Finnish conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen again defends Russian dictator Putin´s admirer Valery Gergiev:
“I’ve spent the morning defending my friend Valery before the Swedish media,” says Salonen.
Gergiev is a committed supporter of the Putin regime, and his appearance at the festival provoked some outrage in Stockholm at a time of strained diplomacy. Salonen describes his opinions as “diametrically opposite” to his colleague’s on the subject of Ukraine but, “as long as London is making money for the oligarchs, as long as the Austrians are lobbying for a gas pipe to make sure they get an uninterrupted supply, regardless of what’s happening to Ukraine,” he says, “why should I, as the artistic director of this festival, not say that Gergiev is allowed to come here?”
One wonders, why on the earth should Salonen "defend" somebody like Gergiev? I never imagined that Salonen would be that stupid.
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Sunday, 7 December 2014
Friday, 16 May 2014
Finnish operatic mega star Karita Mattila refuses to appear with Putin's puppet Valery Gergiev
Kudos to Finnish operatic star soprano Karita Mattila, who recently refused to appear together with dictator Vladimir Putin's puppet Valery Gergiev in New York. Because of Mattila's refusal the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra had to invite Italian conductor Fabio Luisi to lead the concert in the Carnegie Hall on April 12.
Shame on Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra, both of which continue their co-operation with the much overrated Ossetian conductor!
Shame on Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra, both of which continue their co-operation with the much overrated Ossetian conductor!
Tuesday, 18 March 2014
The London Symphony Orchestra and the Munich Phil should cut their ties with Putin's musical puppet Valery Gergiev
 |
| "his loyalty to the Russian president has been rewarded with personal honours, including the esteemed Hero of Labour, and multi-million state grants for his pet projects, most notably the restoration of his Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg" (The Guardian) |
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's musical puppet, Ossetian conductor Valery Gergiev is again displaying his obedience to the master:
Valery Gergiev, the internationally renowned Russian conductor, has joined a host of other arts and cultural figures from Russia in support of President Vladimir Putin's controversial policies in Ukraine's Crimea region.
The conductor was one of 100 signatories of an open letter released this week backing Russia's military intervention in Ukraine and the government's efforts to annex Crimea. The letter was posted on the website of Russia's culture ministry on Wednesday.
The letter's signatories say that they "firmly state support for the position of the president of the Russian Federation" in the region, according to translated reports.
The letter's signatories say that they "firmly state support for the position of the president of the Russian Federation" in the region, according to translated reports.
No wonder that the people in Munich, who chose him as the next Chief Conductor of the Munich Phil, are getting cold feet:
Is it wise to hold on to this principal conductor?”
“Gergiev sees himself as a cultural ambassador for Russia, he will not remain silent in the future. Putin’s policies will overshadow any of his [musical] performances until further notice. If the Russians suddenly want to ‘free’ their compatriots in Riga, he will certainly defend this as well as any other step of the President.”
It is difficult to see, how this highly overrated conductor, who has been richly rewarded by Putin, will be able hang on to his contract with the Munich Phil. But it is even more difficult to understand why the venerable London Symphony Orchestra still keeps this man as its Principal Conductor.
Sir Colin must be turning in his grave ....
Saturday, 9 November 2013
The truth about Vladimir Putin's friend and supporter Valery Gergiev is finally out
Finally music writers and others have realized what kind a person the London Symphony Orchestra's present Principal Conductor Valery Gergiev is:
Last Thursday the human rights activist Peter Tatchell gatecrashed the opening night of the London Symphony Orchestra's Berlioz season at the Barbican to protest against Valery Gergiev, calmly walking onstage before a note had been played to make a speech denouncing the LSO's principal conductor's support for Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Gergiev is a great conductor," Tatchell said, "but he colludes with a tyrant and shows little respect for freedom and equality."
The tipping point for Tatchell, and also apparently for the organisation Queer Nation who interrupted a Gergiev performance at New York City's Carnegie Hall in early October, were comments Gergiev had made to a reporter in Rotterdam. Legislation Putin signed into law earlier this year banning the promotion of homosexual "propaganda" was, Gergiev said, about protecting his fellow countrymen from paedophilia, remarks that crossed a boundary by equating homosexuality with child abuse.
Were Gergiev's words merely dim-witted and ill chosen? If you're feeling charitable you might like to think so, but his quote makes for an unnerving read in the context of everything else Gergiev has said about Putin, and his point-blank refusal to speak up about other breaches of basic political freedoms in Russia. After members of the punk band Pussy Riot were imprisoned for staging an anti-Putin protest at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow in February 2012, Gergiev implied, bizarrely, that the band were motivated merely by increasingly their profile and "earning millions and millions". But consider this. In 2012 Gergiev, along with 549 other prominent Russians, signed a petition in support of Putin's re-election. And earlier this year, Mariinsky II, a state-of-the-art new opera house in St Petersburg, Gergiev's centre of operations in Russia opened – bankrolled by the state to the tune of a cool 200bn roubles (£450m).
Gergiev and the LSO's problem is that political actions have musical consequences. I've spent life-changing evenings at the Barbican listening to the LSO. Concerts by Leonard Bernstein, Dave Brubeck, Michael Tilson Thomas and Colin Davis will stay with me forever, but now the LSO brand feels tainted through association.
Read the entire article here
I totally agree with Philip Clark. The LSO made a huge mistake by choosing him as Principal Conductor. Having had the privilege to attend many of the unforgettable LSO/Colin Davis concerts at the Barbican in the 80's and having had the even great privilege to meet him a few times, I cannot imagine that Sir Colin would have welcomed a person like Gergiev to take up the position he used to have. The LSO cannot for long have a Principal Conductor with no integrity and credibility.
Last Thursday the human rights activist Peter Tatchell gatecrashed the opening night of the London Symphony Orchestra's Berlioz season at the Barbican to protest against Valery Gergiev, calmly walking onstage before a note had been played to make a speech denouncing the LSO's principal conductor's support for Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Gergiev is a great conductor," Tatchell said, "but he colludes with a tyrant and shows little respect for freedom and equality."
The tipping point for Tatchell, and also apparently for the organisation Queer Nation who interrupted a Gergiev performance at New York City's Carnegie Hall in early October, were comments Gergiev had made to a reporter in Rotterdam. Legislation Putin signed into law earlier this year banning the promotion of homosexual "propaganda" was, Gergiev said, about protecting his fellow countrymen from paedophilia, remarks that crossed a boundary by equating homosexuality with child abuse.
Were Gergiev's words merely dim-witted and ill chosen? If you're feeling charitable you might like to think so, but his quote makes for an unnerving read in the context of everything else Gergiev has said about Putin, and his point-blank refusal to speak up about other breaches of basic political freedoms in Russia. After members of the punk band Pussy Riot were imprisoned for staging an anti-Putin protest at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow in February 2012, Gergiev implied, bizarrely, that the band were motivated merely by increasingly their profile and "earning millions and millions". But consider this. In 2012 Gergiev, along with 549 other prominent Russians, signed a petition in support of Putin's re-election. And earlier this year, Mariinsky II, a state-of-the-art new opera house in St Petersburg, Gergiev's centre of operations in Russia opened – bankrolled by the state to the tune of a cool 200bn roubles (£450m).
Gergiev and the LSO's problem is that political actions have musical consequences. I've spent life-changing evenings at the Barbican listening to the LSO. Concerts by Leonard Bernstein, Dave Brubeck, Michael Tilson Thomas and Colin Davis will stay with me forever, but now the LSO brand feels tainted through association.
Read the entire article here
I totally agree with Philip Clark. The LSO made a huge mistake by choosing him as Principal Conductor. Having had the privilege to attend many of the unforgettable LSO/Colin Davis concerts at the Barbican in the 80's and having had the even great privilege to meet him a few times, I cannot imagine that Sir Colin would have welcomed a person like Gergiev to take up the position he used to have. The LSO cannot for long have a Principal Conductor with no integrity and credibility.
Sunday, 5 May 2013
Placido Domingo as Putin's useful idiot
How sad it was to see Placido Domingo, perhaps the world's greatest living operatic singer, in the role of the useful idiot. That happened on Thursday, when Domingo joined Russia's corrupt dictator Vladimir Putin at a black-tie-gala to mark the opening of a $700 million stage for the Mariinsky Theatre.
However, Marinsky's director, the much overrated Ossetian conductor Valery Gergiev, is no useful idiot - he is a close personal friend and active supporter of the criminal dictator, who, together with another of the stars of the opening gala, soprano Anna Netrebko, actively participated in Putin's "election" campaign.
It is not surprising that Putin only a few days ago bestowed on Gergiev a Hero of Labor award, restored from the Soviet era, for his contribution to the arts.
When artists and intellectuals, both in and outside of Russia, have criticized the dictator for his repression of human rights, the maestro has been comparing him to Peter the Great and Prokofiev.
Gergiev does not have a single critical word to say about the sad state of Putin's Russia:
Today, analysts say President Putin spent his first year methodically cracking down on Russia’s opposition. This crackdown goes beyond the symbolic restoration of street patrols by Cossacks, the whip wielding enforcers of Czarist days.
“The tactics are destroying the opposition, destroying the protest movement by persecuting, imprisoning, marginalizing, forcing to emigrate - whatever,” says Dmitry Suslov, international affairs professor at the Higher School of Economics.
The Kremlin sent a high profile signal with last summer’s trial of Pussy Riot, a female punk band that protested in Moscow’s main cathedral. Two of the women are serving two-year jail sentences.
Now it is the turn of Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most popular opposition leader. He is on trial in a provincial city, 1,000 kilometers from his power base here.
Opposition politician Vladimir Ryzhkov says the trials reflect a wider crackdown that President Putin started after returning to the Kremlin one year ago.
“Putin and his parliament enacted an entire series of laws aimed at prohibition: the prohibition of protests, the prohibition of the freedom of expression, the prohibition of criticizing the government and church,” said Ryzhkov, co-chairman of the Republican Party of Russia, a new group.
Source
PS
One can only hope that Domingo, who is known to be an honest and serious man, thinks twice next time when he is asked to join a celebration organized by friends and lackeys of a dictator.
However, Marinsky's director, the much overrated Ossetian conductor Valery Gergiev, is no useful idiot - he is a close personal friend and active supporter of the criminal dictator, who, together with another of the stars of the opening gala, soprano Anna Netrebko, actively participated in Putin's "election" campaign.
It is not surprising that Putin only a few days ago bestowed on Gergiev a Hero of Labor award, restored from the Soviet era, for his contribution to the arts.
When artists and intellectuals, both in and outside of Russia, have criticized the dictator for his repression of human rights, the maestro has been comparing him to Peter the Great and Prokofiev.
Gergiev does not have a single critical word to say about the sad state of Putin's Russia:
Today, analysts say President Putin spent his first year methodically cracking down on Russia’s opposition. This crackdown goes beyond the symbolic restoration of street patrols by Cossacks, the whip wielding enforcers of Czarist days.
“The tactics are destroying the opposition, destroying the protest movement by persecuting, imprisoning, marginalizing, forcing to emigrate - whatever,” says Dmitry Suslov, international affairs professor at the Higher School of Economics.
The Kremlin sent a high profile signal with last summer’s trial of Pussy Riot, a female punk band that protested in Moscow’s main cathedral. Two of the women are serving two-year jail sentences.
Now it is the turn of Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most popular opposition leader. He is on trial in a provincial city, 1,000 kilometers from his power base here.
Opposition politician Vladimir Ryzhkov says the trials reflect a wider crackdown that President Putin started after returning to the Kremlin one year ago.
“Putin and his parliament enacted an entire series of laws aimed at prohibition: the prohibition of protests, the prohibition of the freedom of expression, the prohibition of criticizing the government and church,” said Ryzhkov, co-chairman of the Republican Party of Russia, a new group.
Source
PS
One can only hope that Domingo, who is known to be an honest and serious man, thinks twice next time when he is asked to join a celebration organized by friends and lackeys of a dictator.
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Beyoncé at the Obama inauguration
The Times reports:
Beyoncé did not sing the national anthem live at President Obama’s inauguration.
Beyoncé did not sing the national anthem live at President Obama’s inauguration.
Millions of viewers around the world were stunned by the singer’s spectacular rendition of the anthem but The Times has learnt that she was lip-syncing to a pre-recorded backing track.
A spokeswoman for the Marine Corp Band Kristen DuBois said it was standard procedure to record a backing track and Beyoncé decided shortly before her performance to rely on the studio version rather .
A fitting way for a fake environmental "crusader" to honor a teleprompter president.
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