Metropolitan Opera, Polish National Opera to host tour for Ukrainian artists
The string of performances comes as Russia’s war in Ukraine enters a new, protracted stage. Fierce Russian bombardments are wreaking havoc on southern and eastern Ukrainian cities, and over 5 million civilians have fled the country. Amid the destruction, there have been repeated images of Ukrainian artists seeking to lift people’s spirits with music.
“Music can be a powerful weapon against oppression,” read a statement from the Metropolitan Opera’s general manager, Peter Gelb, and Waldemar Dabrowski, director of the Teatr Wielki. “This tour is meant to defend Ukrainian art and its brave artists as they fight for the freedom of their country.”
Ukrainian Canadian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson, who will lead the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, is credited with proposing the charity effort. The tour, she said, is an expression of love for Ukraine and seeks to honor those who have died and suffered.
The ensemble will feature musicians — some of them refugees — from Ukraine’s top performance groups, such as the National Opera of Ukraine and Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra. It will also draw talents from other European orchestras.
Authorities in Kyiv have exempted some male artists from military duties so they can use “their instruments in a remarkable demonstration of the power of art over adversity,” according to a news release from the Metropolitan Opera.
The tour’s repertoire will include Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov’s “Seventh Symphony” and showcase Ukrainian artists like concert pianist Anna Fedorova and leading soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska.
Ukraine’s Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko lauded the collaborative effort to help Ukrainian artists, adding that his country’s culture is “original and deserves to be at the center of attention abroad.”
The Metropolitan Opera was among the first performance arts groups to organize charity events for Ukraine. Last month, it put on a 90-minute program for a full house of some 3,600 attendees. The prominent New York-based opera company, joining a chorus of fellow arts institutions in the early days of the war, also moved to sever ties with Russian soprano Anna Netrebko for failing to denounce Russian President Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine.