benefit concert
Barenboim strongly condemns the war in Ukraine
Daniel Barenboim with the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Staatsopernchor 2021 on Bebelplatz. Photo: Annette Riedl/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
No real dialogue with Russia is possible at the moment. That’s what Daniel Barenboim, who conducts a benefit concert for Ukraine at the Berlin State Opera on March 6, believes.
The conductor Daniel Barenboim sees in the war in the Ukraine “et murderous”, an “inhumane act” to which we could not be neutral.
When asked by the “Berliner Morgenpost” what we can all do to bring about peace, the 79-year-old replied in the interview: “It is not a question of peace, we are experiencing a criminal process. There is no negotiable thought behind it, it is about a cruel power.” The musician said he believes there are no dialogues with Russia at the moment. We just experienced a cruel dictatorship.
As for his position on the fact that well-known artists were being unloaded in concert and opera houses: “I don’t think it’s good that Russian artists are automatically rejected in the West. Why? These are mostly people who have nothing to do with Putin and who don’t have a good opinion of him. (…) It’s different, if artists are Putin enthusiasts and not willing to distance themselves in this war situation, then I understand that we don’t let them in.”
In support of humanitarian aid for the people in Ukraine, the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden is organizing a “Concert for Peace” with the Staatskapelle Berlin and the State Opera Chorus conducted by Barenboim. Proceeds from the concert this Sunday (March 6) will go to the United Nations’ Ukraine Humanitarian Fund, the State Opera announced on Wednesday.