The impact of Putin’s war on music so far
News1 The two musicians closest to the Russian president, conductor Valery Gergiev and pianist Denis Matsuev, have been named persona non grata in all western countries. Both have also been sacked by their agents.
2 The star soprano Anna Netrebko has withdrawn indefinitely from all performances. Netrebko, 50, lives mostly in Vienna. Her husband, the Azeri tenor Yusif Eyvazov, continues to be employed.
3 Two music directors have resigned in Russia – Tugan Sokhiev at the Bolshoi and Thomas Sanderling in Novosibirsk. Sokhiev has also resigned from his French post in Toulouse.
4 Many western concerts now begin with the Ukrainian national anthem.
5 Musicians in the leading orchestras of Ukraine are being trained in defence activities.
6 Gergiev is conducting a triumphalist concert and a Ring cycle in Moscow.
7 A commercial ballet company was sent home from Britain and the Bolshoi Ballet has been banned from Madrid.
8 The Met has ended co-productions with the Bolshoi and the Mariinsky can no longer tour. The effect on their finances and morale will be considerable.
9 Ukraine’s leading composer Valentin Silvestrov, 84, is struggling to reach safety in another country after 2 days on blocked roads.
10 Among maestros who have shown moral leadership and clarity are Semyon Bychkov, Vladimir Jurowsky, Riccardo Muti, Evgeny Kissin, Vasily Petrenko and Kirill Petrenko.
(c) Matthew Johnson Photographer 2022, taken at Sunday’s Trafalgar Square rally
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What on earth are you going to do after this war has stopped? all the nasty Russian pro-Putin musicians will be cancelled, so who are you going to complain or criticise ???? Methinks you will have to invent some nasty musicians from somewhere else after we have cancelled Russian music….
Methinks you shouldn’t worry so much about other people’s future. Or do you actually worry about your own future? Are you one of those “nasty Russian pro-Putin musicians”, or else why the anxiety? I can tell you what the West is going to do after the war has stopped: The West will rejoice, after which the West will have to pay for the economic mess Putin has created. I don’t think the Western population will have much money in the pocket for concerts, so you may as well stop the whining, and look for another job. Unless the West can confiscate the assets of all Russian oligarchs to ease the collective economic pain of the European population, now this is a thought.
“Netrebko has withdrawn from all performances” –
Well, not entirely… in one small city of insensitive Bavarians she still seems to be welcome to perform (22nd of July):
https://www.br.de/nachrichten/kultur/netrebko-konzert-bei-thurn-und-taxis-festival-soll-stattfinden,SzPOYIp
tickets are still available for €265 or €221.
Putin’s legacy – the world’s contempt for a very long time. What a legacy!
The world’s contempt did nothing to stop Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, to name but three. They all managed to hang on, wreaking immense destruction, till their deaths.
And your point is…?
You seem to forget that one of the three you mentioned died a violent death, and another died in prison (granted, the imprisonment came late.) Ultimately, every despot hangs on until their death, this stands to reason. The question is how many die of old age in their bed. Those who don’t are guaranteed to earn the world’s contempt for a very long time, and sometime not even those who die in their bed aren’t exempt of the world’s contempt, provided of course there’s still a world around.
Don’t forget about the Dutch conductor Arthur Arnold. Last week he resigned as principal conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra after more than 20 years of cooperation.
Interesting that Yusif Eyvazov was not “cancelled” and “blocked” when Azeri attacked and terrorized Armenia.
FYI
https://thegrayzone.com/2022/03/04/nazis-ukrainian-war-russia/
A website that denies the persecution of Uighurs andkowtows to authoritarianism might not be the most enlightening source of information just now!
Grayzone and Jimmy Dore are COMPLETE anti-west pinko commie grifters! They need to be kicked off of Youtube!
Sixty years ago when I started listening to opera, Netrebko would have been a second tier soprano at best. True, when she started singing she had a lovely lyric soprano that in some ways reminded me of Mirella Freni. But then Netrebko went into her Sutherland imitation, only to be followed by her Nilsson imitation; now she is in her late Callas period. Let her serenade Putin for the rest of her career!
Good analysis of Netrebko, Tony! You’ve got ears, that’s for sure.
She can also help Putin with cleaning the Kremlin when she is not serenading him. Something that she has a real talent for.
Russia offers what look like reasonable peace terms and Ukraine says no. Western governments seem to want this war.
Could we please not allow trolling on this website?
Well I don’t know how reasonable those peace terms are. Russia demanded Ukraine should give up three key regions and completely demilitarize itself completely. Basically this means every time Russia feels like grabbing some territories they are entitled to march in. Same tactics as in WW II, when they grabbed a few nice provinces. What’s reasonable in this? The West didn’t want this war, you seem to forget it was the Russian gov who started it. The West is however at fault for turning a blind eye toward the murkiness of Russian politics and the crisis Putin has been building toward for years.
The only “reasonable peace term” is “get the fuck out of our country Putin.”
Russia should not began a war in the first place, violating all existing international laws;
Do you think Russia is entilted to impose abusive “peace” terms on Ukraine after this?
Well , some people admire agressivness and dictatorships; but not many in the western societies
When discussing Gergiev / Netrebko / Matsuev etc how is their artistic merit relevant to discussion of their current international isolation? I find it most peculiar that people want to twist the knife in this way – it’s almost like saying good riddance, we won’t miss them anyway, which seems a rather childish response in the circumstances that Europe is in at present.
Don’t be surprised if all Chinese classical musicians like Yu Long, Yo Yo Ma, Yuja Wang, Lang Lang will suffer the same fate as Gergiev.
Given the absolute positions of hatred and praise expressed in these various comment sections one wonders how those shiny armoured knights of right and wrongs will react when the far more ambivalent and complex reality will be fully revealed?
Because, really if anyone here thinks this affair is as simple and clear cut as they trumpet it now from their low level of information knowledge then i have a few bridges to sell them twice ! And a cardiac booster from Bourla & Bancel for good measure !