Concertgebouw is disrupted by Extinction Rebellion
NewsThree protesters stood up during Verdi’s Requiem in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw on Wednesday night shouting climate-change slogans.
One cried: ‘We are in the middle of a climate crisis and we are like the orchestra on the Titanic that keeps playing quietly while the ship is already sinking.’
The performance was by the visiting Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano with conductor Claus Peter Flor.
The disrupters were removed.
“The disrupters were removed.” The climate crisis stayed.
Though I sympathize with activists, they are targeting the wrong people and the wrong institutions, however much I’d like to think if I could just call up Biden and Xi and Putin and they would change the world for the better, but the truth is, we are all dead men walking on the Titanic, so just let me enjoy the rest of my brief stay on this planet listening to the orchestra play.
I know there is no such respite for my great grandchildren, indeed they are looking at a catastrophic future that includes war over ever diminishing habitable space and resources. But it wasn’t my decision to have them born into this world at this time.
By the way, I don’t think the human species would go extinct, there’ll be a lot of deaths and culling, but the species will survive, maybe back to the stone ages, but we’ll do better than the dinosaurs.
And if not, humans have had a good run at it, it’s time for evolution to come up with an improvement over homosapiens, we were always a species doomed to self-destruction.
Couldn’t agree more. It’s all partly a biproduct of humans not having natural predators. Or, to be more precise, we’ve learned how to distance ourselves from potential predators. My view of all this is only slightly different. The world has ALWAYS been going to hell in a handbag – a never ending procession of human folly. Somehow, humanity seems to keep stumbling along. Indeed, in the mean time, let the band play on.
Oh dear; it’s hard to know where to start with this Old-Testament fire and brimstone catastrophism. But, since it’s your new religion, it would be pointless trying to introduce some actual facts.
More idiotic comments from the greenies.
The earth has known periods much warmer than today.
Human activity contributes 0.06% to the total CO2 inventory, of which CO2 is vital for plant food, ie. 0.06% of 0.045%….ie sweet ZILCH!
The earth has not enough CO2, a gas which went from 0.04% of total back from well over 0.1% in the not so recent past (when all the fossils were produced in the first place). The earth did not boil and the earth was rich and fertile.
These E-R w..nkers should be locked up and the keys thrown away.
Not only have they no scientific knowledge, but they insist on vandalising artworks and preventing normal people to go about their legitimate business, including musicians playing music.
The lies of Attenborough, the BBC, the Bidens, Mickey Mann, Gore, Phil Jones, and the IPCC are well documented as well as inherent corruption in the entire greeny WWF organisation.
Give them what they want: extinction. Immediate and permanent. None of them be missed.
Their hearts may be in the right place, but I’m of two minds about your comment. 1. Yes, they won’t be missed. 2. No, their mothers will miss them greatly.
Perhaps there needed to be a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta playing at the time…”yes, I’ve got him on the list and he really won’t be missed”.
There are a lot of countries that threaten and sometimes actually deal with those who dissent with execution, at least when the dissent is so grating. I’m glad my country isn’t one of them–yet. I don’t see what is gained by protests of this nature, and while I grant them the validity of their point, the self-righteousness gives me pause. But “extinction”? Really?
I don’t know anything about this Milanese orchestra but wouldn’t an orchestra in a place like Houston or Saudi Arabia better to disrupt? The Houston Grand Opera actually receives funds from ConocoPhillips, for example.
Actually, it is in China, India and Russia that they should be protesting. It doesn’t tend to go down so well and safely there though. Saudi Arabia and the Middle East is a good second though. Perhaps they can take activity to the World Cup?
Yeah… but then again everyone is carrying guns here in Houston, so might not be the safest move to pull.
By the way. Oil money is in many, MANY orchestras around the world. Just so happens that Houston is where most this people gather and live. Not excusing it. Just clarifying.
Narcissistic cowards. Why not disrupt in China, in front of Chinese embassies (biggest CO2 polluter) or on the US Capitol/White House (biggest CO2 polluter per capita) or in big banks who finance the whole fossile business?
Too dangerous eh? Better go to classical concerts, shout pointlessly around and take instagram selfies there, I see.
What a hopeless generation, they will not save anything.
Poor plan. The acoustics of concert halls are terrible for spoken word presentations.
Wonder which movement they chose to disrupt?
They just realized they have to work hard to have fun and enjoy culture in a peaceful and prosperous future. Working hard is frustrating, so they want to ruin the fun for anyone else.
Apparently at the end of tuba mirum
The Dies Irae ofcourse
I routinely attend opera, orchestra and chamber music concerts. I would not like those performers disrupted. Nonetheless, I admire the protesters. They are heroic, unlike the apathetic public and politicians.
For me, the last straw was the attack on the Vermeer. I am an artist, and I literally felt pain in my stomach when I read about it.
Climate change is real, and we must all share responsibility in taking better care of the environment. But, we should not allow Art and Music to become the theatre for protest when the culprits mainly responsible are huge
nenergy corporations which are not held accountable by governments around the globe.
First it was global cooling in the 70s, then global warming in the 90s. Now the catchall phrase is “climate change.”
What foolish people! I’m referring to the marxists exploiting this nonsense. Have a nice winter Europe.
You did it to yourselves.
In other news they have damaged yet another Van Gogh.
I think we need a lot more disruption until the last snob gets it. Stay in your cave and listen to your records.
First of all we should get more divided with each other, so the ruling 1% can laugh much longer all their way to the bank.
Divide and conquer. Works like a charm.
Their point is that YOU take notice and do something! No use protesting politicians and embassies. Change is not going to come from them. So sorry, your peace was disrupted.
Right. Change and empathy for their cause is coming from classical concert audiences. Right, very smart.
Believe it or not. I HAVE taken notice and I do stuff about it.
And I go to classical concerts, which is unrelated, and these kids are just stupid and narcissistic in how they go about their agenda.
Excellent style, reminiscent of the Andriessen Nutcracker protests. At a requiem no less. Appropriate and attention-grabbing. Just what you want from a protest action.
Glad some people in our great concert halls still exhibit courage.