Vienna Festival organisers refuse to allow Theodoros Kurentzis to participate because he did not condemn the war in Ukraine
Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv refused to perform with him on the same stage
The organisers of the Vienna Festival have refused to allow conductor Theodor Kurentzis, who gives concerts in Russia, to perform on the same stage as Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv.
Source. This was reported by the BBC with reference to Spiegel and the New York Times.
As explained by the director of the Vienna Festival, the famous Swiss director Milo Rau, the main theme of the festival, which will take place in June, was to be the war in Ukraine. It was planned that Theodor Kurentzis and the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra (SWR) would perform Benjamin Britten's War Requiem as part of the festival.
And Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv and the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra are to perform Yevhen Stankovych's Babyn Yar Requiem.
However, according to the festival director, Oksana Lyniv disagreed with the participation of Theodor Kurentzis, who did not condemn Russian aggression in Ukraine and continues to perform in Russia.
Anke Mai, the director of the festival's cultural programme, noted that the organisers of the Vienna Festival did not demand that Kurrentzis make a public statement condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as they understood the consequences such a confession would have for Kurrentzis in Russia.
"The decision was obvious, and we had no choice. This is the best decision out of two bad ones," said Milo Rau, commenting on the decision to cancel the participation of Teodor Kurentzis in the festival.
According to Rau, by inviting Kurentzis, he hoped that the festival organisers would be able to start an open discussion about the place and meaning of art in wartime.
Theodore Kourentzis is a conductor of Greek descent who studied conducting in St. Petersburg and stayed in Russia. The MusicAeterna Orchestra, which he created in Novosibirsk in the late noughties, performed with great success at prestigious Western venues before the war.
After the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Teodor Kurentzis refrained from openly condemning Russian aggression, but the conductor continued to be invited to participate in international projects.
Background. As a reminder, the Ukrainian singer refused to participate in the Sanremo song contest because of the participation of Russians.
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