Internationally renowned Russian pianist Boris Berezovsky wants to see the pressure on the city of kyiv, threatened with a siege by the Russian armed forces for three weeks, increase.
"I understand that we have pity on the Ukrainians, that we are taking it slowly, but shouldn't we be more firm, surround them and cut off their electricity?
" on the national television channel Pervy Kanal.
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The exit of the musician, radical even in the context of the Russian media, even destabilized an officer also invited to the show.
The latter immediately cut Boris Berezovsky off, recalling the absolute necessity of avoiding any
"humanitarian catastrophe"
in Ukraine.
“The important thing is to win the war of opinion in Russia, after which the whole world will understand us,”
commented the officer.
On the same television channel, a demonstrator holding a sign against the war in Ukraine briefly interrupted the Russian television news on Monday before being taken into custody.
Musical “soft power”
Boris Berezovsky's proposal, which the pianist stated, taking care to recall that he was not a soldier, but a pianist, provoked the indignation of his colleagues.
“I am stunned by these statements from my former friend Boris B. But I hear them coming out of his mouth
,” German pianist and conductor Lars Vogt was amazed on Twitter.
"
This friendship is officially over
," said the musician who currently conducts the Paris Chamber Orchestra.
“What I see and what I hear is just unbearable
,” French pianist François-Frédéric Guy also told France Musique.
It has made almost all of us, colleagues, the profession and beyond, very uncomfortable.”
In reaction to the cancellation, at the beginning of March, of several international concerts by the young Russian pianist Alexander Malofeev, the boss of the Folle Journée and the Festival de La Roque d'Anthéron René Martin had called not to stigmatize Russian artists who do not have no special ties to or support President Vladimir Putin.
“This is why it seems essential to us to continue this rich collaboration with Russian artists”
, he said on March 11 on Facebook, citing a list of musicians starting with … Boris Berezovsky.
The 53-year-old virtuoso pianist, pure product of the Moscow Conservatory and the last Soviet classes, winner of the 1990 international Tchaikovsky competition was, it is true, better known for the mastery of his touch than for his political positions.
He had so far not spoken on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.