For several days, pressure has been mounting on the Orchester symphonique de Montréal (OSM) to cancel or postpone the concert Russian concertos and French symphonic poems scheduled next Wednesday and Thursday at the Maison symphonique. After its decision to cancel Alexander Malofeev’s performance in early March, which earned it the opprobrium of the international musical, cultural and journalistic community, the OSM intends to hold firm this time.
The Ukrainian Congress in Quebec is particularly active in the campaign aimed at preventing Daniil Trifonov’s highly anticipated concert from being held at the OSM. Gregory Bedik, member of the Ukrainian Congress in Quebec, thinks “that the timing is awful”. “We ask, if it is not canceled, that there is a postponement. The OSM would never have agreed to play German pieces during the time that Hitler was gassing Jews in Europe. It’s the same thing. He continues: “The OSM canceled in March. Atrocities in April are worse, so why was it good to cancel in March, but it’s not good in April? »
The OSM informed the To have to, Wednesday, of a position disseminated to Ukrainians concerned about this issue. Recalling that “like the entire population of Quebec and Canada, our musical director, Rafael Payare, our musicians and our administrative staff are still upset and indignant at the abuses committed by the Russian army in Ukraine”, the orchestra specifies that , following the decision concerning Alexander Malofeev, “a very broad consensus has emerged within the international community of culture and the arts […] that banishing Russian artists who have nothing to do with the actions of the Russian government is not the way to go. On the contrary, many believe that such a boycott movement would play into the hands of the Putin regime, which could use it as proof that the West wants to erase Russian culture and heritage, thus justifying its invasion of Ukraine. »
The OSM canceled in March. Atrocities in April are worse, so why was it good to cancel in March, but it’s not good in April?
Prokofiev and Schnittke
The orchestra also recalls that its decision to maintain the concert “respects the directives of the Canadian government”, which enjoin cultural institutions such as the OSM to “suspend any activity involving the participation of Russian or Belarusian state organizations or representatives officials of these states. The Minister of Canadian Heritage has said publicly that these directives do not apply to Russian artists who act on their behalf and who do not support the Russian invasion. »
In interview at To have toProfessor Jane Duncan of the University of Johannesburg, who has studied cultural “levers” such as those applied against Russia, also argued that if an artist “has not used his art and his reputation to support the regime, if he does not have a contractual relationship with the Russian regime that would ask him to promote Russian policies abroad, there is no sufficient argument to prevent this artist from performing in Canada” .
Gregory Bedik is not targeting Daniil Trifonov. No need, since it is the concert itself that is in the crosshairs. Why, then, does a Ukrainian association demand the cancellation of a Ukrainian composer, Prokofiev, born in the Dnipro region? Mr. Bedik notes that “the title of the concert is ‘Russian Concertos'”. “It’s propaganda and bullets in Putin’s guns. »
There is also Schnittke, but the latter was an outcast and persecuted by the Soviet regime. So why attack his work, which could represent the voice of the persecuted? Mr. Bedik points out that the title could have reflected that the concert juxtaposed a persecuted person and a composer born in Ukraine, but that it remains “Russian Concertos”.
The idea that programming Russian music would serve “Vladimir Putin’s propaganda” clashes with the axis of communication deployed on March 25 by the Russian president during the presentation of the Presidential Prizes for Literature and Art.
He castigated a supposed wave of cancellation of Russian geniuses in the West, while the examples of canceled concerts or theatrical or lyrical performances of the Russian repertoire are extremely rare.
If he does not obtain the cancellation or the postponement of the concert, the Ukrainian Congress plans to hold demonstrations in front of the performance. Mr. Bedik wants to be reassuring: “Our demonstrations have always been peaceful and will continue to be peaceful, but we will be there to give our point of view. »