This Austrian festival is clinging to straws
NewsMessage received:
The HERBSTGOLD – Festival has cancelled the appearance of Valery Gergiev scheduled for September 18, 2022 due to his lack of distancing himself from Vladimir Putin’s illegal acts of war. Nevertheless, we hope that both the concert of the Mariinsky Orchestra St. Petersburg and the Russian National Youth Symphony Orchestra will take place during the festival despite the difficult situation. We believe that art and culture should never fall victim to war and that cultural exchange that transcends borders is now needed more than ever. We will constantly reassess the situation and inform our customers in good time about the concerts taking place or necessary program changes.
The festival takes place in Eisenstadt, Haydn land.
Strange: do they hope that by September this crazy war is over and that Gergiev will have explained his political mistakes and change his opinion? And will they call him back? Why don’t they simply change the program, with different performers?
Less is more, especially when it comes to “festivals”.
There is something strange going on with many (but not all) Austrian music institutions regarding their refusal to condemn Putin’s criminal war against Ukraine. It would be good to know more, particularly about funding