Oksana Lyniv
(c) Oleg Pavlyuchkiy
Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv has refused to perform alongside Teordor Currentzis at the Wiener Festwochen. Artistic director Milo Rau had planned to have Lyniv and the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra perform the Kaddish Requiem by Ukrainian composer Jevhen Stankovych in June, and the SWR Orchestra under Teodor Currentzis was to interpret Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem.
Lyniv has now announced: « Travelling with almost 150 musicians from the war in Ukraine to Vienna, I cannot accept to be put in a context with Teodor Currentzis and possibly even take part in a kind of whitewashing. Currentzis’ connections to Russia make it impossible for me to perform with him at the moment. It was also not agreed with the Festival that the concerts would be connected ».
Her criticism refers to the Greek conductor’s very close ties to Russia. He took Russian citizenship after the annexation of Crimea. Currentzis’ Russian orchestra MusicAeterna is supported by the sanctioned VTB bank, and he performs in concerts supported by Gazprom.
