A concert by a well-known 20-year-old Russian pianist has been canceled in Canada over concerns about his silence on the invasion of Ukraine. The musical director of the orchestra in Toulouse, France, who is also principal conductor of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, has been tasked with clarifying his position on the war before his next performance. In New York, Anna Netrebko, one of opera’s biggest stars, saw the end of her reign at the Metropolitan Opera after she refused to denounce Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As global condemnation of Russia’s attack on Ukraine has grown, cultural institutions have been surprisingly quick to pressure Russian artists to distance themselves from Mr. Putin. This clash of art and politics is forcing organizations to grapple with issues of free speech and whether artists should be on the lookout.
The institutions are demanding that artists who have supported Mr. Putin in the past come out with a clear condemnation of the Russian president and his invasion as a prerequisite to performing. Others check their lists and scrutinize social media posts to make sure Russian performers haven’t made controversial claims about the war. The Polish National Opera went so far as to abandon a production of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, one of the greatest Russian operas, in order to express “solidarity with the people of Ukraine.”
The tension poses a dilemma for cultural institutions and those who support them. Many have long tried to stay out of the hustle and bustle of current events and deeply believe in the role that art can play in overcoming differences. Now, arts administrators with little knowledge of geopolitics are at the center of one of the most politically sensitive issues in decades, with little experience to draw on.
“We are faced with a completely new situation,” said Andreas Homoki, artistic director of the Zurich Opera. “Politics has never been on our minds like this before.”
The new scrutiny of Russian artists threatens to overturn decades of cultural exchange that continued even at the height of the Cold War, when the Soviet Union and the West sent artists back and forth in fear of nuclear war. Russian maestro Valery Gergiev, who has long been close to Mr. Putin, has been fired as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic, and his international commitments have dried up. The Hermitage Amsterdam Art Museum broke off relations with the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. The Bolshoi Ballet lost its engagements in London and Madrid.
Referring to this Cold War tradition, Cliburn — a Fort Worth-based foundation named after the American pianist Van Cliburn, whose victory at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958 was seen as a sign that art can overcome political divisions — announced, that will welcome 15 Russian pianists will audition next week for the 2022 Cliburn Competition, noting that they are not officials of their government.
Jacques Marquis, President and CEO of Cliburn, said the organization feels it’s important to have a say as Russian artists come under scrutiny. “We can help the world if we stand our ground and focus on music and artists,” he said.
While many institutions seek to show support for Ukraine and distance themselves from artists who support Mr. Putin, they are uncomfortable trying to verify the views of performers — and worry that Russian artists, who often have to rely on government support to thrive in their careers at home, may face reprisals if forced to publicly renounce the Kremlin.
“Now you can’t expose everyone to general suspicion,” said Alexandre Nef, director of the Paris Opera. “You can’t demand declarations of allegiance or condemnation of what’s going on.”
The situation is tense and rapidly evolving. Organization leaders are facing pressure from donors, board members and the public, not to mention waves of anger on social media, where campaigns to cancel several Russian artists are rapidly gaining momentum.
The institutions are also trying to decide what to do with the Russians, who are among their most important donors. On Wednesday, the Guggenheim Museum announced that Vladimir O. Potanin, one of Russia’s richest men and major philanthropist, is stepping down as one of its trustees.
Leila Getz, founder and artistic director of the Vancouver, Canada solo concert series, has canceled a performance by Russian pianist Alexander Malofeev scheduled for August. Mr. Malofeev, 20, made no statements about the war and had no known ties to Mr. Putin. But Ms Goetz issued a statement saying she could not “in good conscience present any Russian artist in concert at this point in time if they are not prepared to publicly speak out against this war.”
Soon she received dozens of messages. Some accused her of overzealousness and demanded that Mr. Malofeev be allowed to speak.
In an interview, Ms Goetz defended her decision, saying she was worried about the possibility of protests. She said that she had not asked Mr. Malofeev to condemn the war and that she was worried for his safety.
“The first thing that came to my mind was: why would I bring a 20-year-old Russian pianist to Vancouver to face protests and people misbehaving in the concert hall, whooping and screaming and screaming?” she said.
Mr. Malofeev declined to comment. In a statement posted on Facebook, he said: “The truth is that every Russian will feel guilty for decades because of a terrible and bloody decision that none of us could have influenced or predicted.”
On Friday, the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra in Maryland announced that it would replace Russian violinist Vadim Repin, who was scheduled to play the Shostakovich concerto at upcoming concerts, “out of respect for Repin’s apolitical stance and concerns for the safety of himself and his family.” ”
“We don’t want to put him in an uncomfortable, even impossible position,” said the orchestra’s executive director, Edgar Herrera. In an interview, Mr. Herrera said that there had been threats to disrupt Mr. Repin’s performances and that the symphony orchestra was concerned that hosting a Russian artist could damage his image and alienate donors.
Determining which artists are too close to Mr. Putin is not easy. Mr. Gergiev, longtime general and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, has a decades-long relationship with Mr. Putin, and he often supports government policies. Mr. Gergiev directed concerts in 2008 in South Ossetia, the breakaway region of Georgia assisted by Russian troops, and in Syrian Palmyra in 2016 after it was recaptured by Syrian and Russian forces.
Ms. Netrebko, the soprano star, issued a statement against the war in Ukraine but withdrew after refusing to distance herself from Mr. Putin, whom she had voiced in the past in support. The war brought renewed attention to a 2014 photograph of her holding a flag used by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.
Prominent pianist Yevgeny Kissin, who was born in Moscow and now lives in Prague, said that while many artists in Russia needed to support Mr. Putin to some extent because their institutions relied on state aid, others went too far. . He said he believed that “supporters of a criminal war being waged by a dictator and mass murderer should have no place in the concert venues of the civilized world.”
He added that while he thinks it natural for Western institutions to ask Mr. Putin’s most prominent supporters to speak out against the war, he doesn’t think it should be required of artists who have not been particularly politicized in the past.
How the Ukrainian war affects the cultural world
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Anna Netrebko. The Russian soprano superstar will no longer perform at the Metropolitan Opera this or next season after failing to comply with the company’s demand to distance itself from Russian President Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine.
Vladimir Potanin. The Guggenheim Museum said the Russian businessman and close associate of Mr. Putin would step down as one of his trustees, and he took over in 2002. Although the reasons for this decision were not given, the museum’s statement mentioned the war in Ukraine.
Alexey Ratmansky. The Kyiv-raised choreographer was preparing a new ballet at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow when the invasion began and immediately decided to leave Moscow. The ballet, which premiered on March 30, has been postponed indefinitely.
Gerard Depardieu. The French actor, who received Russian citizenship in 2013 and is one of Putin’s closest Western celebrities, took a surprising stance when he denounced the war during an interview.
The arts organizations offered few details about how they would treat lesser-known Russian artists who have been more vocal about their political views. The Verbier Festival in Switzerland said it would ban artists who “publicly joined the actions of the Russian government” but did not provide details on how it would make such judgments.
Mr Homoki, head of the Zurich opera house, said he would not press Russian artists to condemn Moscow, given the pressure they might face at home. But he said he might be forced to consider canceling performances by artists if they face overwhelming public opposition or if their peers raise concerns about their political views.
“You can’t take it out on artists just because they’re Russian, or they can’t take a strong anti-Putin stance for fear of the consequences,” Mr. Homoki said.
There are also concerns that the current climate could open the door to demands that performers from other countries, including China, denounce abuses by their governments — even if it could put them at risk.
The Metropolitan Opera has announced that it will no longer engage with artists and institutions that have expressed support for Mr Putin, but so far its efforts appear to have focused mainly on Ms Netrebko and the Bolshoi Theater, with which she had producer partnership. Peter Gelb, CEO of the Met, said the opera house had no plans to “staging an artistic witch hunt” or polling performers about their views, and noted that several Russian artists are currently at the Met rehearsing Tchaikovsky’s favorite Russian piece, “Eugene.” . Onegin.
Thursday night at Carnegie Hall, Clive Gillinson, the hall’s executive and artistic director, took the stage to greet Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov and explain that Carnegie will not discriminate against artists based on nationality.
The hall made headlines last week for the cancellation of performances by Mr. Gergiev and Russian pianist Denis Matsuev, who also has ties to Mr. Putin.
Mr. Gillinson defended his plans to single out Mr. Gergiev this season in an interview last year, asking, “Why should artists be the only people in the world who aren’t allowed to have political opinions?” On Friday, Mr. Gillinson said that Mr. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine had changed the situation and that he did not believe that artists who continued to support Mr. Putin should be given a forum to perform.
But he added that organizations should be careful not to penalize performers who do not want to make their views public.
“When people live in a totalitarian state, which they do, they are asking for the impossible because they are asking someone to put their lives in danger,” he said.
Experts warn that pressure to take a hard line on Russian artists could end decades of cultural exchange.
“The more we feud, the more we cut off, the more we ban, the more we censor and the more of this xenophobic backlash we have, the more we play into Putin’s hands,” said Simon A. Morrison, professor of music at Princeton. who studies Russia. “We turn every side into a rough cartoon.”