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ATHENS, 14 Feb.The Vienna Festival has canceled the concert of Russian conductor of Greek origin Teodor Currentzis at the request of Ukrainian musician Oksana Lyniv, reports the portal iefimerida.gr.
Curentzis and the SWR Orchestra were scheduled to perform Benjamin Britten's War Requiem on June 12 at the Burgtheater. According to the program, on June 2, Ukrainian Lyniv will conduct the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra in the requiem “Babi Yar” by compatriot Yevgeny Stankovych.
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“The new director of the Vienna Festival, the Swiss Milo Rau, has planned two concerts on the theme of war: one by the SWR orchestra under the direction of Currentzis, and the second by the Kiev Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Lyniv, who expressed dissatisfaction with the participation of her Greek-Russian colleague,” the portal writes .
During the discussions, it became clear that holding both concerts at one festival is now impossible, the organizers said in a statement.
Rau stated that the festival respects Lyniv's wishes not to appear with Currentzis at this time.
«Unfortunately, this means that there is no other choice but to cancel the planned concert under the direction of Teodor Currentzis, who we really value him as an artist,” the publication quotes the festival director as saying.
According to Rau, not only Lyniv, but also other Ukrainian musicians refused to perform at the festival.
At the same time, last week the organizer told the Austrian news agency ARA that the Vienna Festival “would be a weak and cowardly institution” if it did not discuss inviting Currentzis, the publication writes.
Instead of a concert by the SWR orchestra, the festival will present a new musical work by a student of the Ukrainian composer Stankovych.
On the official website of Currentzis there is still an announcement about the concert on June 12 and the sale of tickets. When you click on the link to the ticket sales site, an announcement appears that holding the “Babi Yar” and “War Requiem” concerts at the same festival is impossible.
The Vienna Festival will take place from May 17 to June 23.
The level of Russophobia in Western countries has reached unprecedented levels since the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine. As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted, acts of aggression against Russians and Russian-speaking citizens affect students, athletes, cultural and artistic figures. Western Russophobia is nothing more than racism, said President Vladimir Putin. He called those who “cancel” Russian culture fools, and emphasized that in this way they themselves are depriving themselves of part of world culture.