Russian conductor Tugan Sokhiev has resigned from his posts as musical director of the Bolshoi Theater and the National Capitol Orchestra.
In a long message, he recalls that he is opposed to any conflict and regrets that he is forced to choose.
He castigates the decision of the town hall of Toulouse to cancel the Franco-Russian musicals that he had helped to create.
He should have played on March 18 and 25 at the Halle aux Grains in Toulouse.
A room that the Russian conductor Tugan Sokhiev knows like the back of his hand since, for more than fifteen years, he has been conducting the Orchester national du Capitole, which he was to leave this summer.
"At this stage, he let us know his intention to be present", indicated last week the town hall of Toulouse.
But Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its consequences led the conductor to finally resign from his post "with immediate effect".
A decision he also made for his position as musical director of the Bolshoi, which he has held since 2014 in Moscow.
The musician opposed to "any conflict in any form whatsoever"
On his Facebook page, the musician, originally from North Ossetia, recalls that he is opposed to "any conflict in any form whatsoever" and finds it "shocking and offensive" that anyone can question his "desire of peace ".
In a long message, he recalls that throughout his career, he was keen to invite Ukrainian musicians and singers, “we never even thought about our nationalities.
We loved making music together.
And that's still the case."
“That's what music does.
It connects people and artists from different continents and cultures, it heals souls and gives hope for a peaceful existence on this planet,” he pleads.
In a heartbreaking message, the formidable Russian conductor Tugan SOKHIEV resigns from his duties as musical director of @ONCT_Toulouse and Bolshoi Theater Moscow.
This man is an extraordinary artist and we condemn him in the name of what?
From whom?
This must stop!
pic.twitter.com/2hgTSJUWKr
— Bruno Serrou (@Cirmeau) March 6, 2022
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But a letter sent last week, Jean-Luc Moudenc, the mayor of Toulouse, asked him “to speak to Toulouse residents about the current situation.
He knows that we are regularly questioned, especially as Kyiv's twin town, by the press, spectators and musicians about his vision of the news”.
The community also told him that it was putting an end to the Franco-Russian musicals of which Tugan Sokhiev was the initiator.
Criticism of the decision of the town hall of Toulouse
A decision that is difficult to pass for the conductor.
" What a shame.
And they want me to speak out for peace!
I believe that this festival can do more by building bridges than political words.
Over the past few days I have witnessed something I thought I would never see in my life.
In Europe, today I have to make a choice and choose one of my musical family rather than the other”, he laments bitterly.
The conductor highlights the role of musicians as ambassadors of peace, who, summoned to position themselves in the context of this conflict, are "ostracized" instead of being "used to unite nations and people" .
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