2024-08-15 18:44:56
Robert Jindra resigned as chief conductor of the Košice State Philharmonic. He announced it on the social network, the orchestra accepted his resignation. The Czech musician defines himself against Slovak culture minister Martina Šimkovičová, whose actions have provoked criticism from some artists and the Slovak opposition and have already sparked two demonstrations.
“We will have to fill the concerts he was supposed to conduct with other conductors. It’s a huge loss for us, I’m sorry,” the director of the Košice Philharmonic, Lucia Potokárová, confirmed to Mojakultura.sk.
Jindra has been the chief conductor of the Košice State Philharmonic since 2021. He repeatedly criticizes Šimkovičová on the social network Facebook. When the minister dismissed the head of the Slovak National Theater Matej Drlička last week, he wrote about “her complete incompetence and totalitarian practices”.
After a member of the government also dismissed the director of the Slovak National Gallery, Alexandra Kusou, the following day, the conductor spoke of an unprecedented abuse of power. “Let’s stop this incompetent person who is subverting the culture in Slovakia,” wrote Robert Jindra and called on the minister to resign.
The Slovak Ministry, which establishes the Košice State Philharmonic, responded via the website. “The Culture Resort considers the statement of the chief conductor of the Košice State Philharmonic, Robert Jindra, which he shared on social networks, to be completely unacceptable,” it said, and further accused Jindra of insulting Šimkovičová vulgarly in his posts. “Such words are shocking and at the same time unacceptable from an employee of a state cultural institution. Statements of this type addressed to its founder grossly violate ethics and any moral principles,” the Slovak ministry protested.
Jindra, who is also the music director of the National Theater Opera in Prague and chief guest conductor of the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, denies the use of profanity.
“He has purely private statements about completely different things, even more than a month apart, and after being taken out of context, they were probably deliberately and purposefully put together,” he responded. The vulgar word in the post on his profile “was crossed out, so it didn’t sound”, he wrote literally. This post can no longer be traced back.
“Jindra offered his resignation in response to his recently publicized statements addressed to the founder. He chose an inappropriate vocabulary when presenting his opinion,” says the website of the Košice Philharmonic.
She is said to respect the freedom of speech of every employee or co-worker, but considers a decent form of communication to be important. He thanks Jindra for his artistic contribution and the results of his continuous work with the body.
Former TV presenter Martina Šimkovičová, who promotes traditional Slovak culture, already earned criticism from some cultural representatives in Slovakia when she took office last year. This became stronger last week, when the minister dismissed the head of the Slovak National Theater Drlička and the day after also the director of the Slovak National Gallery Alexandra Kusou.
Most recently, this Tuesday, Šimkovičová dismissed three members of the Slovak Council of the Fund for the Support of the Arts, namely ethnomusicologist and dramaturg Alžběta Lukáčová, theater theorist Kateřina Kövesdi Cvečková and Rastislav Steranka, the former head of the National Cinematography Center of the Slovak Film Institute. At the same time, the ministry announced that Nina Poláková will return to the Slovak National Theater as ballet director. The former director Matej Drlička was dismissed from his position last month.
This week, thousands of people took part in two anti-government demonstrations in Bratislava. In response to Šimkovičová’s actions, Czech artists and other personalities called for help to their colleagues in Slovakia.
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