When the Wiener Festwochen, a prestigious pageant that brings main worldwide artists to Vienna, introduced this spring’s lineup, the backlash was swift and fierce.
The pageant had deliberate to make the Russian invasion of Ukraine a spotlight of its programming, juxtaposing an look by the Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv with a live performance by the maestro Teodor Currentzis, who has confronted scrutiny over his connections to Russia. Critics, together with Lyniv, had argued that the pairing was insensitive and ignored the struggling of Ukrainians.
Now, after weeks of strain, the pageant has deserted its plan, saying that it will cancel the looks by Currentzis whereas transferring ahead with the one by Lyniv.
“The choice was clear and there was no different,” Milo Rau, the pageant’s inventive director, stated in an interview on Tuesday. “This was the perfect resolution from unhealthy ones.”
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, many cultural organizations have severed ties with shut associates of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and the federal government there. Some establishments have been criticized for overreach after canceling performances by Russian artists with no recognized connections to the federal government. Others have grappled with methods to deal with artists who had much less clear-cut allegiances.
Currentzis, a Greek-born, Russian-trained maestro whose management of the Russian ensemble MusicAeterna turned him into one of many world’s most distinguished conductors, has been on the middle of the dialogue due to his relationship with VTB Financial institution, a Russian state-owned establishment that has been below sanctions by the US and different nations. VTB Financial institution was the principle sponsor of MusicAeterna. Currentzis has additionally drawn scrutiny for his affiliation with Russian officers: In 2014, Putin awarded Currentzis citizenship by presidential decree.
Currentzis has shunned publicly commenting on the struggle. However as criticism has mounted, he introduced in 2022 that he would type a brand new worldwide ensemble, Utopia, with the assist of donors exterior Russia. He continues to conduct in Russia, in keeping with MusicAeterna’s web site.
His look in Vienna was to be a part of a tour in June with the SWR Symphony Orchestra of Germany, which he leads as chief conductor, performing Benjamin Britten’s “Battle Requiem.” He was to look with the Vienna Boys’ Choir and the London Symphony Refrain.
Representatives for Currentzis didn’t reply to requests for remark. Anke Mai, the SWR program director, stated in a press release that she regretted the Wiener Festwochen’s resolution to cancel the efficiency. She stated the orchestra had by no means requested Currentzis to make a press release on the struggle “in view of the results that such a press release would have for Currentzis in Russia.” She added that she believed Currentzis and the orchestra had been “sending a message that can’t be misunderstood” by selecting to carry out the “Battle Requiem,” which is a name for peace.
“All these concerned would have preferred to deliver this message to Vienna,” Mai stated. “However, we settle for the choice of the Wiener Festwochen and hope to fulfill once more in additional peaceable occasions.”
Rau, the pageant’s inventive director, who has a fame as a provocative stage director, stated he had invited Currentzis to carry out partially as a result of he was within the thought of beginning a dialog about artwork in wartime. Lyniv was additionally invited to steer the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra and the Nationwide Choir of Ukraine in a efficiency of the Ukrainian composer Yevhen Stankovych’s oratorio “Kaddish Requiem,” written to recollect the 1941 bloodbath of Jews close to Kyiv by Nazis.
Rau stated he was troubled by Currentzis’s ties to Russian establishments. However he stated he felt he had created a context wherein he might seem.
“We determined this is able to be a pleasant factor to attempt to have this trade,” he stated. “It was very intentional to say that we wish to have one thing that’s troublesome and that’s questionable.”
Quickly after the plans had been introduced, Lyniv issued a press release in protest, saying that she fearful about “whitewashing” Currentzis.
“I can’t be accountable to the virtually 150 musicians who’re touring to Vienna from the struggle in Ukraine to be put in the identical context as Teodor Currentzis,” she stated in a press release on the time. “Currentzis’s connections to Russia and his silence on this struggle of aggression towards my homeland make it unattainable for me to look in a context with him in the mean time.”
Lyniv, who’s in New York this month making ready to conduct “Turandot” on the Metropolitan Opera, stated she was happy by the pageant’s resolution however declined to remark additional.
As he looked for an answer, Rau spoke in current days with artists and directors. He stated that he had obtained greater than 50 messages about his resolution to cancel the efficiency by Currentzis, lots of them crucial.
“The pageant is large; we’ve 35 productions,” he stated. “However on this particular case I failed, and I’m unhappy about it. However I’ve failed so many occasions. It’s a part of the job.”
