Because of the Ukraine war: Tugan Sokhiev does not conduct in New York

Guest performances by Russian conductor Tugan Sokhiev with the New York Philharmonic have been canceled due to the war in Ukraine. After discussions with Sokhiev, the decision was made “together” that the 44-year-old would not conduct the programs between March 31 and April 2, according to a statement from the orchestra.

[Live-Blog zum Ukraine-Krieg: 24 Stunden am Tag informieren wir Sie mit den wichtigsten Nachrichten zu Putins Invasion]

After the war began, Sokhiev resigned from his two main positions, as chief conductor at the Moscow Bolshoi Theater and as music director at the Toulouse Opera.

The reason for the double rejection was that the choice between the Russian and the French musicians was intolerable: “In Europe today I am forced to make a choice and prefer one member of my musical family to the other,” wrote Sokhiev. He didn’t want to have to choose between two cultural traditions.

Sokhiev, born in Vladikavkaz in southern Russia, has been an internationally acclaimed maestro for years: from 2012 to 2016 he led the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, after two seasons as designated chief conductor. He has held the office in Toulouse since 2008.

Instead, the New York Philharmonic will be conducted by Anna Rakitina, who is also Russian. She conducts the Boston Symphony and makes her debut with the orchestra in New York.

Sokhiev is not the only famous Russian musician boycotted by western music promoters because of Putin’s war of aggression. The two most prominent cases are the St. Petersburg Mariinsky chief conductor Valery Gergiev, a proven friend of Putin, who is silent on the invasion. And the opera diva Anna Netrebko, who did not unequivocally distance herself from Putin, in whose Kremlin palace she celebrated her 50th birthday last year. Tugan Sokhiev has not, in the past, publicly commented on the Putin regime and continues to do so. dpa/Tsp)

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