"Flanders Festival Ghent announced it had cancelled a concert by the Munich Philharmonic scheduled for 18 September, citing insufficient clarity over Lahav Shani's attitude to the Israeli government. Shani, who is the music director of the Israel Philharmonic, was expected to lead the concert even though he does not officially take up his role as chief conductor of the German orchestra until next year."
"Maxime Prevot, Belgium's foreign minister, distanced himself from the cancellation, describing it as excessive. Wolfram Weimer, Germany's culture and media commissioner, called Ghent's decision a disgrace for Europe that set a dangerous precedent. He added: That is naked antisemitism and an attack on the basics of our culture. Germany, which is a close ally of Israel, has distanced itself from Netanyahu's government in the face of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza."
Flanders Festival Ghent cancelled a Munich Philharmonic concert scheduled for 18 September because organizers said there was insufficient clarity about Lahav Shani's attitude to the Israeli government. Shani is music director of the Israel Philharmonic and was due to conduct the concert before formally taking his Munich chief conductor role next year. The festival cited a conviction that music should promote connection and reconciliation and aligned with local cultural calls to avoid partners who have not unequivocally distanced themselves from the Israeli government. Belgian and German officials publicly criticised the cancellation as excessive and antisemitic, underscoring diplomatic sensitivity.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]