Gergiev loses a presidency
NewsThe Russian conductor was sacked tonight as Honorary President of the Edinburgh International Festival.
Guess what? Edinburgh is a twin city of Kyiv.
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Good on them.
Good.
Suddenly the hughe Gergiev cake crumbles under the weight of the association with evil. And the sound it makes is like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjVbF62fSKk
Excellent news.
Just one word here: in the comments about Gergiev, I’ve been disturbed by how many people are making comments about why they think Gergiev isn’t a good conductor, has annoying habits, etc. That’s not to say that such things can’t be grounds for reasonable critique. But Gergiev isn’t in trouble for conducting with a toothpick, getting drunk, showing up late for a rehearsal, or just being a bad musician. Why aren’t there more people who admit Gergiev could be a great conductor but still needs to face consequences for his bad politics?
I, for one, think Gergiev at his best is capable of performances that make your hair stand on end, especially his Russian opera recordings with Mariinsky. I wish this didn’t need to happen, musicians like Gergiev could stop having stupid politics, and Putin would go away.
Gergiev’s politics are fact, his being a great conductor is opinion. “Great” is the most overused qualifier ever, it doesn’t get more generic than this.
Conducting with a toothpick, getting drunk, showing up late for a rehearsal = objective observations.
He’s a great conductor? = just another way of saying “I am partial to him.”
Everyone is entitled to their _opinions_. You think Gergiev at his best is capable of performances that make _your_ hair stand on end. Why aren’t there more people who admit Gergiev could be a great conductor? Probably because _they_ don’t think he is.
P.S. The performances that made your hair stand on end – did the orchestra have no part in creating the magic? Would he have achieved the same effect with a high school band?
Of course the orchestras in my favorite Gergiev recordings play a part in creating the magic! I would have thought that would go without saying—as it does for any good orchestral recording. But since you mention it, I find Gergiev to be one of those conductors that significantly changes the sound of an orchestra. He rarely conducts the Berlin Phil, for instance, but when he does, the orchestra sounds totally different, more rugged, a bit abrasive, with a kind of growling ferocity in Russian music. Dislike it if you will, but his originality factor is higher than with most conductors. As for me referring to performances as “great,” that’s not because I unable to articulate why I like them—I wasn’t attempting to. But surely you realize that this subjectivity of opinion goes in both directions? Nor have you managed to detail why you don’t think he’s a good conductor, so not sure why you expect me to bolster my case—which I’ve done for you anyway.
I don’t think judging musical quality is entirely subjective, even if it obviously is somewhat. If you think it is entirely subjective, then there’s no way that stating your opinion can possibly be interesting—why would you bother? I happen to think that many of the people who are saying Gergiev is a bad conductor are saying so because they don’t like his politics, not because they are musically informed and passing sound judgment on his interpretation. You might say that’s just my opinion, but I’ll be happy to remind you that that’s also true of yours 🙂
Small correction: I don’t “think” Gergiev performances make my hair stand on end; I “know” they do.
“But surely you realize that this subjectivity of opinion goes in both directions? Nor have you managed to detail why you don’t think he’s a good conductor, so not sure why you expect me to bolster my case—which I’ve done for you anyway.”
For sure I realize subjectivity of opinion doesn’t apply only to you, it’s universal. I agree judging musical quality isn’t entirely subjective, but proclaiming someone “great” is. My intention wasn’t to enter into an argument with you about the merits of lack thereof of Gergiev’s conducting. My intention was, first, to point out the futility of “great”, it’s such an overused, worthless cliché; second, to make you realize that your opinion about Gergiev’s greatness is nothing but personal opinion, not fact. You wrote your first comment as if his greatness, whatever that means to you, was fact – you wanted people to “admit” his greatness. Your opinion that many of the people who are saying he is a bad conductor are saying so because they don’t like his politics, is also just opinion, or wishful thinking, not fact. You like to believe so because it feeds your confirmation bias – it does indirectly support your inner conviction that Gergiev’s greatness is fact, not personal opinion. Still with me? 😉
To conclude, enjoy your preference, far from me to try to persuade you otherwise, but the fact remains it’s just preference, pun intended 🙂
So is Munich, where the Gergiev situation is still developing…
Not anymore…
(referring to the development of the situation)
Yep. By now the inevitable has happened. Good for Munich and Edinburgh.
BTW, way back in 1987 Gergiev and the (then) Kirov Theater came as a guest to Hamburg; partner city of Leningrad and now St. Petersburg. During their stay I drove four times from Kiel to Hamburg (about an hour) to listen to their riveting performances: “Khovanshchina”, Prokofiev’s “War and Peace”, Tchaikovsky’s “Mazeppa” and “Maiden of Orleans”. Not exactly repertoire you hear (or heard) every day in the West. It was incredibly good.
Too sad that Gergiev has developed the way he has, both musically and personally.
Why has the UK decided to import this destructive neo-McCarthyist “cancel culture” from the USA? I attend many concerts involving artists from countries with deeply questionable records on human rights or international law, and I am grateful for the wonderful music they make, regardless of their nationality and politics (of which I am usually blissfully ignorant).
When I went to the Edinburgh International Festival in 2018, I found the concerts to be world-class — indeed, one concert (/Siegfried/ performed by Hallé under Mark Elder) was the best I had ever heard anywhere. But I am not sure I want to support a festival that sacks artists on account of their politics and/or citizenship, not least because such self-righteous virtue signalling is incredibly inconsistent and hypocritical.
Under the visionary leadership of Rudolf Bing, the Edinburgh International Festival was founded in part to rekindle cultural exchange and effect reconciliation after the 2nd World War. Even in its early years, it featured many artists from Germany and Austria, at a time when Europe was still reeling from the impact of that war (wartime measures such as rationing and identity cards were still in force in the UK). It is thus bitterly ironic that, instead of uniting people despite wars and political differences, Edinburgh has opted for division and ostracisation, with scant regard for the damage it does… are we to regress to the crass xenophobia that inflicted untold damage to artistic endeavour during the two world wars? I have been reading, with great interest, Louis Lochner’s biography of Fritz Kreisler, which, among other things, documents the horrible vituperation he suffered in the USA (where, after a brief period of service with the Austrian army, curtailed due to injury in combat, he settled with his American wife) during much of the 1st World War. I had scarcely imagined that such attitudes could resurface on this side of the Atlantic over a century later.
As a British citizen and resident, I am ashamed of the numerous war crimes that my government has committed and continues to commit. I am horrified that one of the our worst war criminals of recent times, Tony Blair, was recently awarded one of the UK’s most prestigious and exclusive knighthoods. And yet I am not aware of any campaigns to ban British artists from touring to other countries. Why the double standards?
I agree with you that banning artists from performing for their nationality is far from being fair. Under the circumstances it’s not physically possible for Russian artists touring without means of transport and payment.
For Gergiev, though, I have no sympathy. He’s been a top notch bootlicker boosting Putin’s ego. I didn’t realise how bad he is before reading Norman’s posts in the past few days and doing some Google search – now I feel so disgusted that he has been tolerated in this seemingly free world.
What neo McCarthyist cancel culture are you referring to sir? Could you please provide some examples? Otherwise, quit your whining.
@SVM Then don’t support the festival. Can’t you do so on the quiet without shouting it from the rooftops on social media? Can’t you be ashamed of your country and feel ostracized at home? Readers are not interested in your comings and goings, nor are they interested in the guilt trips certain posters are treating the social media with regularity. And no one is cancelling Russian artists because of their nationality, get real.
Out of curiosity, how many accounts do you have on this site, “double standards”? I have told you already that to expect the U.K. to impose sanctions against their own artists as a means of forcing Putin out of the Ukraine is daft, to put it mildly. Do you expect the U.K. to freeze their own bank assets too, instead of the Russians’, and impose landing interdiction on their own airlines instead of the Aeroflot?
“Then don’t support the festival. Can’t you do so on the quiet without shouting it from the rooftops on social media? Can’t you be ashamed of your country and feel ostracized at home? Readers are not interested in your comings and goings, nor are they interested in the guilt trips certain posters are treating the social media with regularity.”
Why don’t YOU – instead of silencing other commentators and speak on behalf of other people than yourself – just shut the fuck up?
“And no one is cancelling Russian artists because of their nationality, get real.”
Tell that to Alexander Malofeev, whose recital at Vancouver was cancelled because he is Russian – not because he supports Putin. Tell that to the Russian pianists who have been excluded from participating at the Dublin International Piano Competition because they are from Russia.
“I have told you already that to expect the U.K. to impose sanctions against their own artists as a means of forcing Putin out of the Ukraine is daft, to put it mildly. Do you expect the U.K. to freeze their own bank assets too, instead of the Russians’, and impose landing interdiction on their own airlines instead of the Aeroflot?”
I would expect that kind of sanctions e. g. from the “neutral” Switzerland, Sweden or Finland – or Japan and South Korea.
John Dryden hit it on the head for Gergiev and Trump: ” False, foolish, old, ill-natured, and ill-bred.”
You confused Trump with the current patient of the White House, Biden!! Trump did not start ANY wars!!
Could you list the wars Biden has started? I must have missed the news.
Trump sucked up to Putin & colluded with him by sabotaging NATO & Ukraine so tha Putin can proceed with starting this war! Yeah, that makes Trump an accessory , a partner in this war! SO STOP your lies about Biden starting a war. What hole have you been living in ti nit see Putin has been setting up to go to war these past many months! Oh right, you are MAGA troll.
Makes sense!
All of these cancellations, etc. of Russian musicians may seem like “piling on,” but Putin may be discovering that the 21st Century is not supposed to be a regurgitation of the follies of the 20th Century.
Hopefully the end to this nasty man’s career. Feel sorry for toothpick manufacturers.
I hope you are right. Gergiev does not deserve to grab $17.000.000 a year!!! (No conductor in history could have “earned” that!!!) Let alone this POS!
FINALLY!!! The clueless animal found his fate!! Long overdue!!
Again, Gergiev is in trouble for making bad political choices, not for being stupid or lacking in talent. Such comments worry me. Can we not distinguish between such things any more?