Exclusive: Five Moscow orchestras have been sent to occupied Ukraine
NewsMoscow insiders tell us that five state orchestras have been dispatched to give concerts in parts of Ukraine that have been held by Russian forces since the invasion in Febriary last year.
No excuses were accepted. Musicians were told they would be conscripted to the army if they refused to play.
President Putin, meanwhile, never steps outside the Kremlin.
pictured: Putin with musical hero Yuri Bashmet
It could very well be but you need sources for this one Norman. Especially the threats against musucians.
Naming sources would mean a trip to the Gulag though the names of the orchestras could perhaps be listed.
The Gulag Archipelago was during the Communist era of the Soviet Union. Sources will never be disclosed if it’s part of a PSYOP or Disinformation campaign. If Mr Lebrecht’s Moscow insiders are telling the truth and not engaged in PSYOPs then at least the Russian musicians have the choice to play while the poor Ukrainian Men between the ages of 18 – 60 under Zelensky’s travel ban are forced to fight and now even younger Ukrainian teenagers are being conscripted. Where is the outcry from the so-called International Community about children fighting in war? At the least Zelensky should allow the children the choice of playing music instead of fighting.
You seem to conveniently ignore the fact that Russian men are also being conscripted. And Ukraine is in an existential fight. Any country facing such a disaster would be drafting soldiers.
Only reservists, those Russians who already have military experience are conscripted. The existential threat to Russia is comming from the neo-con foreign policy with its agenda to divide and conquer Russia. Ukraine is a proxy for the U.S.. Unfortunately, the American government doesn’t mind Ukrainians dying as long as it maintains dominance in Europe and Asia. Geopolitics practiced by strong states is brutal, bloody, and ruthless.
Most Russians think the relentless push East by the Anglo/American NATO expansion is an existential threat to Russia itself. YOU may not think it but I assure you, most Russians do. This is the end of US hegemony. How bad it gets is entirely up to the buffoon neocon deep state. Sorry Europe but you aren’t even an afterthought to these children.
No not most Russians but all russian oligarchs and fellow travelers. Just think of the impact on your financial well-being if democracy reappeared. That said if Ukraine continues to prevail perhaps fewer Russian’s will fall from hospital windows and the incidences of poisoning by tea will disappear.
Today Gulag has also become a generic term for oppressive prison systems.
Most US prisions are by definition oppressive so…
Nicholas,
You know very well that what you are saying goes against the narrative and must be condemned. I applaud you for trying to crack the mass psychosis. Time will prove you right.
Comrade H your modesty is surprising and a bit disingenuous. If you are really curious all you need to do is use one of your burner phones and check with your svr or fsb colleagues. That said nice try outing the sources!
That a 63 year old babushka on 2nd violin will be sent to war if she refuse to play sounds pretty… excentric. When it comes to the performances themselves, I guess there will be plenty of clips on social medium.
Typical Russian interference with culture giving no choice to musicians other than to toe the line. Like Stalin and now like Putin.
And now Zelensky is in the process of banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and confiscating their properties just like Stalin did in the Soviet Union.
Music is often described as “food for the soul” but given reports of widespread logistical issues with supplying russian conscripts I’m confident that they would settle for the real thing. Better yet just go home and demand the right to vote the 21st century czar out of office without fear of finding plutonium in your samovar.
Yeah, Russia doesn’t have free elections like the US.
Can you believe Putin censors free speech? Intolerable!
Not for you because you are a paid spokesman who profits from totalitarian rule as long as you continue spreading the party line. Be careful to monitor the situation closely and always keep your go bag handy. Perhaps you can learn to speak Hungarian.
Trouble with sarcasm?
From a modern day apparatchik; I do.
WHAT????? This is going from the sublime to the ridiculous!!! Not enough that friend and foe of Putin are getting poisoned or are falling out of windows from floors high enough above ground to ensure that they do not survive, now he is sending in the orchestras under threat of conscription if they do not obey! What are they supposed to play? Tschaikowsky’s 1812 Ouverture perhaps? Or funeral music for the Russian soldiers dying daily around them? God help these musicians because God is their last hope!
I heard an amusing anecdote – that someone got a Russian Advent Calendar but each time he opened window an oligarch fell out.
Dark humour in the darkest of times.
Perhaps they would conscript conductor Christian Knapp who has continued to remain in Russia throughout the war leading performances even this week:
https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/company/conductors/knapp/
This raises a lot of questions, including which orchestras? Playing what ? And to whom ? But fundamentally, why ?
It points to an interesting role for orchestral music, that along with weapons, ammunition, food, medicines, clothes and shelter, the Russian army is supplied with orchestras as part of its military logistics. Does orchestral music hold such a pivotal role in the armed forces elsewhere ?
Dear Norman, That is not correct: Putin went to a number of international summits in Asia in the last few months, and travelled to events in Russia (other than in Moscow).
Fake News. In Russia everything fine, those musicians would not be conscripted to the army absolutely.
Nah! Paradise is where Ukraine is located where you can buy torches at a deep discount to bring in the New Year and celebrate Bandera, a twofer.
This is unreal. In that huge country everything fine, those musicians would not be conscripted to the army absolutely.
Mr. Putin hates the Kremlin. He hardly ever goes there unless he has to!! He is usually at Novo-Ogaryovo.