Andriy Melnyk has declined Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s invitation to a solidarity concert in which Russian musicians also take part. He also expressed his outrage at a reaction from Bellevue Palace.
The Ukrainian ambassador in Germany does not want to take part in a solidarity concert organized by the Federal President. “Only Russian soloists, no Ukrainians,” Ambassador Andriy Melnyk tweeted on Sunday. ‘An affront. Sorry, I’m staying away.« Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the Berlin Philharmonic have invited to a solidarity concert with Ukraine entitled »For Peace and Freedom« at Bellevue Palace on Sunday.
When a spokeswoman expressed regret for Steinmeier, Melnyk added that “we Ukrainians are not in the mood for ‘great Russian culture'”.
According to the Office of the Federal President, musicians from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and Germany, among others, will play pieces by Ukrainian, Russian and Polish composers together under the direction of their chief conductor Kirill Petrenko.
The Federal President, who was infected with Covid-19, opened the event with a speech via video. At the beginning and end of the concert, the Berliner Philharmoniker will each play a piece by the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov. In addition, the Russian pianist Yevgeny Kissin will play a polonaise by Frédéric Chopin and, together with members of the Berlin Philharmonic, two movements from a piano trio by Dmitri Shostakovich. The Russian baritone Rodion Pogossov sings the aria of Prince Jeletzki from Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s opera.