come from? Lack of historical insight? Being gullible for relentless propaganda? The brainwashing with a collective hallucination since the early youth, to be on the side of the “good guys”?

          • Walter says:

            I’m not disagreeing with you that American foreign policy has often been very malevolent… But the issue today is Gergiev and his efforts to legitimize the Russian regime, which has also been active rather than proactive on a number of occasions.

            When a top flight American conductor is invited to become Music Director of a Russian orchestra and continues to openly support for instance the invasion of Iraq or Trump’s comments after Charlottesville. you can be sure I’ll be there to comment.

            It does seem that you are the one who has a one sided viewpoint – could it be that your postal address is Troll Farm St Petersburg.?

          • Anon says:

            Give me a couple of occasions, where Russia was more proactive than reactive than US/NATO.
            Also the Russian government is a legitimate one, even the US doesn’t question that. So no need to ‘legitimize’ in the first place. What is it that you are trying to say?

  • M2N2K says:

    With millions of “useful idiots” in the west who are well represented by a few on this thread, Russian propaganda machine can certainly relax now and just enjoy the fruits of its patriotic labors. Still, “participation in” should probably be replaced by “support of”.

    • Anon says:

      In reality you are the idiot. Not a useful one, but a dangerous one.

      • Gregor Tassie says:

        Well said, its time for such ridiculous statements to be given the treatment they deserve. You’re giving our troll factory political respectability by your words…..

  • matteo says:

    ” […] the city council today confirmed the renewal of Gergiev’s contact with the Munich Philharmonic to 2025″.
    The Munich city council is not confirming a far left activist but one of the best conductor of our times. Shame on you, Munich city council!

    “He [Gergiev]’ll be in work to age 72”.
    Apparently, the Munich Philharmonic is not looking for an artistic gymnast. They’re looking for a conductor. And, you know, good conductors usually aren’t youngsters.

    “Gergiev is music director of the city orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic. It was leaked at the weekend that Gergiev’s Munich contract is to be renewed until 2025. But the has still to be approved by the city council in February 21, and that may not be a foregone conclusion”.

    EPIC FAIL

  • Bobby V says:

    Children! Children! This is supposed to be about music, not absurdly naïve political comment. If you don’t behave, Nanny will come along and spank you all.

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