Maestro With Russian Ties' performance in Vienna is cancelled

When the Wiener Festwochen, a prestigious festival that brings leading international artists to Vienna, announced this spring's line-up, the reaction was swift and fierce.

The festival planned to make the Russian invasion of Ukraine the focus of its programming, combining a performance by Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv with a concert by maestro Teodor Currentzis, who has come under scrutiny for his connections to Russia. Critics, including Lyniv, had argued that the combination was insensitive and ignored the suffering of Ukrainians.

Now, after weeks of pressure, the festival has abandoned its plan, saying it would cancel Currentzis' performance as he continues with Lyniv's.

“The decision was clear and there was no alternative,” Milo Rau, the festival's artistic director, said in an interview on Tuesday. “This was the best solution from the bad.”

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, many cultural organizations have cut ties with close associates of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and the government there. Some institutions have been criticized for overreaching after canceling performances by Russian artists with no known ties to the government. Others have struggled with how to deal with artists with less obvious ties.

Currentzis, a Greek-born, Russian-trained maestro whose leadership of the Russian ensemble MusicAeterna made him one of the most prominent conductors in the world, is at the center of the debate because of his relationship with VTB Bank, a Russian state-owned company. institution under sanctions by the United States and other countries. VTB Bank was the main sponsor of MusicAeterna. Currentzis has also criticized his dealings with Russian officials: in 2014, Putin granted Currentzis citizenship by presidential decree.

Currentzis has refrained from publicly commenting on the war. But as criticism mounted, he announced in 2022 that he would form a new international ensemble, Utopia, with the support of donors outside Russia. He continues to conduct in Russia, he said MusicAeterna website.

His performance in Vienna was part of a June tour with the SWR Symphony Orchestra of Germany, which he leads as principal conductor, performing Benjamin Britten's “War Requiem.” He would perform with the Vienna Boys' Choir and the London Symphony Chorus.

Currentzis representatives did not respond to requests for comment. Anke Mai, program director of the SWR, said in a statement that she regretted the decision of the Wiener Festwochen to cancel the performance. She said the orchestra had never asked Currentzis to make a statement about the war “given the consequences such a statement would have for Currentzis in Russia.” She added that she believed Currentzis and the orchestra were “sending a message that cannot be misunderstood” by choosing to perform the “War Requiem,” which is a call for peace.

“Everyone involved would have liked to take this message to Vienna,” Mai said. “Nevertheless, we accept the decision of the Wiener Festwochen and hope to meet again in more peaceful times.”

Rau, the festival's artistic director, who has a reputation as a provocative director, said he had invited Currentzis to to perform partly because he was interested in the idea of ​​starting a conversation about wartime art. Lyniv was also invited to conduct the Kiev Symphony Orchestra and the National Choir of Ukraine in one performance from the oratorio 'Kaddish Requiem' by the Ukrainian composer Yevhen Stankovych, written in memory of the mass murder of Jews near Kiev by the Nazis in 1941.

Rau said he was concerned about Currentzis' ties to Russian institutions. But he said he felt he had created a context in which he could appear.

“We decided it would be fun to try this exchange,” he said. “It was very conscious to say that we want to have something that is difficult and questionable.”

Shortly after the plans were announced, Lyniv issued a statement of protest, saying she was concerned about Currentzis' “whitewashing.”

“I cannot bear any responsibility towards the almost 150 musicians who travel to Vienna from the war in Ukraine to be placed in the same context as Teodor Currentzis,” she said in a statement at the time. “Currentzis' connections to Russia and his silence on this war of aggression against my homeland make it impossible for me to appear in context with him at this time.”

Lyniv, who is in New York this month to prepare to conduct “Turandot” at the Metropolitan Opera, said she was pleased with the festival's decision but declined to comment further.

While looking for a solution, Rau spoke with artists and administrators in recent days. He said he had received more than 50 messages about his decision to cancel Currentzis' performance, many of which were critical.

“The festival is big; we have 35 productions,” he said. “But in this particular case I failed, and I'm sad about that. But I've failed so many times. It's part of the job.”