Oksana Lyniv: "Peace does not come by itself"

Created: 09/15/2022, 16:05

By: Markus Thiel

Oksana Lyniv rehearsing with the Munich Philharmonic.

© Uli Neumann-Cosel

She is no longer “just” a conductor.

The Ukrainian Oksana Lyniv is also perceived as one of the most prominent ambassadors of her homeland.

This means honor and burden for the 44-year-old.

On Friday and Saturday, the General Music Director of the Bologna Opera will be a guest with the Munich Philharmonic.

Her program with the Philharmoniker spans between Reger's "To Hope" and Gubaidulina's "The Wrath of God".

In which direction is your mood currently tending?

...and then there are excerpts from Wagner's "Parsifal", which deals with the subject of compassion!

I feel like I'm in the middle of an opera that consists of different compositions, but is actually a single story.

The program was conceived two years ago.

But you feel it is so relevant and up-to-date - it makes my hair stand on end.

Given the world situation, I feel like I'm in a big script, giving us tests that we have to pass.

Anyone who wrote this book knows the ending.

You even premiered the “Zorn Gottes” in Vienna almost two years ago.

Yes, even if it wasn't originally planned.

Christian Thielemann was actually supposed to do this at the Salzburg Easter Festival.

But these had to be canceled at the time because of Corona.

I visited Sofia Gubaidulina in a Hamburg suburb and was able to discuss everything with her.

She even wrote me a dedication on the score.

The piece is based on a number symbolism that should remain hidden from the listener.

Gubaidulina first had to work out this complicated number structure before she began to compose.

The numbers are meant to reflect a beauty, a complex, divine order.

I experience cathartic effects while working on this massive work - and I hope the listeners feel the same way.

Sometimes I had to stop working on it.

I lost my composure because I realized what was inside.

When conducting, can you also ignore these current meanings?

It's really very difficult.

It is impossible to conduct only pure notes.

But great art always has a meaning that points to something outside of art.

I was last with the Philharmoniker two years ago, when everything was different.

A Haydn symphony, a Mozart piano concerto.

Now I'm going back to my city, where I was an assistant to Kirill Petrenko, so I could start from there.

When I came and this work by Gubaidulina was on the desks, I couldn't start rehearsing.

It choked me up.

I had to be silent for a few minutes.

When it started, another part of me was working.

Pieces like this cannot be therapy, they dig very deep.

And bring out something that you are trying to suppress.

But maybe that's a good thing...

In "Parsifal" everything revolves around compassion, which also has to do with forgiveness.

Can you feel sorry for anyone and everyone?

Given the current situation, should one forgive everyone?

Very difficult subject.

It is complicated to understand the current tensions.

Of course, defense against an aggressor means active action against him, counter-aggression.

When aggression loses its direction and becomes widespread, it becomes dangerous.

The hardest thing is being able to classify the enemy and his attitude.

In this complicated situation, it happens that not only Putin but also Tchaikovsky or the Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov are rejected and canceled.

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She also hits this cancel movement.

You are being criticized in Ukraine for conducting a production by Tcherniakov in Bayreuth.

At the same time, you are one of Ukraine's best-known advocates.

How unfairly treated do you feel?

It takes a lot of strength to analyze the complex situation and draw the right conclusions.

When I see the terrible pictures from Ukraine, the videos with the reactions of the people from the occupied territories, what they tell about their terrible experiences, then of course I get angry.

Also when a Russian orchestra gave a celebratory concert on the ruins of the Mariupol theater.

Not all of the 600 bodies were recovered, concrete was poured over them - and then not even a requiem was played!

This also shows how music can be misused.

So first of all there is anger in me and black and white.

Nevertheless, one should continue to analyze, sort and think about who is responsible for what.

There are activists who say: no matter what she has done for our Ukraine,

it must not have anything to do with Russian.

I received hate comments on Facebook.

It is called to boycott me.

I think if I went back to Ukraine for a concert, there would be people with placards "Stop Lyniv".

But all of this doesn't just affect me.

Our best-known author, Yuri Andrukhovych, has been attacked for similar reasons.

When will that change again?

That will take time.

But it is precisely such cases that will contribute to the discussion being conducted in a more differentiated manner.

They are accused of collaborating with Russian musicians.

They are to be deprived of their status as honorary ambassadors of Lviv.

Activists have started collecting signatures for a petition against me.

But so far not enough have come together.

Do you feel pressured in the dual role of musician and – albeit unofficial – ambassador of your country?

I don't see myself as an ambassador, I don't want to be one at all.

Every conductor is the mediator of the music with all its meanings.

But of course: as long as my country is at war, I will always be confronted with this dual role.

For example, I'm involved with my Ukrainian youth orchestra, and with that I can do a lot for my country.

But I would never comment on what President Zelenskyy said or take any action on his behalf.

I just want to be active in my field.

How is your family?

My parents, who live in Brody in western Ukraine, are coming to my premiere of André Chenier in Bologna for a week in mid-October.

I just organized this trip.

And I'm really looking forward to that.

Is there an obligation for artists to position themselves?

Anna Netrebko is still heavily criticized.

There is no obligation.

But you have to judge people by their actions and always by individual cases.

During my performances, for example, I look closely to see whether there are any participating artists who have made guest appearances in the Russian-occupied territories.

Those are out of the question for me.

If your program with the Philharmoniker develops such a meaning: what is the core message of the concert for you?

In "The Wrath of God" Gubaidulina uses a quote from a prayer of St. Francis: "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace." The idea of ​​the "instrument" is important: peace does not come by itself, without active commitment it will not come give.

The interview was conducted by Markus Thiel.