Tchaikovsky music festival overshadowed by war in Ukraine | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

Russia’s war in Ukraine has cast a deep shadow this year over the International Tchaikovsky Competition, one of the best-known and most respected music competitions in the world.

Sanctions imposed by Western nations and most allies convinced many musicians not to participate in the premier event held every four years.

By going ahead with it, Russia found itself fending off accusations it is using the music competition to maintain its stature in the world.

The competition was born in the heyday of the Cold War in 1958 when the Soviet Union seemed unstoppable in the minds of people in the West.

This year, 236 young musicians from 23 nations are taking part, including Japan. Musicians from Western nations are down dramatically, by around 80 percent, compared with four years ago. In contrast, the number of Chinese musicians has increased sixfold.

At the opening ceremony held June 19, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said, “Russian culture is being boycotted, but there is no politics in art and no national borders in music.”

A female musician from China said, “This competition is famous in China and it was always my dream as a child to take part.”

In total, 48 musicians from China are represented in the various categories of the competition. The number is second only to Russia, with about half of the participants from the host nation.

Following the imposition of sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow designated nations that did so as “unfriendly.” This year, only 38 participants are from so-called unfriendly nations, only a third of the number in 2019.

Musicians from Japan expressed mixed feelings about taking part.

One said, “Even under these circumstances, the Russian audience was warm in its applause.”

Another Japanese musician said: “I have long respected a violinist who performed from when the Soviet Union still existed. Not taking part was just not an option for me.”

Another Japanese said: “My family tried to stop me from attending, but I never wavered. Many of my Russian friends are good people and politics is irrelevant to me.”

The chairman of the organizing committee of the International Tchaikovsky Competition is Valery Gergiev, the artistic and general director of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.

Gergiev is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and he explained to Putin the significance of the competition.

In a statement to mark the opening of the competition, Gergiev said, “We will create an opportunity for young people to display their abilities to the world in an environment that allows them to concentrate on music that is not tied to any political conspiracy.”

He was removed as conductor of Western orchestras because he never apologized for the Ukrainian invasion. Gergiev described as ludicrous the efforts in Western nations to eliminate Russian culture by not performing any classical pieces by Russian composers.

Putin sent a telegram to participants in which he said, “This legendary competition is being considered as one of the major musical events of the world as in the past.”

The competition continues until July 1 and Putin has attended performances by some of the winners and offered his congratulations.