By Carol Tannenhauser
When opera goers opened their playbills Monday night at the Metropolitan Opera House for the start of the Spring season with Verdi’s Don Carlos, they found a slip of paper inside with the following message from General Manager Peter Gelb:
We Stand with Ukraine
The Metropolitan Opera opens its heart to the innocent victims of the unprovoked war in Ukraine and salutes the heroism of the Ukrainian people. We stand in solidarity with them and urge the leaders of the free world to support them in their hour of need. We shed tears for them, including their brothers and sisters in Russia, who are also victims of the lies and propaganda of Putin, who seems intent on the destruction of Ukraine, its people, and all personal freedom in Ukraine and in Russia. As an international opera company, the Met can help ring the alarm and contribute to the fight against oppression. While we believe strongly in the warm friendship and cultural exchange that has long existed between the artists and artistic institutions of Russia and the United States, 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. We stand in solidarity with Ukraine, its brave leaders, citizens, and artists. We dedicate the rest of our season to their courage.
Then, the audience received a moving surprise. That morning, Gelb had decided to have the Met Chorus and Orchestra perform the Ukrainian National Anthem before Don Carlos began, a Met spokesperson told WSR.
Here is their rendition:
Stirring! And thanks for reprinting the excellent statement. Wish it took out Russian missile units, but nonetheless a moving gesture. (And, for those of us who don’t get out enough, a reminder of that beautiful musical space and it’s power.)
Thank You, West Side Rag — Without your posting I would never have heard either of these moving pieces of music, or known of the gesture of the Met Opera.
In the center, singing from memory with his hand over his heart, is the 24-year-old Ukrainian baritone Vladyslav Buialskyi, a member of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Programme. Afterwards, he said this “was maybe the most emotional moment of my life.”
There is one young man in the chorus who didn’t need the printed words, and had his hand over his heart. My thoughts go out to him and his family who may be Ukrainian.
Not doing business, “Banning books, films, athletes, musicians, students and everything else simply because they’re Russian achieves absolutely nothing positive for anyone – just a little social media clout – but creates a toxic climate designed to foster the darkest and ugliest instincts in humans. So revel in the social media applause.” Meanwhile, we continue to import oil and gas from Russia as well as Uranium.
13,000 people were killed in the Donbas over the last 8 years by the Ukrainian government with US support. I don’t seem to remember any protests. A decade ago the US helped overthrow the democratically elected government because it turned down the IMF and EU for a better deal with Russia. Anyone with the memory of the Cuban Missile crisis would understand the motivation of the Russians here and anyone who researched this would realize how culpable the US is. If you haven’t researched and your undersatnding stops at “Putin Bad” then one place to start is Oliver Stone’s Doc “Ukraine On Fire” or dig into John Mearsheimer or basically any top-level strategic thinker. They all saw this coming. This war would never have happened if the US had simply admitted that Ukraine would never be in NATO and had simply agreed to a neutral Ukraine instead of pushing forward the neocon agenda. Instead, OUR government has brought us to the brink of nuclear war. So how about we in the US wake up and rise up and stop our government instead of these ridiculous bans. What will the next news cycle bring? A ban on Russian dressing?
Thank you, well said.❤️
You are foolish to put your political beliefs and historical understanding, right or wrong here at this time. YOu do not have any sense of diplomacy in the tone of your judgment. Even if you are right, which most of us cannot comment on, your tone is disresepctful to our democracy. If you want to help, help the poor people who have had to flee their homes and their lives!!!
Why should Russia dictate who can and cannot join NATO?
Same reason as no country would like to have weapons aimed at them.
This is not to justify the current situation. I believe the commentator above provided a broader view of the conflict.
Regardless of that – civilians shouldn’t die or be punished for the sins of warring political elite. Met Opera just punished civilians for no reason whatsoever. And people are rejoicing. This literally became a tyranny of the mob easily led on by the politicians.
It is a very slippery road we are on. What are we going to do next – send them to the concentration camps as we did with Japanese?
Jen, this is not the first time you’ve made posts that essentially parrot Putin’s talking points.
Are you an actual UWSer? Or are you posting from overseas?
This is a serious question.
You gotta be kidding me! You owe me an apology big
Not that it matters, but please tell me where I was pro-Putin. Opposing to the witch-hunt is not pro-Putin if that’s what you are implying.
Also, I have been living in UWS since 1999.
WSR, please publish this as the above is a serious accusation.
“…we can no longer engage with artists or institutions that support Putin or are supported by him…”
So if Putin likes something, it is automatically bad. Good forbid he likes WSR or Trader Joe’s. Do we shut them down too?
We are back to the 60s where people where reporting each other and ruining lives for no reason.
“Outrage”, reporting and exclusion because someone evil likes your art, is a deflection from reality. If someone really wants to help Ukraine, there are humanitarian aid charities. Ukraine needs them. It doesn’t care if a Russian tenor is not singing on UWS.
It’s not that Putin likes them, it’s that they support Putin. But thanks for the laugh re: imagining the warmonger shopping at TJ’s.
I think we can apply common sense here and say that they very obviously are not going to reject artists/institutions purely because Putin “likes them”.
There’s no common sense at the moment. The most artists and athletes punished have nothing to do with Putin. For God sakes, even Russian cats are excluded from cat competition:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/international-cat-federation-bans-russian-felines-competitions-rcna18595
Does it sound reasonable to you? Innocent people (and now cats) are punished solely for being Russian-born. If that’s not racism, I don’t know what is.
Also this is the way for some people to show “outrage” without actually doing anything. Outrage is easy and requires no effort. Contributing to charities or protests require an effort.
Excluding musicians, athletes and their goldfish is not something to rejoice and celebrate. This is really sad.
Can confirm on both counts: this is not racism, you do not know what racism is.
If people were targeting American citizens of Russian origin, that would be problematic. Maybe not technically racism, but still in the same family.
But penalizing Russian citizens isn’t racism, it’s just foreign policy. War has horrible consequences, and financial/career inconveniences rate fairly low on the list of war horrors.
Perhaps Jen can explain what she considers to be the “Russian race”.
Russia needs to be treated as a pariah.
As the Russian population finds itself cut off from most of the world, hopefully Russian citizens will demand change.
Yes, good Russians will suffer professional, athletic, and artistic roadblocks. At least they won’t be killed by Russian soldiers in an unprovoked war.
Perhaps some day Russia can rejoin the world. For now, they’re out.
So beautiful and so New York!
so moving…I am praying for the people of Ukraine everyday!
Gorgeous, and so heartfelt.
Bravo!
About 73 years ago I auditioned for, and was accepted into the Metropolitan Opera’s Boys Chorus. Due to conflicts that summer, I couldn’t go to the rehearsals and had to resign. Seeing this wonderful rendition made me nostalgic for my missed opportunity!
That was awesome! Thank you.
People have commented that this reminded them of La Marseillaise scene in Casablanca. Beautiful.
Not the first time sheer hypocrisy has had a leading role in the Opera House.
What statements did the Met ever make with regard to Western-caused deaths of innocent civilians in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, etc.?
Fair point and deserving of an answer, but don’t hold your breath.
I feel terrible for Ukraine and the suffering they are going thru. I pray the killing of innocent people stop. Yet I disagree that we blacklist or ban people for their beliefs or who they like or dislike.
What has happened to freedom of speech? Has it now become Freedom of Speech as long as someone says what they want to hear?
This is what causes Racism and Antisemitism. Enough of this social media ‘brainwashing’
For someone who comes off like a fogey, you sure are acting brand new about what the First Amendment is and how it works.
Please educate yourself: the U.S. constitutional right to free speech does not obligate the Met to host Russian artists or maintain ties with Russian cultural institutions.
Thanks for this article…. Great to read it and all the interesting comments. There are always many sides to a story.
Stunning and heartbreaking tribute
Thank you Peter Gelb and everyone part of the MET Opera House! You brought hope that we still have humanity among us. May the ruthless leader in Russia stop the destruction immediately! And May peace to Ukraine return.
Let’s next ban from the concert hall Gustavo Dudamel who supports the Venezuelan monster, Maduro. And also the pianist Lang Lang who supports his country’s murderous dictator, Xi.
This has not happened even though the music world has had the opportunity to have done so for years now. I smell sensationalistic righteous indignation at the expense of this particular singer’s career here. If we’re going to censor, let’s at least show some consistency.
Umm, Steve, I hate to break it to you, but your assessment of Dudamel is wrong. I know Gustavo quite well. Please don’t make ridiculous assertions just to back up a false equivalency.
As for Lang Lang, I can’t find anything to back up your claim, but I assume you made it up as well.
Please, get a grip.
If Venezuela and China were sanctioned up to the hilt the way Russia is, I’m sure the Met would. You’re claiming inconsistency where there is none.
I think perhaps people who aren’t involved in classical music don’t fully comprehend the situation. The Met and Carnegie Hall are not banishing all Russians. Thursday night, in fact, I heard a recital at Carnegie by the great Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov. Clive Gillinson came out at the start to make a brief statement confirming that Carnegie Hall would not judge musicians by their nationality, which was greeted with enthusiastic applause. There was not a protester in sight, the pianist played to a sold-out hall, and he got a standing ovation at the end.
Gergiev is another matter. He is basically Putin’s court conductor, and the two have been mutually supportive friends for decades. He has frequently been picketed in New York because it’s become impossible not to see him as Putin’s propagandist. The Vienna Philharmonic has been trying in recent years finally to face up to its own troubling past with the Nazis, racism, and sexism. They realized they simply could not proceed with Gergiev over here while Putin was bombing away over there. Netrebko’s case is murkier, but in the past she did express support Putin’s aggression towards Crimea. In a less violent political moment, perhaps audiences and the Met would be more forgiving of her vague and contradictory statements. Honestly, she comes off as perhaps not very bright.
Contrary to what some are saying, art and artists do not exist in some La-La Land unconnected to and unconcerned with the world and the course of human events. Sometimes, difficult decisions have to be made. Sometimes those decisions will be equivocal, and eventually judged wrong or unfair. All we can do is the best we can with what we know right now.
@NotImpressed and @Brandon
“ Dictionary
Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more
rac·ism
/ˈrāˌsizəm/
prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.”
Note – “or ethnic group”
So “Russian” is an ethnic group?
On what planet?
“.. The Russians (Russian: русские, romanized: russkiye) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe, who share a common Russian ancestry, culture, and history. l
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russians
Gergiev is Ossetian, not Russian.
Netrebko is Russian.
Exactly who is the target of this “racism”?
You have made the point of racism, not me.
Gergiev is a Russian citizen who is ethnically Ossetian.
So if the target of this “racism” is ethnic Russians, it would not apply to Gergiev.
You don’t get to erase his ethnicity because it doesn’t suit your narrative.
In addition, there are plenty of Russians who are performing in the US, so your claim of “racism” certainly isn’t being evenly applied, even within institutions that you find guilty of “racism”.
NotImpressed & Jen,
Why don’t you get together, have a drink and work this out. We can’t keep posting the back and forth.
“ Valery Abisalovich Gergiev (Russian: Вале́рий Абиса́лович Ге́ргиев, IPA: [vɐˈlʲerʲɪj ɐbʲɪˈsaləvʲɪdʑ ˈɡʲerɡʲɪjɪf]; Ossetian: Гергиты Абисалы фырт Валери, romanized: Gergity Abisaly Fyrt Valeri; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conductor and opera company director.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valery_Gergiev
The targets of this racism (no need for quotes) are Russians as per your own comment above:
“
March 4, 2022 at 3:06 pm
Russia needs to be treated as a pariah.
As the Russian population finds itself cut off from most of the world, hopefully Russian citizens will demand change.
Yes, good Russians will suffer professional, athletic, and artistic roadblocks. At least they won’t be killed by Russian soldiers in an unprovoked war.
Perhaps some day Russia can rejoin the world. For now, they’re out.”