Sometimes you’re happy when nothing happens. The West-Eastern Divan Ensemble is going on tour, will play in Berlin, London and Hong Kong and will begin its journey in Leipzig – at the Mendelssohn Days there, at the opening of which a strange incident occurred a few days earlier. In his welcoming speech, Mayor Burkhard Jung remembered Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, who was Kapellmeister here, founded the conservatory and to whose work the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra owes much of its fame. Jung referred to Mendelssohn’s Jewish origins and the upcoming concert by the West-Eastern Divan Ensemble, which for him could be a sign of peace in the Middle East. One can only agree with Jung, and apparently everyone in the audience did the same. Except for one, who let out a loud boo. irritation. But then the music gave the answer, the pianist András Schiff then played a long concert and, before Mendelssohn’s “Variations sérieuses”, reminded us of how lastingly Richard Wagner damaged his reputation with his anti-Semitic insults.
The West-Eastern Divan Ensemble on tour: The utopia lives on – culture
