Ex-Bolshoi chief conductor bravely denounces Russia

Message from Vasily Sinaisky:
Carefully observing the events unfolding now in Ukraine I feel astonishment and great bitterness not being able to see or hear the opinions of our leading musicians. After all, musicians, like no one else, should be attuned to the mood of society and react to it.

I will give my opinion. Besides anger and indignation which I feel when I see the injustice of the present events, I feel a great compassion for the people of Ukraine. My grandfather was Ukrainian, and from my earliest childhood I heard from my mother and other relatives Ukrainian songs, words and saying. My happiest times were spent during school holidays with relatives in Kyiv and its surroundings. And even then I could sense the love of Ukrainians for their Motherland, how they endeavoured to do everything for it to flourish.

When my friends, the outstanding Ukrainian musicians, the conductor Stepan Turchak and the composer Miroslav Skorik, used to come to my Latvian orchestra, together we used to give such concerts which remained for a long time in the memory of the audience.

Therefore the present events feel like a vile invasion into a sovereign state which causes only grief and tragedy for thousands of people. Those who started all this would benefit from listening to the Ukrainian national anthem. What a pure, powerful and bright melody, which shows so well the character of this nation. Its sound will always prevail over the clanking noise of alien tanks and the crude orders screamed by army commanders. One feels like saying: stop, truth is not on your side.”

Vassily Sinaisky,
Chief Conductor of Janáček philharmonic Ostrava, Conductor Emeritus of Latvian National Symphony Orchestra