2023-12-04 16:45:00
The German media are full of headlines like “Because of performances in Russia, Justus Franz was kicked out of the Schleswig-Holstein music festival.” At the same time, Justus Frantz is not only a world-famous conductor and pianist. It was he who created the Schleswig-Holstein Festival (Stiftung Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival) in 1986, making it one of the world’s largest classical music forums.
The attention of the German media to the 79-year-old musician can be partly explained by an article entitled “Die falschen Töne des Justus Frantz”, which was published on December 2 in the German weekly The mirror and on four pages talks about the musician’s career, his conflict with the festival’s management and his connections with Russia.
The decision to remove the conductor was made more than a year ago
German media picked up this story and wrote that the festival management has now terminated the contract with the maestro because of his pro-Russian position. However, as representatives of the festival told DW, “this decision was made more than a year ago. Justus Franz did not give concerts at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in the summer of 2023.” The musician was informed about this decision in a telephone conversation. The head of the festival, Christian Kuhnt, emphasizes that “the festival is focused on solving important cultural and social problems. We discuss the behavior of its founder with him personally, and not publicly. Various reasons did not allow us to invite Justus Franz. His participation in events in Russia is one of them”.
The German musician has maintained close ties with Russia for many years. Neither the annexation of Crimea, which he called “establishing historical justice,” nor Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 forced him to reconsider his views on cooperation with Russia: he gives concerts in the annexed Crimea, and in 2023 he joined the jury of the P. AND. Tchaikovsky and, as follows from the musician’s confession to the Der Spiegel journalist, is considering the possibility of celebrating his 80th birthday in Russia. In addition, he is also connected with Russia by family ties: he is married to violinist Ksenia Dubrovskaya, originally from Russia.
Justus Franz and his wife. Violinist Ksenia Dubrovskaya is from RussiaPhoto: picture alliance/Sven Simon
How a famous music critic assesses what is happening
Famous German journalist Axel Bruggeman (Axel Brüggemann) in an interview with DW he admitted that the news of Justus Franz’s dismissal did not surprise him at all. Moreover: he has serious complaints about the article in the German weekly, which he considers “half-baked.” Bruggeman recalls that no one made a secret of the fact that Franz was no longer at the festival: everyone who saw his program knew that in the summer of 2023 Justus Franz did not take part in it – for the first time.
The festival asked the German musician to make a choice between Schleswig-Holstein and Russia. Justus Franz made a choice in favor of Russia, suggests a German journalist. Axel Bruggeman is sure that the musician is now interested in making this whole story public. “Der Spiegel is suddenly now telling the story of Justus Franz,” says the German journalist. “And four days ago we saw a photograph that Justus Franz posted on his Facebook. It shows the salon in the living room of Justus Franz’s house, and one of the guests is Sarah Wagenknecht, who is creating a new party and needs money for this.” Bruggeman points out that the same photo shows Roger Koppel, a Swiss journalist turned right-wing populist politician known for his pro-Russian comments and calls for the lifting of sanctions.
Music critic Axel BrüggemanPhoto: Christoph Hardt/Geisler-Fotopres/picture alliance
But the key figure in this photo, Bruggeman believes, is Hans-Joachim Frey, “the cultural manager who invented the Dresden Ball.” Brüggeman recalls that in 2009, Putin (then Prime Minister) attended a ball at the Semper Opera, where he was awarded the Order of Merit for Cultural Exchange. The German journalist emphasizes Mr. Frei’s connection with Russia, which has been going on for many years. Today Fry works in Sochi.
A few weeks ago, Matthias Moosdorf, a member of the right-wing AfD party and cellist from Leipzig, performed in Russia, writing on Facebook about how great it is to build bridges and thanking Frei. Bruggeman suggests that cultural manager Hans-Joachim Frei deliberately brings “as many cultural figures from the West as possible to Russia.”
And it is this “building of bridges” that the journalist considers a scandal. According to Brueggemann, Justus Franz is much more than “just a pianist lost in his friendly attitude towards Russia. Justus Franz organizes an evening where, under the guise of culture, journalists, businessmen, politicians meet – to form alliances that threaten democracy.” A few weeks before Sarah Wagenknecht, AfD co-chair Alice Weidel visited the German pianist.
“What I want to say by this,” Bruggeman sums up. “The article in Der Spiegel is sweet, wonderful, but it is incredibly trivial, because it is not about the fact that an elderly failed musician got lost, but about what is happening before our eyes.” “a whole network is being created. Culture is not an innocent victim, but an ideal place for dirty deeds, for establishing connections between culture, politics and business.”
DW will ask the pianist himself whether the great maestro is engaged in building cultural bridges between Russia and Germany, which were burned due to the war in Ukraine. Consent for the interview has already been received.
See also:
#Famous #German #conductor #chose #Russia