Music and politics. It is always dangerous when those two things mix, though one could argue that it’s dangerous when politics is mixed with anything. Over the weekend the news broke that one of the most famous musicians in the world decided to put these two things into a rather large blender and turn it on hi speed. The response from the rest of the classical music world has been stunning – as in a stunning silence.
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.”
Dante Alighieri
We should all keep that quote in mind when we look at the concert given by the Marinsky Theatre Orchestra, led by none other than Valery Gergiev, in Ossetia. At least you can’t accuse him of sitting on the sidelines. A native Ossetian, Gergiev dedicates the concert to the war dead (in English) and on the surface this all seems like the tradition of the great artist taking the great moral stand. Until you take a closer look.
OK, no I don’t believe everything that I see on CNN, but from my perspective it seems that Russia is run by an dictator in prime minister’s clothing, and the actions of the Big Bear over the past three weeks seem specifically designed to a) take control of the Caucases; b) humiliate the West; c) and fan the flames of rampant patriotism in the process. Change “Caucases” to “Persian Gulf”; “West” to “Middle East”; and gee, the Bush/Cheney cartel should be bloody proud.
And there’s the problem – “blood.” Thousands of people have died over the past three weeks in Ossetia. If western news reports are even 50% accurate then Russia has a lot to account for, and no amount of sophistry is going to mask the tragedy that has taken place. Yet in what can only be described as a highly managed and made for Youtube moment Gergiev and the Marinsky have provided the Russian government with a classic “Wag the Dog” concert. The ode to Mother Russia, the teary-eyed thanks given to the heroic Russian army for blasting the living beJesus out of those Godless inhuman Georgians, the whole carefully staged exhibition – frankly, it’s enough to make a person sick to their stomach.
Despite this the reaction from the music world remains quiet enough to hear a baton drop. Do a google search for “Gergiev Ossetia.” What you will find is the various YouTube excerpts of the concert, as well as a couple blogs that seem to go out of their way to not antagonize the great Russian maestro, and one blog I’ve found from an English critic in praise of him. The fear in the business is obvious – “perhaps if we just stay quiet it will all go away and we can continue to make buckets of money whenever Gergiev shows up.”
Honestly, I am not sure who I am angrier with – Georgia, for starting this whole thing; Russia, for taking lessons from Bush/Cheney; the Ossetians, for allowing themselves to be used as pawns by both sides; or the rest of us, for letting this stuff happen in the 21st Century. But I am definitely upset with Gergiev. I can’t help but think (to borrow a phrase from pop/religious culture) “What Would Slava Do?”
I can’t claim to have know Rostropovich well but I did work with him a few times, and I had the chance to have a couple very long conversations with him. Of special interest to me was his take on Human Rights and the responsibility of the artist in today’s world, because I knew that subject pretty much defined his personal and professional life. After all this was a man who was effectively kicked out of the USSR for his support of his friend Shostakovich. Would Slava have gone to Ossetia and given a concert? Yep. But he also would have seen through the Bearsh*t and, call it a hunch, I don’t think we would have any YouTube video of him gushing over the Russian army.
I will probably end up in hell myself, for a number of reasons, but maintaining my neutrality on this subject isn’t going to be one of them. Valery, you should be ashamed of yourself.
I believe Rostropovich and his wife were stripped of their Soviet citizenship in 1978 for their support of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, not Shostakovich. They left the USSR in 1974 on an approved tour and did not return.
The Soviets barred their re-entry because they had been “engaging in anti-Soviet activities.” Solzhenitsyn was a good friend of theirs, someone they helped before he was exiled, and I believe they also visited him when he was in Switzerland.
I really enjoy this blog….
I too really enjoy this blog. though I may not get the chance to read it in a timely fashion.
Your comments, Bill, are understandable and certainly how I would hope most of us feel regarding the terrible tragedy in Georgia over the last month. However, Maestro Gergiev has done exactly what you are extolling the arts community for not doing. Sitting on the sidelines. He has made his bones and is obviously not afraid to live with the consequences. We might not like his actions but they are loud and clear and the silence of the music world is deafening.
I am not condoning the actions of either side in what is taking place in Ossetia. The truth is that we are only now starting to see the reality of what life was like for Ossetian’s over the past decade of Georgian rule and also starting to understand the provocations by the west including Europe, NATO and the United States over the last few years.
Had Gergiev held a concert to highlight the problems and concerns of human rights violations in Ossetia prior to the events of the last month, I believe that they would have gone largely unnoticed by the music community and the rest of the world. The Georgian’s are a favored nation by the West for their opposition to Russia and we tend to like the thought that our friends do not partake in these kinds actions.
This concert and the lack of response from the musical world is troubling. A concert extolling the virtues of the killing of hundreds or thousands of innocents and the occupation of one country by another is not only distasteful but sickening. We just need to make sure that we understand all of the situation and to make our judgments wisely and through clear glasses.
I certainly believe in the sovereignty of nations and the actions of the Russians continues to be abhorrent. However, if the Berlin Wall had fallen, not because of diplomacy or the failure of a nation, but brought about by the military actions of free nations to secure the freedom of others, would concerts not have taken place to commemorate that achievement and would our conversation be the same? It might have been called the “cold war” but many thousands perished in the east and west.
Thanks for providing so much food for thought.