Poles ban Russian pianist after Navalny murder
NewsThe National Philharmonic in Warsaw has abruptly cancelled a February 22 booking for the rising Russian pianist Nikolay Khozyainov.
It said: ‘For us Russian culture means rockets, drones, killed and wounded. As long as this brutal war continues, inviting Russian artists may be received as a lack of sensitivity and solidarity with the fighting nation and support for the aggressor.
Dla nas rosyjska kultura to rakiety, drony, zabici i ranni” oraz: “Dopóki trwa ta bestialska wojna, zapraszanie do Polski rosyjskich artystów może być odebrane jako brak wrażliwości i solidarności z walczącym narodem oraz poparcie dla agresora.
The youthful-looking Khozyainov, 31, is presently based in Germany, studying in Hannover.
I can understand if they banned, say, prominent politicians whose support of Putin is loud and clear, and whose silence after Navalny’s death is deafening. But what exactly is German based Khozyainov’s guilt by association?
He’s easy, low-hanging fruit. Simple.
Wokeness, Polish version anno 2024.
How many Russians did they ban after the murders of Politkovskaya, Magnitsky, Nemtsov?
It will be interesting to see in the long run what makes to biggest damage: The woke, insane people of Western Europe, or their counterparts in Eastern Europe. For sure, both groups have endless potential of society destruction.
“How many Russians did they ban after the murders of Politkovskaya, Magnitsky, Nemtsov?”
Not enough.
“The woke, insane people of Western Europe”
Maybe you’d feel more at home in a dictatorship? ruzzia, maybe? Or do you live there already and use VPN to communicate with the outside world? Since VPN is banned in free and glorious ruzzia, are you with the FSB?
There are all types of dictatorships, and woke is just another one of these. They haven’t got uniforms. Yet.
“Wokeism”: Gay people have rights.
Dictatorship: Gay people are being killed.
Sue: They’re the same picture.
(It’s a meme, google it.)
Serge has commented here many times. He’s a hardcore Putinist who endorses Russian war crimes and atrocities wherever they take place.
Serge, cancelling people, whether it is legitimate or illegitimate, happens on all sides of the political spectrum. There is nothing “woke” about this, except that it is against war crimes, so I’m guessing you are simply pro Putin. Please come out and say it clearly, and not hide behind buzzwords and poor reasoning.
As long as this pianist has said nothing in support of that insane war, there would not be any reason to cancel him. It is not his fault that he is Russian.
“As long as this pianist has said nothing”
See evil, say nothing. Awesome.
“there would not be any reason to cancel him.”
If he hasn’t spoken out against ruzzia and putin, it’s not only reason to cancel him, but also to send him packing.
If you read this, Nikolay: It’s your choice.
There is no shortage of celebrities whose heart and morals are in the right place. Some of them publicly speak up, and argue on matters they don’t know well. Due to their fame, they attract attention. Their well-meaning but uninformed comments often do more harm than good.
Oh really? So I guess poverty, pollution, inflation, and all the other local and global issues that occur are also entirely your responsibility. Why wouldn’t it be, according to your logic? You have the right and the duty to participate in politics, make the right choice as a consumer and as a moral and political agent, 100% of the time, am I right? By accepting rising prices and buying the products, you are contributing to the inflated demand, so not only should you never complain about it, you should be held responsible for it. Oh and the people dying from starvation? Look where your money is going to. You know about them, yet you chose not to save them and instead, you bought that computer you’re using to read this now.
If you read this, Brettermeir: It’s your choice.
“Oh really?”
Yes.
“So I guess poverty, pollution, inflation, and all the other local and global issues that occur are also entirely your responsibility.”
I cannot remember voting for a murderous war criminal.
I have to admit I got bored after this because it was so stupid so I didn’t read any further. Was it as stupid or maybe even more so? We’ll never know.
You didn’t answer my question that you cited. You indeed have been voting for politicians on all sides who have ignored both local and global tragedies, and therefore you are directly responsible for the lives lost due to them. Shame on you, and how hypocritical of you.
And funny how your type ALWAYS resort to “I didn’t read it because it was too dumb”, as if you think that’s a good argument…if true, it only reveals your uneducated, impatient, and infantile character. Like a child who starts crying and stops listening to others when they realize they aren’t getting what they want.
For the record, I don’t mind that you don’t read this. I just want to demonstrate on record how ridiculous your position is so that others can see it too, and your last response only contributes to this so thank you.
How many rockets and drones did Mr Nikolay Khozyainov fire at Ucraine?
“For every complex problem there is a solution that is clear, simple, and wrong”. I have my reservations in this case. Firstly, the National Philharmonic was not the organiser of this concert, but an external agent, but then it was a bit insensitive to schedule the performance so close to the anniversary of the Russian attack (and it does not matter that it is Chopin’s birthday – even more so as there are many pianists from all over the world who could be awarded the privilage of playing in this particular place on that particular date). This should have been clear long before Navalny’s death.
But what is really worrying is the inconsistency in this matter. There are many artists who took gladly Russian money to “artwash” Putin’s regime and yet they are still being given much prominence in Poland since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, just because they are not Russian: Ukrainian Kirill Karabits, who toured around the US with Russian National Orchestra after the annexation of Cremea, was invited to conduct the concert at the opening ceremony for the Museum of the Polish History in Warsaw last year . Armenian Sergey Smbatyan, generously supported by the European Foundation for Support of Culture based in Malta (an organisation which was investigated for their alleged links to Russian secret service and for the misterious 12 mln euros of grants they had received from Russia), conducted the Polish National Philharmonic at Beethoven Festival in Warsaw last year. Estonian Kristian Jarvi and Baltic Sea Philharmonic – a team who since 2008 was used by Nord Stream to promote the Nord Stream gas pipe around the Baltic countries, without which the war in Ukraine would probably not happen, was invited to Gdansk in 2022 just 3 months after the Russian attack for a concert which brought together also American and Russian musicians. These people probably did much more for Putin than this one pianist, and yet their contribution to his cause is being swept aside.
I am disappointed in the National Philharmonic of Warsaw. The decision to cancel a Russian pianist because of his country’s politics is nonsensical. We should never ever give up supporting arts, artists and culture. Otherwise our humanity will be in a much worse place than it is now.
https://www.facebook.com/nikhozyainov
“Nikolay Khozyainov, February 28, 2022
Looking forward to returning to San Francisco and giving a recital at the Herbst Theatre this Saturday! A great program of Chopin, Scriabin and Rachmaninov.
See you soon!”
March 6, 2022
Ready for my recital in San Francisco!”
He didn’t say anything.
So sad about the death of Navalny. Putin is a psychopathic murderer. Whatever one’s political opponents might be, murdering them is not the solution. This is the ugliest part of Russia’s long history of despotism and why its Eastern European neighbors–its Slavic brothers and sisters who could be standing in cooperation and friendship with Russia—have instead long feared and loathed it. Few understand the lost opportunities that could have avoided the current conflict with Russia, and of course, the media says nothing about it.
During the decade when the Iron Wall came down (1989,) the USSR dissolved (1991,) and before Putin’s rise to power (1999,) Russia was an open book looking to the West for guidance and help. During that decade, we could have begun the process of leading Russia toward a healthy democracy and an integral part of the European Union. Even Putin didn’t begin rejecting the West until the second invasion of Iraq in 2004 which made the window of opportunity 15 years. Instead, neocons in the USA under the rubric of a program called “The Project for the New American Century” (PNAC) set in motion a plan to encircle and isolate Russia from the rest of Europe instead of creating a healthy democracy and future of peace, friendship, and cooperation. The goal has been to isolate Russia to protect American hegemony in Europe. That has been a total victory, but we now we have the monster Putin and all the destruction of which he has become a part.
The USA’s point person in Ukraine for the Maidan revolution was Victoria Nuland who was assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs from 2013 to 2017 and earlier U.S. ambassador to NATO from 2005 to 2008. She is now the Under Secretary of State for political affairs, one of the highest positions in the State Department. She is also the Brady-Johnson Distinguished Practitioner in Grand Strategy at Yale University—a title that under the current circumstances is ironically telling, especially since she is the wife of Robert Kagan, one of the co-founders of the Project for the New American Century. During her tenure as assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, the USA spent $5 billion supporting “democracy-building programs” in the Ukraine to undermine the pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, followed by another $1 billion in loan guarantees to the new government established by the Maidan coup—all part the “grand strategy” of PNAC.
Instead of the plan to encircle and isolate Russia, better leaders would have begun a long-term Marshall Plan to bring Ukraine, Georgia, and Russia with their massive natural resources into the EU. This would have greatly benefited Europe and its economy, which is already the largest trading block in the world. It would have not been an easy task, and would have required massive reforms in Russia, Georgia, and Ukraine, but it could have been done, and certainly at far less cost and misfortune than the current war. For the USA, however, this was a nightmare scenario since such a large economic union and the removal of a common US/European enemy would have decimated US hegemony in Europe and seriously weakened its projection of power. Hence the “grand strategy” of PNAC and the State Department to encircle and isolate Russia.
Putin is a monster, but the USA played an undeniable role in creating the international conditions in which he rose to power as a response. We rightly hear all about how evil Putin is, but never a word about the lost opportunities that would have almost certainly avoided the horror now happening and a war that Ukraine cannot win. With all the hatred that has evolved due to war, the chances of anyone listening to reason now are completely gone. Look at the massive slaughter and destruction that could have been avoided. Humans never learn.
(This is usually not a forum for, shall we say, particularly intelligent discussion, so forgive me if I ignore the usual vituperation. I rarely even come back to look at the responses. I just offer an alternative view for the few who might consider it.)
“the media says nothing about it. ”
“plan to encircle and isolate Russia”
“US hegemony in Europe”
“Putin is a monster, but”
“We rightly hear all about how evil Putin is, but”
“a war that Ukraine cannot win”
“This is usually not a forum for, shall we say, particularly intelligent discussion”
Yeah, you just proved that. Again.
@NL: Maybe it would be better to close the comments when it comes to international conflicts so we don’t have to read all that nonsense and/or kremlin BS. It’s offending.
For the record – your ignorance about what Putin was doing in St Petersburg and during his elections pre-2004 is overwhelming and the perfect proof for Lenin’s phrase “useful idiots”. You should read more about his corruption when he was the deputy mayor in St Petersburg, about the false flag bomb attacks in Moscow and the absolutely horrible second Chechen war he ran to win political support for his presidency. And this post is very relevant to this forum since Russian culture and Russian artists were the tools he used to turn the West’s eyes away from his horrible deeds. And if you think that he was encircled by NATO in any way – just look at the Russia-NATO borders before 22/02/2022 and after that date. By pushing Finland into NATO after the attack on Ukraine he actually doubled its length. The truth is that the only two things he cared about were his greed for money and power and then his sentiment for the blood-thirsty Soviet regime.
All true, but irrelevant to the points I made about the lost opportunities for peace before Putin rose to power.
Thank you and good night. Don’t miss tomorrow’s episode of “William Osborne’s Hot Takes”:
“Lost opportunities for peace before Hitler rose to power – Why WWII is kinda UK’s fault!”
An insider’s view: the other day I learnt that in Olsztyn, north Poland, the philharmonic hall was to be hired by an external producer for a show of The Nutcracker with a ballet company from Kyiv performing. It was called off after an intervention from the Ukrainian Embassy requesting that it be cancelled. Bizzarely, I cannot imagine a Ukrainian ambassador to London or Paris doing anything like that.