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| Video still: Chicago Symphony Orchestra |
Conductor Riccardo Muti has dedicated a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to the people of Ukraine in a moving announcement on 24 February.
Ahead of the concert with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, of whom he is Music Director, Muti addressed the audience from the stage, which he said: "…should never be a space for political announcement or statements." However, he went on to acknowledge the people of Ukraine and the significance of this performance of Beethoven’s famous symphony with its "Ode to Joy" chorus:
"…we cannot play this symphony, dedicated to the joy and brotherhood, without thinking [of] the sufferings of the people of Ukraine."
The concert took place on the same day that Russia invaded Ukraine. Muti said "What we are seeing [on the] television is horrible" and recalled conducting a concert for friendship in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv a few years previously, where he found "wonderful, happy, people."
Beethoven’s "Ode to Joy" has been a marker of momentous events through history, including in a performance conducted by Leonard Bernstein in 1989 to mark the fall of the Berlin Wall. Muti highlighted Schiller’s text for the chorus "…he speaks about joy, joy, joy..." and said:
"But we will think in that moment that joy without peace cannot exist."
Muti called for all in the concert hall to unite and send a message of support to the people of Ukraine and around the world: "And so, I hope that from this wonderful hall, from the orchestra, from the chorus, from you, a message should arrive to all the people, not only in Ukraine but in the world, are creating violence hate and [a] strange need for war, we are against all that."
In Germany, the Berlin Philharmonic has dedicated concerts this week of Mahler’s Second Symphony to those affected by the Russian attacks on Ukraine. Chief conductor, Kirill Petrenko, said on the orchestra’s website: "I am in complete solidarity with all my Ukrainian colleagues and can only hope that all artists will stand together for freedom, sovereignty and against aggression." In France, the Paris Philharmonic also dedicated their performance with the Démos Europe Orchestra to the people of Ukraine, as a moment of union in music.
These dedications came as elsewhere in the world music institutions also made moves to suspend ties with artists and companies connected with Russian president Vladimir Putin. The Metropolitan Opera has expressed solidarity with Ukraine and said in a statement on its website: "...we can no longer engage with artists or institutions that support Putin or are supported by him — not until the invasion and killing has been stopped, order has been restored and restitutions have been made."
Conductor Valery Gergiev and pianist Denis Matsuev were replaced in performances with the Vienna Philharmonic at New York’s Carnegie Hall over the weekend. May performances at the hall with Gergiev conducting the Mariinsky Orchestra have also been cancelled, citing "...recent world events as well as ongoing challenges related to the global COVID-19 pandemic."
According to reports by the Associated Press Gergiev has been dropped by his management over his ties with Putin, and the Mayor of Munich has said he will remove Gergiev as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic if he does not publicly denounce the invasion of Ukraine. A similar request was made by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra ahead of its annual Gergiev festival planned for September
First published at ABC Classic, March 1, 2022
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