PatKop gets booed at Menuhin Fest

PatKop gets booed at Menuhin Fest

News

norman lebrecht

August 09, 2023

A climate-change concert by  the Swiss-based violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaya was loudly booed by wealthy global patrons at the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad.

PatKop installed an ocean canopy over the orchestra and improvised to the death of fishes.

Christian Berzins, in his review, sympathises with the listeners.

Read here.

 

Comments

  • PB says:

    Unfortunately this article is behind a paywall; any chance of making the text available….? Thanks.

  • Anthony Sayer says:

    What a shame there’s a paywall, the first paragraph was very promising.

  • JB says:

    Hardly surprising that the Swiss are boo-ing someone with a conscience.

  • Simon says:

    She always was one to do things her own way…. sometimes it works, sometimes not.

  • Ken says:

    Is it a surprise she got booed? People go to concerts to hear music not get a political hectoring.
    It’s part of a long tradition of self-aggrandising ‘artists’ who think they are more important as world saviours than mere entertainers. In the process they become neither.

    • George says:

      I guess you’re not a fan of Beethoven either. His Eroica Symphony and Fidelio were all about “political hectoring.”

      Same with Verdi. Don Carlo, Sicilian Vespers, Nabucco – all loaded with politically-charged moments.

      • Minnesota says:

        There is a difference between carefully thought out complex musical works by geniuses and an “improvization” on a a political theme by someone who is decidedly not a genius composer.

    • Bill says:

      Agreed Ken. It might be argued that certain musicians can’t wait for their performance to end so that they can grab the microphone and start putting the world to rights.

    • Guest says:

      Hear hear! Shut up and play for me, performing monkeys! Don’t ever dare to think you are anywhere near the same plain as us bankers! Know your place!

    • Benjamin says:

      Yes, Beethoven, Wagner, Britten, and Verdi should have kept their political views to themselves!

  • Donna Pasquale says:

    I sympathise with the fishes.

  • The Fun is Still Over says:

    Is it possible to send us a free link?

  • Paul says:

    We all know PATKOP as we all know Norman Lebrecht, the choise is easy.

  • I know things says:

    Am I the only one on here that is simply tired of this audio-visual, poorly staged shit? I like Pat… Joyce too… but it’s getting ridiculous and tedious. And I feel bad for the astonishingly poorly paid back up bands that suffer through, anonymously

  • Skeptic says:

    Good. The barefoot, leaves-in-the-hair wannabe wild-child shtick is tired, and she flies around business class on rich people’s money like all the other artists, which makes her just another big fat hypocrite.

  • Margaret Koscielny says:

    Was “the canopy over the orchestra” covering the orchestra players?

  • Marcus Crompton says:

    I can’t imagine she was expecting to be cheered to the rafters by “wealthy global patrons”, or lauded by boring, bitter journalists !

    Good on her .

  • Mystic Chord says:

    A one off climate-change concert – were all the old men expecting to hear the Mendelssohn VC again?? God forbid anything that takes people out of their bourgeois comfort zones.

  • Zarathusa says:

    It’s a good thing this was a concert of “classical” and not “pop” music! At “pop” concerts, audience members hurl missiles at the performers onstage! I’d say PatKop was very lucky…so far! But who knows how long classical artists will be able to continue to perform unassaulted!

  • Peter San Diego says:

    Any comments about the musical quality of her improvisation? The very fact that she improvises is a welcome hearkening back to the concert improvisations of a bygone era.

    As for the protest aspect: infinitely better this, than for her to glue herself to her violin!

  • Fernandel says:

    PatKop agitprop postures are most of the time paltry fig leafs.

  • MMcGrath says:

    Well, though I always look forward to her gimmicks during a performance, I guess her actions invited a response. People don’t necessarily want to be lectured on a night out with music. She might want to stick with just performing barefoot as usual – that might have even relaxed the less adventurous in the auditorium!

  • Dimitri Vassilakis says:

    Not only her performances are of utterly bad taste but this one is pure hypocrisy , can Miss Kopatchinskaja explain to us please how she manages to lead her international career without being constantly between two planes , etc ? What about her lifestyle’s environmental impact ?

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