2024-05-22 12:13:26
With a protest live performance supported by musical stars and roughly 2,500 spectators, the Olomouc Philharmonic expressed their opposition to the town’s plans to merge the Moravian Philharmonic and the Moravian Theater beneath one group. They have been supported by musicians Janek Ledecký, Dagmar Pecková and Jiří Pavlica within the space of the summer time cinema.
The live performance culminated a marketing campaign by commerce unionists who’ve been stating the adverse penalties of this integration for a very long time. Town representatives apologized for his or her participation. They’ve beforehand said that the content material of the marketing campaign just isn’t based mostly on reality and the worry of the orchestra’s existence is unfounded.
The amphitheater of the summer time cinema was stuffed to capability on Monday. The performances of the artists and the phrases in assist of the Philharmonic have been accompanied by lengthy applause. “Czech society just isn’t so as when symphony orchestras with custom are cancelled,” mentioned opera singer Dagmar Pecková. She collaborated with the native philharmonic a number of occasions.
For instance, oboe participant Vilém Veverka or Jiří Pavlica with part of Hradišťan carried out on stage with them. “We consider that tradition has all the time meant loads in our nation,” he informed the viewers. The musicians carried out with out the proper to a price, even the doorway price to the live performance was voluntary. Plenty of guests signed a petition on the spot, which has been circulating across the metropolis for a couple of 12 months. In line with its founder Milan Ludvík, 5,000 folks have up to now signed the petition sheets.
The Olomouc Philharmonic itself was shocked by the participation. “The participation is de facto excessive. I interpret it to imply that the Moravian Philharmonic is a subject that resonates and pursuits folks,” says Moravian Philharmonic director Jonáš Harman.
The musicians on stage in entrance of the packed amphitheater repeated a number of occasions that the town needs to merge the incompatible and, in accordance with them, the transformation just isn’t nicely ready. Harman is especially anxious in regards to the future. “At this second, it’s not about merging the orchestra, however the establishments. Nevertheless, one of many huge dangers is the potential marginalization of the model of 1 or the opposite of the establishments and the long run growth of political events,” provides the director of the Philharmonic.
Viktor Tichák, the Pirate deputy for tradition, objects that the live performance as such is a pleasant type of protest, nonetheless, in accordance with him, the content material just isn’t true. He said that on Tuesday, the town council’s agenda will embody, amongst different issues, the constitution of the group created by the merger of the theater and the philharmonic. “The protest occasion is known as Save the Moravian Philharmonic, however nobody is canceling the Moravian Philharmonic, nobody is proscribing it. Quite the opposite, we put ensures for long-term sustainable functioning within the constitution,” argued Tichák final week.
Olomouc councilors wish to merge the 2 establishments, i.e. the orchestra and the three-ensemble theater, beneath one group primarily for financial causes. The choice was made on the premise of an evaluation commissioned by the councilors, which recommends the merger as a path to financial savings and operational effectivity.
The deliberate merger was supported by representatives in March this 12 months. They need to focus on the constitution on June 10. The merger is deliberate from the start of subsequent 12 months.
Olomouc additionally skilled an identical protest live performance in Might 2019, when it was directed towards the actions of the then Minister of Tradition Antonín Staňek from the ČSSD, who dismissed the director of the Olomouc Artwork Museum, Michal Soukup. The minister lastly determined to resign on the finish of Might after persistent strain, particularly from the cultural sphere.