Two piano legends pay tribute to Putin victim
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On November 18, an exceptional concert will bring together two of the greatest pianists of our time, Grigory Sokolov and Sergei Babayan, at Salle Cortot in Paris. This event, organised in tribute to Pavel Kushnir, a brilliant pianist who tragically passed away in prison in July 2024, will be held in support of the atelier des artistes en exil.
Fiercely opposed to the war, Pavel Kushnir moved to a remote region of Russia’s Far East, near the Chinese border, to “distance himself from the capitals” and avoid being forced to perform at patriotic events. A passionate interpreter of Frédéric Chopin, he dedicated the final months of his career to Chopin’s Mazurkas in a series of 51 educational radio broadcasts. For him, highlighting these works — symbols of resistance against Russian occupation in 19th-century Poland — was an act of artistic defiance. His activism, also expressed in a series of YouTube videos, led to accusations of “terrorist activity” and his imprisonment in May 2024. After two months of detention marked by violence and a hunger strike, Pavel died on July 27. No official investigation into his death has been conducted.
The tribute concert to Pavel Kushnir offers a unique opportunity to celebrate his courage and demonstrate the solidarity of leading musicians of our time in the face of injustice and barbarism. Grigory Sokolov and Sergei Babayan, two world-renowned artists, will share with the audience a program of works by Chopin, Schumann, Schubert, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff.
Tickets are available now, accompanied by a call for donations. All ticket proceeds and funds raised will be donated to the atelier des artistes en exil, a Paris-based NGO supporting creators forced into exile due to conflicts or political repression in their home countries.
This concert reminds us that art transcends borders and hardships, and is an essential vehicle for freedom and hope. By honouring Pavel’s memory, this event aims to support all artists fighting for their values and freedom.
The concert is organised by the Aùrion Association and the record company Little Tribeca.
PROGRAMME
– Date: November 18, 2024
– Venue: Salle Cortot, 78 Rue Cardinet, 75017 Paris
– Time: 8:00 PM
All proceeds will be donated to the atelier des artistes en exil.
STATEMENT OF SUPPORT
As musicians, we wish to voice our support for all artists throughout the world who are oppressed, and sometimes forced into exile. Pavel Kushnir chose internal exile and had the courage to speak out against war. He paid with his life.
We will be in spirit at the concert given by Grigory Sokolov and Sergei Babayan in Paris on 18th November and join wholeheartedly in this hommage to Pavel which is also an expression of solidarity with all artists suffering repression today.
Signed by : Martha Argerich, Alexeï Aiguï, Jacques Attali, Daniel Barenboim, Elena Bashkirova, Andrey Boreyko, Yefim Bronfman, Semyon Bychkov, Adam Fischer, Kirill Gerstein, Maria Gortsevskaya, Augustin Hadelich, Thomas Hampson, Janine Jansen, Paavo Järvi, Vladimir Jurowski, Evgeny Kissin, Alexander Korsantia, Gidon Kremer, Dmitri Kourliandski, Igor Levit, Elena Lisitsian, Alexei Lubimov, Misha Maisky, Alexander Melnikov, Julian Milkis, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Maria Nemtsova, Polina Osetinskaya, Dina Parakhina, Kirill Petrenko, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Beatrice Rana, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Donald Runnicles, Andreas Scholl, Olga Shkrygunova, Katia Skanavi, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Dima Slobodeniouk, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Alexandre Tharaud, Christian Thielemann, Emmanuel Tjeknavorian, Elena Toponogova, Lilya Zilberstein.
Christian Thielemann signed.
where is the overrated and massively overhyped Currentzis the rotten Salzburg Festival is supporting so much?
Currentzis is well known for his Trumpian attitude towards Putin.
That said, I wonder about Ivan Fischer. Coincidence or calculation?
It’s one you will probably be living with yourself after next week. No good getting bitter and twisted about it.
Seriously: I don’t understand what you mean. I am discussing facts, not my personal feelings.
I’ve [redacted] translated the section of Kushnir’s 10/12/22 YouTube video for which he was arrested and would have faced a 6-year jail sentence had he not killed himself. The fact is, Kushnir crossed a legal line by calling for violent revolution, which is illegal in many countries, not just Russia. Trump is currently on trial in the US for similar comments he made about the Capitol. Several people in the UK were locked up for inciting the recent riots. I’m not trying to downplay the tragedy of Kushnir’s case, but the implication that random artists in Russia are being snatched from the streets and killed as political prisoners is not the reality on the ground. Kushnir was not a peaceful man:
“Let’s just all go storm the Kremlin now. Let’s just make a revolution, or at least try to. … Don’t be afraid to take to the streets. Let spontaneous rallies happen. And let something happen that we didn’t do in 2011. Let a revolution happen. We need a revolution. We actually need a world revolution, because fascism is a disease of all people, it’s a disease of the whole world. And when the world revolution happens, when we make it, we have to take the very foundations of our culture, the very foundations of our life, everything that now seems sacred to us, everything that now seems to us that it goes without saying, and we can’t take it and destroy it, we need a complete deconstruction, we have to squeeze out all elements of fascism from our entire culture so that it doesn’t happen again. … Let’s stop adapting. Let’s stop thinking about how we can survive another day at any cost. Let’s burn, and with our flames, let’s burn fucking fascism to the fucking ground.”
Thank you for this, putting it into perspective. oddly no comments in response to this.
False analoogies with events in the USA.
You’re right. In addition, Kushner was not recognized by anyone as a “genius musician.” He graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 2007, but failed to enter graduate school. He is not a Muscovite, so he went to work where he was invited. He published his book in 2014, but it also went unnoticed… He was active in music… but even here there was no proper recognition for him…why hadn’t anyone listened to him before, all the recordings were freely available… I consider this article to be speculation on the death of an unhealthy person whose biography is hidden… This precocious concert is also incomprehensible…what unexpected “fighters against the regime” have received Mr. Lebrecht’s approval…
What bugs me is that so many of these artists signed the letter on the back of this disinformation from Norman and Kushnir’s friends, and it is a real barrier to those of us who are fighting through the vitriol, trying to keep Russians and westerners talking to each other, and making music for each other. When both sides are calling each other ‘fascists’, we effectively dehumanise each other. Cultural dialogue leads to diplomacy (which at the moment is non-existent), which prevents further escalation and destruction. I’m not even talking about peace as we are very far from that, but let’s first work to prevent things from getting even worse!
Some of the most authentic, and courageous artists of our time, stand up to fascism and Putin. I am thankful for them and saute them. If you live in Paris, attend! That is the least you can do to show the world that artists cherish FREEDOM!
Oh, yet another approved rebellion…I wonder why there never was a “Free Assange!” concert why he was still jailed?