19.12.2022, Zürich.
The Swiss Zürcher Sing-Akademie choir excluded Sergei Prokofiev’s cantata Alexander Nevsky from its performance at the Tonhalle concert hall in Zürich, the press service of this cultural institution reported on December 18.
According to the statement, the choir initially announced a performance of a cantata by a Soviet composer at the concerts held on January 12 and 13. However, later the choir management considered this piece to be inappropriate, as “Vladimir Putin is currently using it for propaganda purposes.”
“We still wanted to play it as an impressive and highly relevant document of the time, albeit in an adapted form. Unfortunately, this is not possible,” the statement reads.
The initiative came from the choir members. According to the French magazine Diapason, “almost a third of the chorus… decided that they did not want to perform the piece.”
Instead of the cantata, the ensemble will perform Eternal Stranger by the Israeli composer Ella Milch-Sherif. In addition, a performance of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 is retained in the first movement of the concerto.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
