Social advertising “Culture cannot be abolished” has appeared on the streets of Russian cities, which claims that Russian writers and musicians are being abandoned in the West. We decided to check if this is true.
Many Russian media wrote about social advertising and posted photos of it, for example TJournal, "Paper", AGN "Moscow", RIA FAN etc. Social network users also paid attention to it - Facebook, Twitter, "VKontakte". Moreover, in the posts themselves and in the comments to them, many noted that the information on the posters did not correspond to reality.
Chekhov's plays are no longer staged in Europe
In Germany, at the Mönchengladbach Theater on April 19, staging "Three Sisters" The same play can be seen in Poland at the theater "Polonia"and in People's Theater.
In Hamburg coming Kirill Serebrennikov’s play “The Black Monk” based on Chekhov’s story.
In May, London's Red Lion Theater will host put "Uncle Vanya." For the same play you can buy ticket to the Italian Teatro Giglio in Lucca. They put it in Estonia too.
In Budapest you can go to "Chaika". Can look her in London too. One of the main roles in the production, by the way, is played by Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke.
This is not a complete list of European productions of Chekhov's plays, but it is sufficient to conclude: the thesis in the public service announcement does not correspond to reality.
Not true
Tchaikovsky concerts around the world are canceled
There were indeed cases of cancellation of Tchaikovsky concerts. So, Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra refused from the performance of the “1812” overture. However, many politicians, musicians and public figures condemned this decision. The orchestra's management stated in their defense that the issue was not Tchaikovsky's Russian origin, but the military theme of the work, which in this case could be considered inappropriate.
The same play and for the same reasons was decided replace and in concerts of the Japanese Chubu Philharmonic Orchestra. At the same time, they added another piece by Tchaikovsky - “Trepak” from the ballet “The Nutcracker”.
Management Pomeranian Philharmonic Poland refused to perform music by Russian composers. However, the Philharmonic emphasized that they do not detract from Russia’s contribution to world culture and hope to soon return to performing the music of Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich.
Apart from these three cases, there is no further information about the cancellation of concerts or the banning of Tchaikovsky's music anywhere. Boston Symphony Orchestra still sells tickets to the composer’s concerts, English National Ballet And San Francisco Ballet they put on "Swan Lake" National Ballet of Canada And Liege Forum - “Sleeping Beauty.” At the Latvian Opera and Ballet Theater you can listen to Tchaikovsky’s music in three productions at once: "Sleeping Beauty", "Swan Lake" And "Queen of Spades".
The last opera will be possible listen and at the Royal Opera House of Brussels, and the director of the theater announced about the opening of an unplanned “Russian season”, during which the music of Russian composers will be heard in the theater more often. He noted that European culture is inextricably linked with Russian, and the purpose of art is to build bridges between people.
Thus, there really are cases of cancellation of Tchaikovsky's music. But at the moment we have been able to find information about only three such precedents, while there are many more theaters where they continue to stage ballets to the composer’s music or play his concerts.
Half-truth
The West refused to give lectures about Dostoevsky
At the University of Milan-Bicocca in Italy, lectures on Dostoevsky were indeed cancelled. About the decision of the university management on March 1 reported the lecturer himself is the writer Paolo Nori. This news received great resonance, many Italian politicians, cultural figures and public organizations spoke out in support of Nori (and Dostoevsky!). The mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, and the Italian Minister of Universities and Scientific Research, Maria Cristina Messa, immediately contacted the management of the educational institution on this issue. As a result, already on March 2 the university revised its decision and stated that the leadership is open to dialogue and “ready to listen even in this difficult period.” They assured that all of Nori’s lectures would take place in the volume and according to the program as originally agreed with him.
Thus, it was not in the West that they refused to give lectures about Dostoevsky, but only in one single university. Moreover, due to the sharp negative reaction of society to this decision, the ban lasted only one day.
Half-truth
In some countries they decided not to play Shostakovich
It was not possible to find information about the mass cancellations of Shostakovich’s concerts. For the Russian-language query “Shostakovich’s concert was cancelled,” only news about cancellation concert in December 2021 in St. Petersburg, when Orthodox activists and monarchists opposed its holding and argued that the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, where the concert was to be held, would “repeat the fate of Notre Dame.” The organizers, however, statedthat the cancellation occurred due to technical reasons. Using an English-language query, we were able to find several advertisements about cancellations Shostakovich concerts, but happened they are also mostly long before February 2022 and, according to the organizers, are associated with coronavirus.
The authors of most of the reports about the supposed ban of Shostakovich in Europe refer to statement all the same Pomeranian Philharmonic. However, this is a decision of only one specific site - even in Poland itself this is not a mass phenomenon, not to mention other “certain countries”. Shostakovich's music continues to be played in various concert halls and theaters in UK, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Germany, USA and many other countries.
Mostly not true
It is worth noting that some cultural events associated with Russia have indeed been cancelled. But in most cases it is due to cancellation tours Russian troupes and refusal European theaters and concert halls to work with artists and musicians from Russia, and not with the abolition of Russian culture in the person of Tchaikovsky, Chekhov or Shostakovich as such.
Cover photo - Twitter @donvladikqueen
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