A Met victory for Ukraine
OperaFrom the conductor Oksana Lyniv:
It just happened!!!
From now on the Ukrainian conducting school is also included in the history of the largest opera theater in the world – The Metropolitan Opera !
It’s been more than 100 years since the first opera singer born in Ukraine – Ina Burska and after her already a number of wonderful opera singers, especially the young generation.
And finally yesterday took place my debut as the first Ukrainian conductor, in an extraordinary and legendary production of Zefirelli, in the Puccini opera “Turandot”, preparing for which I thoughtfully mentioned all my years of training, and most importantly, my work in the opera theaters of Ukraine – Одеська Опера / Odesa Opera and Львівська Національна Опера / Lviv National Opera , where I gained my first professional experience.
May yesterday’s huge success on this historic stage bring our victory closer and the return of long awaited peace!!!Glory to Ukraine! 
Brava! And to many more years of success!
Brava to her too! And peace with freedom to Ukraine !
Interesting…and quite fitting photo. Fyi lots of Chinese men now go to Ukraine to find brides. Even though in the opera chinese boy gets persian girl.
There was about a 15-year window between 1989 when the wall came down and the second Iraq War in 2004 when ALL of Eastern Europe could have been integrated into the EU, or at least the process started. (After the second Iraq War, Russia went postal toward the USA and the chances of cooperation greatly reduced.) The EU’s open borders and free trade rendered virtually all of its border issues moot (Schlesien, Sudentenland, South Tirol, Corsica, País Vasco, etc. Even Northern Ireland. It would have largely done the same for the Russian and Ukraine border dispute.
So why wasn’t this done? To understand what’s going on, we have to ask who benefits from Russia’s isolation. It’s certainly not Europe, so who does that leave?
The Ukraine war is not a border dispute. It’s a dispute over Ukraine’s right to exist as a country, as a people, as a language, as a culture.
All this Ukraine blah-blah. She could be a citizen of the planet Melmac, no matter what, if only she wasn’t such a boring conductor.
She is a girl, and from Ukraine, what more could the Met want?
Well, a lecture in Internationals Relations: the performance not only being “a huge success” (in her own words), but also bringing peace. Only to Ukraine, not the world?
I never heard of planet Melmac.
I think patriotism is a ridiculous feeling to harbour in the 21st century. Tribalism, xenophobia, wars, all stem from borders and identifying with them. If everybody thought of themselves as humans instead of x or y nationality, the world would be a better place
It is a double edged sword, as patriotism is also primarily responsible for preservation of history and culture, that, when there is lack of it, can be exploited by more powerful foreign governments and globalist corporate interests as opposed to national capital. And the forces behind wars only merely exploit patriotism (or lack of it) among many other things, such as ideological agenda and media.
That’s why we have no Southern border anymore and along with that we have many troubles. At least 8.5 million people freely walked into this country in the last 3 years. You can always unlock your front door and invite as many as will fit into your house.
More immigrants were turned back than allowed to stay. Our laws allow refugees and asylum seekers to stay if they can prove their case. That’s the reason we still have the Stauec of Liberty in the NY harbor.
How many thousands of people have keys to the house you live in since you don’t believe in private property?
Nice to see that modesty is not dead. I’d have preferred a post from the Russian dramatic soprano Elena Pankratova, a truly exceptional singer and wonderful person.
But when it comes to social media, Ukraine is so much more acceptable than Russia, is it not?
Congratulations! Your country needs all the respect and support that the free world can offer!
I will never understand why sincere congratulations get so many downvotes on this site.
Nessun dorma in Questa reggia.
Good for her, but stop the silly nationalizing. I doubt there is something like an “Ukrainian conducting school”. Oksana Lyniv herself, after studies in Lwiw, became Assistant conductor with Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. An international immersion par excellence. And she also knows herself better. In a 2022 interview: “The whole world is our best teacher”.
https://klassik-begeistert.de/exklusiv-interview-oksana-lyniv-generalmusikdirektorin-im-teatro-comunale-di-bologna-klassik-begeistert-de/
I’d be much surprised if a 40 million European nation produced no musical talents at all, so why this is presented as a breakthrough success? You do not scream “Glory to Russia!” every time Anna Netrebko gathers a crowd?
Slava Ukraina!
CYKA YKRAINA!
Kozel Putinsky
What’s with the shoes
Maybe now she can afford a decent pair
I’ve seen a guy wearing a nice suit at the opera and on his feet were a pair of flip-flops. No Kidding.
They’re ballet flats with embellishment on the toe. Better than standing for hours in heels!
I’m waiting for Gelb to claim the credit for “his” Met.
If the Met ever replace the Zeffirelli Turandot I will withdraw my $17 support to the dress circle standing room.
Dear Mr.Lebrecht,
why do you allow people to insult each other on your, supposedly sophisticated blog? Do you think it makes it more piquant or more like a real conversation?
For clarity, I am referring to ” contributions” by Volodymyr and Sartor.