Bratislava maestro quits
OperaMartin Leginus yesterday resigned as music director of the Slovak National Theatre, against a backdrop of Government interference.
Leginus is a close friend of Robert Jindra, who quit as chief conductor of the Kosice State Philharmonic. Slovakia is in danger of losing all credible music leadership if the political turmoil continues. On the geo-political stage, the country is aligning itself with Hungary and Russia.
Who said music & politics should remain separate – Not much chance of that, clearly……..
Well, he just left early, in order not to be responsible for anything as the director of the opera and to avoid being fired for incompetence. He remains as a conductor, despite being extremely unpopular with musicians and singers. Actually, just a few days ago there was a petition from musicians and singers, asking the ministry of culture to remove him from BOTH his positions – as a director and as a conductor for artistic and personal reasons. Since, beside being arrogant & dictatorial, as the director he was able to decide who will conduct what, and – in a clear conflict of interest – he assigned most of the performances to himself (for additional fee), the orchestra would prefer not to see him at all.