“As if you were juggling several champagne glasses, balancing on a rope over an abyss and singing the German and Russian national anthems at the same time” – in an open letter, the Munich composer Moritz Eggert compares the attitude of the Greek- Russian conductor Teodor Currentzis in relation to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. “Talk! Tell me what’s going on. Hopp or Topp!” he asks the Pultstar, who has been criticized for being close to the Kremlin. Eggert published the letter in his “Bad Blog of Musick” on the website of the new music newspaper first published on June 11 – and signed there in his function as “President of the German Composers’ Association” (DKV).
The Munich composer and President of the German Composers’ Association” (DKV) Moritz Eggert, here at the presentation of the German Music Authors’ Prize 2022 in Berlin.
(Photo: Imago/Agency Baganz)
As Eggert reported when asked by SZ, in this particular case he decided to emphasize his position at the DKV so that Currentzis’ management didn’t dismiss the article as “any blog”. In Eastern Europe in particular, the word “composers’ association” carries a certain weight. In itself, however, the letter is not an official statement by the DKV. However, he chose the path of the open letter because “the colleagues from the Hamburg State Association had asked him to do something here”.
Eggert, who has also been a professor of composition at the Munich University of Music and Theater since 2010, is someone for whom culture does not take place in a vacuum, who speaks up with satirical, sometimes provocative comments and works. Eggert’s criticism of Currentzis’ persistent silence on the Ukraine war is not new. In the open letter, however, he addresses the conductor directly, who has been directing the SWR Symphony Orchestra since 2018 and is touring with his Russian ensemble MusicAeterna and the international “Utopia Project”, which was newly founded in 2022.
Eggert accuses Currentzis of dancing “at all weddings”, showing up with the powerful in Russia and collaborating with MusicAeterna musicians who have publicly displayed their support for the Russian war of aggression on social networks.
“There would have been many moments for you when you could have easily turned things around, Teodor Currentzis. You have enough fans here, enough musicians who admire your art,” writes Eggert. Retreating to the neutrality of art and cultivating the cult of genius is no longer enough. And then Eggert chooses direct words: “To remain silent about this war is a kick in the face of Shostakovich, Mr. Currentzis. To remain silent about this war is like pissing on Britten’s grave.” Is Currentzis also silent on Eggert’s letter? In any case, SZ requests for a statement to the management of Teodor Currentzis and the SWR Symphony Orchestra remained unanswered by the time of going to press.