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Monday, March 07, 2022
Bolshoi Theatre's chief conductor quits after pressure to condemn Ukraine invasion
Reuters: Tugan Sokhiev, the chief conductor at Moscow's prestigious Bolshoi Theatre, announced on Sunday he was quitting his job after coming under pressure to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Well, this is certainly something. From his call to resign from these organizations, we can clearly see his answer to the questions these officials were asking, but I find it interesting that he chose to resign rather than answer, which speaks more to me than if he answered verbally either way. Does he truly believe that the invasion is just, but that he would be forced to step down if he admitted it, or risk taking those organizations down with them? Is he simply afraid of being arrested if he does? That's a valid fear in Russia right now. Still, as someone working in the arts, the pressure must have been immense from both sides. No matter what the answer may be, it seems more than likely that he was going to be dismissed anyways, seeing what was done to the conductor in Munich when he did not respond.
As a side note, this is not me trying to defend his actions in any way. Obviously, the invasion of Ukraine is a horrific act of war that is completely unjustified. A lot of russians, however, don't even know what is going on, and state control on the media has been severely locked down in Russia recently. Protesting is punishable by up to 20 years in prison for "high treason". There is something to be said about people in prominent positions, however, needing to be held accountable for the message they want to send. Bravery in those cases is required for something like this. If this man was not possessed of this bravery to stand up and speak out, then perhaps this was not the position for him to keep.
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1 comment:
Well, this is certainly something. From his call to resign from these organizations, we can clearly see his answer to the questions these officials were asking, but I find it interesting that he chose to resign rather than answer, which speaks more to me than if he answered verbally either way. Does he truly believe that the invasion is just, but that he would be forced to step down if he admitted it, or risk taking those organizations down with them? Is he simply afraid of being arrested if he does? That's a valid fear in Russia right now. Still, as someone working in the arts, the pressure must have been immense from both sides. No matter what the answer may be, it seems more than likely that he was going to be dismissed anyways, seeing what was done to the conductor in Munich when he did not respond.
As a side note, this is not me trying to defend his actions in any way. Obviously, the invasion of Ukraine is a horrific act of war that is completely unjustified. A lot of russians, however, don't even know what is going on, and state control on the media has been severely locked down in Russia recently. Protesting is punishable by up to 20 years in prison for "high treason". There is something to be said about people in prominent positions, however, needing to be held accountable for the message they want to send. Bravery in those cases is required for something like this. If this man was not possessed of this bravery to stand up and speak out, then perhaps this was not the position for him to keep.
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