Karsten Moran for The New York Times Gidon Kremer performing at Alice Tully Hall in 2011.Russia’s freedoms and human rights record will be the focus of a concert that Gidon Kremer, the Latvian-born violinist and the founder of the Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra, plans to hold in Berlin on Oct. 7 â€" the anniversary of the killing of Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist and critic of the Kremlin who was slain in 2006.
Mr. Kremer said in an e-mail interview that his concert, which is to be called “To Russia With Love,†was in the works before Russia’s recent law restricting the discussion of homosexuality was passed. He said that the concert was intended as “a kind of a personal statement against injustice,†and took issue with recent descriptions of the concert as an “anti-Putin†event. Here are edited excerpts from the interview.
What motivated the “To Russia With Love†concert in Berlin?
I had my chance to spend my childhood in an authoritarian country. The trends Russia is heading in now make me worry and reminds me of those times. I do really believe that people who suffered a lot in the past century deserve respect and freedom in all senses. Our days the opposite happens: many citizens again become scared and insecure.
My humble attempt is to do something good for people in trouble and to raise awareness among those who otherwise would remain silent.
I do see our concert “To Russia With Love†as a kind of a personal statement against injustice, expressed together with friends and everlasting music.
What, particularly, are you hoping to draw attention to about Putin’s Russia?
Humanitarian issues. Everything that contradicts our understanding of freedom and human rights. I care about humanitarian issues, about feeling safe and being sure that a country will respect you, your family, your freedom.
Who has signed on?
Many of my personal friends, among the best artists in the field of classical music. Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Emmanuel Pahud are among them and, of course, the orchestra I founded 17 years ago â€" the Kremerata Baltica.
Was the concert planned before Russia signed the recent antigay laws, or is it intended in part as a reaction to them?
It was scheduled to take place before that bad news became known to the whole world. At the same time we do not see ourselves as “fighters†against a political system, its ideology or its rulers. Our support goes to all those who unjustly became or become victims. We do not … identify the goal of this event with any group or movement, while having sympathy with all discriminated people in Russia.
I read that a new piece at the concert will be dedicated to Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky â€" the former oil tycoon and political opponent of President Vladimir V. Putin who was imprisoned after being convicted of fraud and tax evasion in 2005 and money laundering and theft in 2010 â€" whose cause you have championed in the past.
I do identify myself with artists and composers, like Arvo Pärt and Giya Kancheli, who are for decades my personal friends and whose compositions I many times premiered and always championed. They are the “authors,†the creators of scores related to Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
While Arvo Pärt dedicated his Fourth Symphony, “Los Angeles,†to the former entrepreneur, Giya Kancheli wrote his newest compositions “Angels of Sorrow†having in mind all innocent victims in the world and “connected†his dedication to the 50th birthday of Mr. Khodorkovsky, who still remains in prison.
What is it about his case that moves you?
I am looking at his whole case as an example of a fight between a personality against a “system.†And this is only one example among many.
This subject as such always interested me, since I did grew up in the totalitarian Soviet Union and always followed up those unique people who were able to stand up against “everybody†motivated by search of truth. Those who were not afraid to go against power and prescribed “ideology.†Those who were not silenced by fear, censorship or their own striving for comfort. (Alfred Schnittke, another important Russian composer and close friend of mine, said once to me, that “self-imposed censorship is even more dangerous than the official one.â€)
What do you think of Russian artists, such as Anna Netrebko and Valery Gergiev, who have been vocal supporters of Putin? Let me clear one misunderstanding. I have to repeat myself â€" these two names (and a number names of other artists, like Yuri Bashmet) were never mentioned by myself as “opponents.†The same way journalists made up a very readable cliché about our Berlin event as an “anti-Putin†concert.
Our event â€" and I want to underline it again â€" is set on a positive note. We want to play, to perform as a sign of support for those in trouble.
I myself am not denying the obvious high artistic qualities of Anna Netrebko or Valery Gergiev, but I do feel a certain discomfort observing them offstage. The identification with one’s own country is more than honorable and understandable. Never would I criticize a real patriot nor deny that patriotism is a very natural attitude. We all should be able to love our native country.
What makes me feel odd is the way these feelings are presented, the way artists become “spokesmen†for politicians and those who are in power.
Very well-known photographs of Herbert von Karajan (and even Wilhelm Furtwängler) greeted by (or greeting) German rulers come to my mind. We are talking about some kind of arrangement some artists or politicians are seeking for their own profit, the companies (or even states) they lead…Mephisto-like “deals†are well known in history. Regrettably they continue to tempt some of our contemporaries too.
There have been some calls here in New York for the Metropolitan Opera, which is opening its season with Ms. Netrebko and Mr. Gergiev in a new production of “Eugene Onegin,†to dedicate the opening night performance to the support of gay people.
For me “Eugene Onegin†as a piece of great art has nothing in common with any social movements we are discussing. Being myself fully in support of all human rights â€" be it social or gender orientation, freedom of expression or travel â€" having respect for individuals and their ways of life, I still want to feel that matters of art are of “higher value.â€
What matters are not operas or symphonies, but artists themselves. Their attitude and their reactions, their ability to show solidarity or incapacity or unwillingness to take a stand.
We should not use festive occasions â€" like the opening of a season or a concert â€" to demonstrate our disagreements, but we should for sure lend support to all discriminated people worldwide in peaceful actions using our abilities and art. I am sure artists can as well be part of such a movement. After all, art is designed to bring people closer to each other and not to split them.
What do you make of the Met’s response that it would be “inappropriate for our performances to be used by us for political purposes, no matter how noble or right the cause�
I do perfectly understand the wording and can sign off on it, but any institution â€" even the Met â€" must understand that there are more important issues around than supporting a star-oriented system, or the expectation of a success with a premiere or production. Artists on- and offstage can’t be seen completely isolated from all those problems, and here and there must be given a chance to raise their voice against any humiliation. As long as it doesn’t become a matter of “destroying†an opera or an event, artists should be free to emphasize their ability to show solidarity, and not just their “bel canto.â€
This is and remains the goal of our concert in Berlin on Oct. 7, the day Anna Politkovskaya was murdered…The message is and will remain a positive one: “To Russia With Love.†“Love must prevail†on- and offstage worldwide. We artists are “carriers†of this message, and we do have a mission. This means we should feel a responsibility â€" be it in Berlin or in New York. Everywhere!
