“We agreed that we would rather crack down”

Conductor Teodor Currentzis and his Russian ensemble MusicAeterna are scheduled to perform at the Dortmund Konzerthaus on Friday without several musicians who have been suspended for comments related to the war in Ukraine. "We have always said: Anyone who clearly speaks out in favor of the war or the Kremlin cannot get a stage with us," said Artistic Director Raphael von Hoensbroech.

The suspensions were discussed with the management of the ensemble and they were "completely agreed". However, he also emphasized that Russian artists should not be held in clan or ideological detention. The classic magazine "Crescendo" had previously reported. A spokeswoman for MusicAeterna could not immediately be reached for comment.

Specifically, it is about pro-Russian or polemical anti-Western statements by ensemble members, for example in social media. Among them is the case of a tenor who recently published a song in support of Russian soldiers at the front on the VKontakte social network. It says: “Home is on fire again. I get up, I go. Pray for me. Fascism is rushing towards us again. How can you remain uninvolved? It's time to save the homeland.”

According to media reports, another member posted a video in which he turned the heating up to the max. He wrote that he was destroying the German economy. The musician later apologized for this.

Von Hoensbroech said an inappropriately polemical video should be viewed differently from pro-Russian pro-war statements. But a clearly comprehensible line is needed towards musicians. "We agreed that we would rather crack down," he said. "The tragedy is that the Russian propaganda seems to be working."

Since the Russian attack on Ukraine, it can no longer be taken for granted that the Greek-Russian conductor Teodor Currentzis will perform as planned. The famous conductor does not comment publicly on the war. The Cologne Philharmonic, for example, recently canceled a concert planned for January 2023 by the SWR Symphony Orchestra, which he conducted: "More than half a year after the outbreak of war, an attitude towards the political situation should be recognizable," the reasoning said.

Von Hoensbroech said: "We cannot ask every artist to martyr himself." Critical statements would be understood in Russia as a hard signal. "He would be hailed as a hero in the rest of Europe but would have to pay for the damage in Russia," he said. He also has responsibility for the ensemble he founded and directed. "There are real livelihoods at stake," he said.

"When you have 200 people in an ensemble, there are always people with very crude thoughts among them," he said. If these became public, someone like that could not appear in Dortmund. "But we can't subject everyone else to an attitude test. I think that's where we get into social situations that we all don't want. ”Individual cases have to be considered as such. These showed that an exchange must continue. "I think we have to be careful not to tear down all the bridges in culture," he said.

The ensemble MusicAeterna is financed with money from Russia, for example from VTB Bank, which is subject to sanctions. "I personally think that's critical, but I also know from many conversations that it can't be changed that quickly," said von Hoensbroech. "Half a year after the beginning of the war, I cannot expect the ensemble to have already solved this problem." The concert on Friday had been planned long before the Russian attack in February. Due to this financing, MusicAeterna will not be invited for the time being, further concerts in Dortmund are not planned at the moment.