Conductor Oksana Lyniv: War in Ukraine affects everyone | German music: from classical to modern styles

At 43, renowned Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv is more than just a global star and an influence in the male-dominated world of orchestral conductors. In 2021, she made a splash when she became the first woman to conduct an orchestra at the Bayreuth Festival – in the 145-year history of this classical music festival that features operas by Richard Wagner. This year Oksana is once again at the conductor’s stand in Bayreuth and, like last time, will take over the musical direction of The Flying Dutchman. The premiere of the performance will take place today, August 6th.

And also Oksana Lyniv – art director and initiator of the international festival of classical music LvivMozArt in Lviv, founder and chief conductor of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. DW met the star in Bayreuth and talked to her about her conducting career, about Bayreuth and the sexist debate that broke out there, and how she feels about the war of aggression unleashed by Russia in her homeland Ukraine.

Deutsche Welle: Ms. Lyniv, how does it feel to be back in Bayreuth a year after a brilliant debut?

Oksana Lyniv: It’s fine! I am very happy that my so important debut in Bayreuth took place last year. This year, under the circumstances, it would be much more problematic.

– The second time you feel probably more comfortable and at ease – and less stressed …

– Now I can just focus on the music and not be distracted by this crazy media hype and publicity wave. And frankly, too much importance is attached to the gender issue. But you are a man or a woman – this has nothing to do with our work at all. I was happy when I came to the first rehearsal – and many musicians came up to me and said: “We are so glad that this year we will play together again.” Musicians don’t care if I’m a woman or not. What matters to all of us is that we put on really great performances and enjoy the fact that we work together.

“Here in Bayreuth, the debate about sexism is raging. The women are said to have been harassed. Even festival director Katharina Wagner allegedly became their target. What was your personal experience and how do you evaluate these debates?

– I was very surprised when I read about it. I don’t have any negative experiences in this regard. From the first day of work in Bayreuth, I constantly felt great respect for myself – both from all the employees and from the musicians of the orchestra. If Katharina Wagner says this, it means that smoke is not without fire. And very bad, if true. In this case, it is necessary to conduct a check, because such things have no place either in our sphere or in our society.

– Well, if we talk about the musical field in general: what can you say about sexism – based on your own experience and in general?

– It’s no secret that earlier sexism in the field of classical music was very common. Of course, this was connected with the myth of the so-called maestro – men with a certain superiority, with whom everyone must reckon. Of course, this is bad. But as a young female conductor, I more often had to listen to statements from older colleagues or male conductors such as: you will not succeed. What are you trying to do? What are you dreaming about? In general, something like that.

And yes, it’s very offensive. And I am glad that in our time it is unacceptable that the conductor and the musicians of the orchestra are required to respect each other. I am also glad that our field is becoming more and more multinational and also more diverse. If we, as a society, do not work on our mistakes, then there will be no progress.

– The Bayreuth Festival is opening up more and more to the new, and it also seems to be striving to reach out to new audiences…

– Yes, I am delighted that the Bayreuth Festival is becoming more and more open and is constantly looking for new formats. This year, a completely new open-air format was implemented – in the open air in the park next to the Palais des Festivals. His idea is to bring music to people directly, without tickets or seating arrangements. Everyone can come here – with their families and friends, taking blankets and everything you need for a picnic. A wonderful concept, and the motto of the project is “Faith, Hope, Love”.

– A wonderful motto – especially if you remember the situation in your homeland, in Ukraine…

Yes, it is indeed a tragedy. And I believe that this tragedy now affects everyone – not only those who live in Ukraine, but also every person who stands for European values, democratic values, humanistic values.

People are constantly faced with death, violence, cruelty. It’s very, very hard emotionally, and you try in vain to find some explanation for it. To some extent, I am helped by the thought that in former times there were wars and revolutions. Nevertheless, even then the great composers composed music and left us works that are relevant to us now.

– What can music really change in a desperate situation in which Ukraine is now?

– Unfortunately, we, as people of art, cannot stop the war, we cannot influence politicians. However, music and art have an incredible power of impact. It is the language of our hearts, our souls – and it is a language that also penetrates the hearts of other people. And even if we cannot help directly, we can be compassionate. And compassion gives hope. In turn, hope gives strength to endure difficulties and not fall into despair. If you see around only aggression and despair, not noticing the light at the end of the tunnel, then you will lose your future.

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Richard Strauss and his contemporaries
First Mentor: Herman Levy
In 1881, an ambitious 16-year-old boy, born in the family of a famous horn player, Richard Strauss met the conductor Hermann Levi – by the way, the first conductor of Richard Wagner’s opera Parsifal. Levi “raised from the font” and Strauss’s first composition – a symphony in the key of D major, giving it a high (and visionary) assessment: “Original and interesting. He will show us all!”

Richard Strauss and his contemporaries
Student of Hans von Bülow
It was a great stroke of luck for Strauss to be invited to become an assistant to another famous musician of the era, the conductor Hans von Bülow, in Meiningen. Enchanting technique provided von Bülow with the glory of “the first maestro of modern times.” Looking at how his young student works, the aristocrat von Bülow casually said: “Well – if he wants, he can become my successor.”

Richard Strauss and his contemporaries
Love for life: Paulina
Strauss met the singer Pauline de Ahna in 1887. Seven years later he married her, soon the son Franz was born. Many Strauss songs and soprano parts in his early operas were written for the voice of Paulina. Strauss often accompanied his wife during her concert performances, and in his last opera, Capriccio, he erected a loving monument to her in the image of Christina.

Richard Strauss and his contemporaries
“Dance of the Seven Veils”
In 1905, the premiere of the opera “Salome” (based on the drama by Oscar Wilde) on the stage of the Dresden Opera became an all-European scandal: a mixture of decadence, eroticism and violence – and this on the opera stage, where exceptionally high feelings were still sung! Criticism wrote about “perverted music on a perverted plot”, the audience gave a standing ovation, Strauss stated with satisfaction: “Colossal success!”

Richard Strauss and his contemporaries
Ernst von Schuch and the conductor’s magic
One of the “fathers” of the grand success of “Salome” was the conductor of the Dresden Court Opera Ernst von Schuch (Ernst von Schuch). Strauss himself believed that he owed his breakthrough to “the ingenious Schuh and his magic conductor’s baton.”

Richard Strauss and his contemporaries
Strauss and his librettist Hofmannsthal
In the person of the poet and playwright Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Strauss found not only a librettist, but also a true co-author, adviser and friend. They met at the premiere of Hofmannsthal’s drama Elektra. The first joint work: an opera on the same plot. On the libretto of von Hofmannsthal, Strauss wrote his best operas (6 out of 16), among them – “The Rosenkavalier”, “Arabella” and “The Woman Without a Shadow”.

Richard Strauss and his contemporaries
“Electra”: not a violin concerto
The first common “child” of Hofmannsthal and Strauss, “Electra” saw the light in Dresden in January 1909. “Cacophony and senseless din,” wrote conservative critics of the opera’s expressionist musical language. The composer’s answer: “When a son kills his mother on stage, you cannot play a violin concerto in the orchestra pit.”

Richard Strauss and his contemporaries
In “pink-cavalier fever”
The Rosenkavalier, which premiered in January 1911, became the most successful of Richard Strauss’ operas. In order to deliver all the fans of the cult composer from Berlin to Dresden, the railway administration ordered an additional train to be launched on the days of the performances, immediately christened the Rosenkavalier-Zug (Rose Knight train).

Richard Strauss and his contemporaries
Founder of the Salzburg Festival
Together with friends and partners, director Max Reinhardt and librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Richard Strauss in 1917 initiated the creation of a music and theater summer festival in Salzburg, Austria. In 1922, Strauss performed at the festival and as a conductor in the Great Hall of the Mozarteum. Soloist: violinist Josef Shigeti.

Richard Strauss and his contemporaries
New librettist: Stefan Zweig
“Not a single composer in the world had such an assistant, no one can replace him for me!” – lamented Richard Strauss after the death of Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The great librettist died of a heart attack in July 1929, unable to bear the grief – the suicide of his son. It was not until 1931 that Stefan Zweig replaced Hofmannsthal. With him, Strauss created the opera The Silent Woman.

Richard Strauss and his contemporaries
Forbidden “silent woman”
The premiere of the opera The Silent Woman took place in 1935 and was accompanied by a political scandal: Richard Strauss forbade the removal of the name of the Jew Zweig from the poster. Propaganda Minister Goebbels was indignant: “All these people of art are politically absolutely spineless – from Goethe to Strauss!” All subsequent performances of the opera were banned.

Richard Strauss and his contemporaries
Strauss and Nazi propaganda
After The Silent Woman was banned, Strauss resigned as president of the Imperial Chamber of Music and all other official posts. The composer himself became an “undesirable person”, but his operas were still used for propaganda, as proof of the “triumph of German art”. So, after the Anschluss in 1938, the season at the Vienna Opera opened with “The Rosenkavalier”. Guest of honor – Joseph Goebbels.

Richard Strauss and his contemporaries
Sad goodbye
The Second World War, the tragedy of the country and the people, the bombing of his favorite cities of Munich and Dresden, Richard Strauss perceived as a personal tragedy. Impressed by the view of the destroyed Munich, he wrote “Metamorphoses” – a kind of requiem for all the victims of a terrible war. “In memoriam” – he marked on the score…
Author: Marita Berg, Anastasia Butsko