The producer of the famous pianist from Moscow has decided not to represent him abroad after the artist called on Russian television to cut off electricity in kyiv.
“Our office has represented pianist Boris Berezovsky, genius artist and man of paradox, for almost 20 years, following him step by step in his career”said Productions Sarfati in a press release sent to AFP.
“The latter spoke on a Russian television channel during a talk show of pure propaganda and made remarks that shocked, hurt and left all those who know the artist and the man in utter amazement . This misunderstanding was also for us the most total.added these producers, who have been touring artists, including many Russians, in France and internationally since 1948.
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“We strongly condemn the comments made during his speech and are, alas, obliged to suspend the representation of Boris Berezovsky within our office”clarifies the text.
Boris Berezovsky, 53, was a regular guest at festivals and concert halls abroad and in particular in France, at the International Piano Festival of La Roque-d’Anthéron or the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, in Paris.
“I understand that we have pity on them, that we do things delicately. But couldn’t we stop caring, besiege them and cut off the electricity?”said this piano star during a talk show on the federal pro-Kremlin channel Pervy Kanal on March 10, specifying that he was talking about kyiv.
The artist’s words caused outrage in the classical world. Since the beginning of the invasion, artists considered pro-Putin, such as conductor Valery Gergiev or soprano Anna Netrebko, have been declared persona non grata in the majority of Western venues.
Sarfati Productions, which announced in early March their support for the Ukrainian people and condemned the invasion, said in their press release that they had “always had a policy of never mixing politics and culture” but that the present war had “changed that direction”.
On the site, they indicate that the recital scheduled for March 25 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées by Swedish violinist Daniel Lozakovich and his stage partner, Russian pianist Stanislav Soloviev, is canceled because the latter “cannot travel outside of Russia (…) given the current conflict”.
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