Valery Gergiev: A Conductor of World Harmony

Maestro Valery Gergiev (1953- ), Director of the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra and well-known international art music figure

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Thorough the gifts and charisma of Maestro Valery Gergiev, The World Orchestra for Peace continues to bring hope that we can find genuine understanding and harmony, not only in music…

“Of course, we can’t make peace all at once. However, we can show the world that people of different cultures can work together”. These words of the famous Russian maestro Valery Gergiev prefaced his performance on 5 August at the famous London festival of classical music, the BBC Promenade Concerts (BBC Proms), as the chief conductor of the World Orchestra for Peace. On the eve of the concert, this unique group, consisting of 90 performers, representing 47 of the best orchestras in the world, was awarded the honorary title of UNESCO Artists for Peace. Gergiev himself has held the title since 2003.

“Artists for Peace” is the motto of the organisation according to its founder, British maestro Sir George Solti. The concert in honour of the 50th anniversary of the UN under his baton in 1995 was, unfortunately, the only one [under his direction]. Sir George died shortly thereafter, but his idealistic belief in the special mission of this international ensemble was remarkably resilient. The Peace Orchestra musicians played complex scores with almost no rehearsal, demonstrating miracles in understanding the music. In large part, this was due to the talent of Maestro Gergiev, who took the orchestra after the death of Solti. Then, critics unanimously declared that only Gergiev, with his charisma, could so brilliantly continue this project.

Meanwhile, Valery Abisalovich, despite his worldwide fame and adoration, very modestly spoke of himself. “I never thought that I would be a leader as a way of life, I never thought that I would be a conductor, I never thought that I would lead a large orchestra. However, I was involved in music. Once it arises, a love for classical music doesn’t diminish. It’s an incurable disease, and I am a willing sufferer. What’s a conductor? Of course, he’s a musician, but he’s a man who every day, every morning and evening, and in every rehearsal and in every concert, who directs, above all, a group of people. I’ve always relied on very sincere human relations, proceeding from the fact that I treat my close working colleagues as my friends”, Maestro Gergiev said.

Perhaps this simple principle allows the Russian conductor to overcome the difficulties that arise in working with musicians from different traditions. “An oboist from Vienna and a trombonist from America will have very different ideas about style, intonation, and even how to breathe. However, the great pleasure of working with such a challenging group consists precisely in how quickly different musicians of different performing schools can find common ground and achieve a harmonious sound”, he said.

For Maestro Gergiev, a reminder about the need for peace and harmony in these days of August is particularly relevant. Two years ago, just days after Russian troops stopped the armed invasion of South Ossetia by Georgia, Maestro Gergiev with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra arrived in the destroyed Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali, and gave an open-air concert in memory of the victims of the Georgian aggression. Moreover, the music and words he chose called us to reason, compassion, and humanism. Incidentally, the World Orchestra for Peace is not the only international ensemble that has worked with Maestro Gergiev. For example, he directed the World Youth Orchestra in a concert given in Moscow on Red Square. In addition, in recent years, he has spent his creative life on different stages throughout the world, with different musical ensembles, performing music by composers of all epochs and all nations. That is not very different from his work with the World Peace Orchestra; it’s the same thing, really; it’s a huge non-stop international project.

5 August 2010

Yelena Andrusenko

Voice of Russia World Service

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/08/05/14668257.html

Castro asks Obama to “Do the Right Thing”

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (1926- ), Cuban revolutionary leader and head of the Cuban Communist Party

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The Cuban revolutionary leader, for the first time in his life, personally addressed the President of the USA with an appeal to prevent nuclear war…

Fidel Castro, “on behalf of the Cuban people”, addressed American President Barack Obama through the website Cubadebate with an appeal to prevent a nuclear war, which, in his opinion, could start over possible snap decisions of the US administration regarding Iran and North Korea. Sr Castro pointed up that conflict on a global scale could erupt because of increased tensions on the Korean peninsula after the mysterious explosion that sank the ROKN corvette Cheonan, as well as the diplomatic impasse surrounding Iran and its nuclear programme. He thought that if US President Obama authorised the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution on the inspection of Iranian cargo ships, it could lead to “attacks on all American warships in the area”. Sr Castro based these fears on the unequivocal response of Teheran to the tightening of sanctions. Earlier, Iranian officials announced, “We will fire hundreds of missiles on any ship of the United States or Israel who attempt to blockade Iran”. “Mr Obama, you should know that you hold the only real opportunity to offer peace to mankind. In your country, everyone, including your worst critics from both the right or the left, as well as the people of the United States (who are certainly guilty of nothing),would thank you if you pulled away from such a situation”, according to Sr Castro’s statement to the American President, in which he stressed that it was the first time in his life that he personally appealed to a US president.

Earlier, on 13 July 2010, on the Cuban television programme Round Table, Sr Castro stated on air that a possible US/Israeli attack on Iran would inevitably provoke a nuclear war and the consequences of such an attack would be catastrophic for the USA. “(The Americans) shall face resistance (in Iran) that can’t be compared to what they encountered in Iraq“, he emphasised, and he gave particular attention to the fact that Iran “has prepared for this attack for over 30 years”. He went to say that all people older than 12 and younger than 60 have received some form of military training, and that Iran has organised ground, naval, and air forces, saying that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Pasdaran) alone has more than a million under arms. “Who, then, in the USA, floated the theory that they (the Iranians) would run away in the face of an enemy that wants to destroy everything [in their path] and says so openly?“ Sr Castro said.

One should note that the Iranian opposition differs with the authorities only on policy details within the Islamic republic, on how Iran should be a powerful geopolitical centre, but it doesn’t oppose the existing régime. Actually, democracy, if you follow the meaning of the term, implies the right of a people to decide how they will build their state, and upon which values they choose to base it upon, which excludes the export and imposition of other ideas about what is good and bad from the outside. Currently, the international community has several formally declared nuclear powers, whose arsenal of warheads and delivery systems are known to military and diplomatic sources. The UN tries to maintain a non-proliferation policy, but, for some reason, the Iranian nuclear programme is a special irritant to the USA and some of its allies.

If one wished to speak of “problematic” states that would have nuclear warheads that could potentially end in the hands of radical groups and terrorists, it would be better to consider Pakistan and India… they’re not too stable. According to experts, who reviewed documents and photos obtained from defectors, Myanmar is actively working on a program for creating its own nuclear weapons. It’s likely that Myanmar will join the countries seeking to join the “nuclear club”, joining North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, and Syria. In addition, for some time now, Brazil has raised questions amongst experts on non-proliferation. One shouldn’t exclude the possibility that Israel would resort to the use of weapons of mass destruction, if there were a conflict with its Arab neighbours and Iran, and the leadership of the Jewish State considers that the only path to survival is to use nuclear warheads. It is noteworthy that the presence of Tel Aviv’s nuclear arsenal is not a matter of heated debate and the cause for calls of an immediate imposition of economic sanctions against it, probably, because Israel doesn’t publicise its existence.

The selectivity in the membership in the “nuclear forces of evil”, is akin to a selective observance of traffic rules, when some observe the rules , some ignore the rules , but, frankly speaking, the violations are overlooked  for the sake of self-interested reasons, under fancied new rules. A real movement toward “No Nukes”, which is the stated position of both the Russian and the American Presidents, will only be possible if the international community creates clear rules governing the issues of global nuclear security, if it doesn’t allow dual interpretations and exceptions to the rules, and it gives an opportunity for all members of the international community to use all achievements of human ingenuity. One can not deny any people the use of either the wheel or the computer in their everyday lives.

Nocturnal air strikes on sleeping cities and the use of destructive incursions on the grounds of non-proliferation won’t resolve anything, even if one has seen the overthrow of régimes in countries having rich fossil fuel resources and favourable geostrategic position, as one saw in the “victorious” American wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Frankly speaking, Iran didn’t hesitate to admit the existence of its nuclear programme, for it doesn’t recognise that any state or group of states have an exclusive right to possess peaceful nuclear technologies.

The fact that the legendary Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro, who was the ideological enemy of the United States for many decades, found it necessary to appeal personally to the President of the United States to warn of a threat is an important signal that compels attention to itself. Sr Castro noted that he would like a rapid response from Mr Obama to his appeal, and expressed the hope that the US president would “think twice” and that he would consult with “his experts, his most powerful allies, and international advisors. Do the right thing! Then, we could truly rid the world of both nuclear and conventional weapons“, Sr Castro said.

9 August 2010

Vasili Amirdzhanov

Voice of Russia World Service

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/08/09/15033435.html

A “Medieval Saga” Unfolds in Kosovo

THIS is why the UCK thugs should NOT be allowed to “protect” Serbian churches and monasteries in Kosovo. Shameless, isn’t it? Reflect well on the fact that both the Tea Party and the leftist Dems support this… that’s why our choice as Orthodox Christians in America is so hard… both sides support the enemies of Christ’s Church.

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The transfer of Orthodox monasteries to the protection of the Kosovo Police instead of KFOR is one more step in the expulsion of Serbs from the province…

Gradually, the KFOR international mission is transferring the protection of Orthodox holy places in Kosovo over to the (Albanian) Kosovo Police. Since late August, under the auspices of local security forces, Kosovar Albanian cops began to move near the most important Serbian monasteries, including Gračanica, Visoki Dečani, and Holy Archangels in Prizren. Many of these holy places are on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This is not an entirely new initiative on the part of KFOR, because since spring 2009, as soon as the international mission thought that the situation in Kosovo was somewhat stabilised, Kosovar Albanian police began to protect a number of Orthodox churches.

However, what, in this case, upsets both Serbian politicians and the SPC Holy Synod? Why did the Serbian Minister of Kosovo and Metohija, Goran Bogdanović, say that this decision by the NATO-led KFOR mission will sow uncertainty and strengthen distrust amongst Kosovo Serbs? Let’s give you a concrete example. The Kosovar Albanians are supposed to protect, for instance, the site of Holy Archangels Monastery in Prizren, which a mob of their countrymen burnt out and looted in 2004. As the monastery burned to the ground, the monks tried to dig out of the ground the coffin containing the remains of Tsar Dušan, one of the defining figures in Serbian history. This is only one of the events that the local Serb population cannot expunge from their collective memory; however, you can cook the books to hide the record. In the six years since the March 2004 riots, of the some 50,000 Kosovar Albanians involved, only a little more than 200 were punished.

The thought arises that if KFOR delegates responsibility to the local (Albanian) police, it might lead to a snafu yet again. Incidentally, the commander of KFOR promised that his troops would remain based near to the areas turned over to the Kosovo police, and would monitor the situation closely. According to Aleksandr Kravchenko, a Russian expert on Kosovo, “[It’s an illustration of] the classic principle of ‘trust, but verify’ in action. In 2004, due to inaction on the part of KFOR, some 30 Orthodox churches were destroyed within a few days. Neither KFOR nor the Kosovo Police can offer serious resistance in the case of such a threat”. I wonder… if [the Kosovars] turn another Orthodox church into a public toilet, as they did one time in Priština, would the Kosovo police wink at it, and would the KFOR command justify it? That was in the so-called capital of Kosovo… and it has such a deficient administration?

However, that’s emotions; let’s look at it from the viewpoint of international law. We should turn to UN Security Council Resolution 1244 of 1999, which the Kosovo Albanians are trying to abrogate, the USA and its fellow travellers have conveniently forgotten it, and opponents of the Kosovo UDI, such as Russia and China, still support it. Do remember the fact that the resolution states that Kosovo is an integral part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, of which Serbia is the legal successor, and it states, “An agreed number of Yugoslav and Serbian personnel will be permitted to return to Kosovo to, amongst other things, protect Serb heritage and holy sites”. However, the authorities in Priština have given no Serbian officials permission to enter their “state”, to say nothing about Serb security personnel.

Why is it important to Kosovo to have its security forces have jurisdiction over the local Serb monasteries? Aleksandr Kravchenko suggested, “Perhaps, it’s because the transfer of the protection of the Serb heritage sites to the Kosovo police shall coerce the Serb enclaves into recognising the authority of the Kosovo Government. The Kosovar Albanians want to create such conditions that the Serbs leave Kosovo of their own accord, including the [inhabitants of the] large monasteries. This is another step in the effort to expel the Serbian population [of Kosovo]. The Albanian authorities in Priština say these sites are its historical heritage. Today, the entire infrastructure at the Serbian monasteries in Kosovo is completely controlled by Kosovar Albanian companies, that is, all their electricity, water, and other utilities. This requires them to sign special contracts with them for services, so some claim that this is a de facto recognition of the Kosovo government”.

Let’s listen to those who have a direct connection with the problem of security. For example, one of the SPC bishops on the scene, Bishop Teodosije Šibalić of Lipljan, recently told reporters that the monks recognise that they have to defend the monasteries on their own, so, they are strengthening their gates and building protective walls… When you must do such in order to defend objects of universal cultural value, the situation begins to resemble a scene out of a saga of medieval times, but not in the best sense of the word.

9 August 2010

Timur Blokhin

Voice of Russia World Service

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/08/09/15059146.html