No speech, no intervention, no declamation.
For a bit, we could have thought of a “normal” show, as there are so many on the stage of the Palais Garnier.
Only this dove of peace, projected onto the stage curtain before the show and during the intermission, explained the crowds of the public.
And then at the end, to standing ovations, kyiv National Ballet prima ballerina Katerina Kukhar appeared, draped in a Ukrainian flag, to greet the audience.
These two hours of music and dance had one purpose: to raise funds for the collective Alliance urgences in Ukraine.
A banner that brings together six major humanitarian associations: Action Against Hunger, Care, Doctors of the World, Plan International, International Solidarity and Handicap-International,
“this indiscriminate war which will leave many civilian and military wounded with heavy consequences”.
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If, in the words of Alexander Neef, the general director of the Opéra national de Paris, the benefit of this concert may seem
"derisory"
in view of the scale of the needs, he showed all of Paris' support for the Ukrainian artists. .
The Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot was present, a sign that the State had given its blank check to this operation.
The program, which mixed dance and music, set the tone: excerpts from Verdi, a composer who sang of the hopes of Italian patriots in the 19th century with excerpts from
Macbeth,
such as
Patria oppressa
(Oppressed Fatherland) or the famous
Va pensiero,
the Hebrew slave choir of
Nabucco.
These tunes symbolize those who mourn their lost homeland and freedom.
Va pensiero,
by the Chorus and Orchestra of the Kiev Opera
Many Ukrainian artists were on stage - pianist Olga Dubynska, but also soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska or British tenor John Daszak whose father is Ukrainian.
Katerina Kukhar and Alexander Stoyanov, two star dancers of the National Ballet of Ukraine, a troupe of excellence that has already been applauded twice in Paris, joined the dancers of the Ballet de l'Opéra who agreed to participate voluntarily in this concert, with their usual brilliance.
They were all accompanied by the Choirs and the Orchestra of the Opéra National de Paris.
An evening of emotions and high artistic quality.
On stage, 60 musicians and 77 singers from the Paris Opera, all volunteers with 6 dancers from the Ballet Dorothée Gilbert, Alice Renavand, Stéphane Bullion, Mathieu Ganio, Marion Barbeau, Simon Le Borgne joined by Katerina Kukhar and Alexander Stoyanov star dancers from the National Opera of Ukraine, soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska, British tenor John Daszak whose father is Ukrainian, Emanuela Pascu, Marie-Andrée Bouchard Lesieur, Russel Braun, pianists Olga Dubynska, Elena Bonnay, Ryoko Hisayama, Jean Yves Sebillotte, cellist Aurélien Sabouret.