CPO HITS RIGHT NOTE
Calgary got it right; Toronto got it wrong. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra has cancelled performances by pianist Valentina Lisitsa because of comments the ethnic Russian performer, who was born in Ukraine, made about the crisis in her home country. Lisitsa was scheduled to perform with the TSO this week before the organization objected to what it called her “provocative” remarks.
Lisitsa will be in Calgary on June 5 and 6 to perform works by Mussorgsky and Rachmaninoff with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. That is as it should be. Lisitsa is a pianist and her career has nothing to do with anything political. She is coming to Calgary so that symphony- goers can have the pleasure of hearing her perform. Her views on the Russian-Ukrainian civil war are irrelevant to her music.
As Heather Slater, the CPO’s director of artistic planning, said: “Whether or not one agrees with Ms. Lisitsa’s political views, at this time at the CPO, our agreement with her is as a guest artist to perform ...”
The other issue here is free speech. The TSO cancelled Lisitsa’s performances because Ukrainian media had allegedly complained about her. Lisitsa has been commenting on what she sees as “atrocities” against her compatriots, ethnic Russians living in Ukraine. She wrote that Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has called the ethnic Russians “subhuman” and she said at least one Ukrainian soldier was a neo- Nazi. She wanted to make public “the plight of my people, the good and bad things that were happening in Ukraine.”
Whether one agrees with Lisitsa or not, she has the right to express her opinion. She is also entitled to have her performance contracts honoured without being censured for her views. There are probably countless classical musicians, as well as other artists, who hold a variety of unpopular opinions on a whole array of subjects, but that doesn’t mean they should be prevented from performing or exhibiting their art, by those who disagree with them.
It’s sad to see the TSO can’t bring itself to respect Lisitsa’s right to freedom of speech, and can’t make the distinction between her politics and her piano playing. Her performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, was labelled by ClassicalNet reviewer Robert Cummings, as better than: “( Arthur) Rubinstein, ( Bernd) Glemser, ( Byron) Janis, ( Van) Cliburn, ( Vladimir) Ashkenazy and countless others ... ( T) his one by Lisitsa, I believe, would now be my first choice.”
The CPO is hitting all the right notes by honouring its commitment to bring this highly talented pianist to make beautiful music here.