Opera and Ballet on the World Stage

First posted February 28, 2022

Across from our Opera House, City Hall has been lit some evenings with the colors of the Ukrainian flag, blue and yellow.

On Sunday, February 27,  Teatro Real de Madrid concluded its final Götterdämmerung with a homage to the victims of the invasion of Ukraine.  In a press release, the opera company recorded that "the artistic team of Twilight of the Gods wrapped the corpse of Siegfried in the Ukrainian flag, as a symbolic act of homage to the victims of the war. . . .   Thus concludes the visionary and desolate Ring of the Nibelung, conceived by Robert Carsen and Patrick Kinmonth, which places man in front of his own path of self-destruction.”  (Photo to the left.)

Also on Sunday, the General Manager of New York's Metropolitan Opera, Peter Gelb, announced: "While we believe strongly in the warm friendship and cultural exchange that has long existed between the artists and the artistic institutions of Russia and the United States, we can no longer engage with artists or institutions that support Putin or are supported by him. Not until the invasion and killing has been stopped, order has been restored, and restitutions have been made.”   Mr. Gelb went on to dedicate the rest of the Met's season to the heroism in Ukraine.   

The Royal Opera House, London, has cancelled a tour by Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet.

San Francisco Ballet will be presenting the west coast premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s The Seasons as part of Program 4, from March 15 to 20.  Mr. Ratmansky, who grew up in Kyiv, Ukraine, and danced there early in his career,  left Moscow after Vladimir V. Putin of Russia announced, early Thursday morning (February 24), that he had launched an invasion of Ukraine. 

With the help of the Bolshoi, for which he was working on a new ballet,  Mr. Ratmansky made arrangements to travel home to New York as quickly as possible, eventually by way of Warsaw.

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(Added March 1, 2022)

Further, on Monday evening, February 28, the Metropolitan Opera began its premiere performance of Verdi's Don Carlos (and the second half of its season) with a moment of silence, followed by the Ukrainian national anthem performed by the Met Orchestra and Chorus and conducted by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.   

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(Added March 4)

Staatsoper Stuttgart and The Stuttgart Ballet have placed a banner on the facade of the Opera House and issued the following statement (in part), in advance of presenting Boris Godunov:   

"The State Theatre Stuttgart stands in solidarity with all citizens of Ukraine who are fighting for the independence of their democratic state and their freedom. Our solidarity also goes out to the demonstrators on the streets of Moscow and other Russian cities who are risking arrest to send a signal against the war.

The employees of the State Theatre Stuttgart have decided to help in the form of a donation to the Ukrainians in need at this time. We would like to encourage our audience to join in this effort during performances in the opera house and playhouse, starting this coming weekend. A direct donation to various aid organizations is, of course, also possible at any time."   

Mariusz Treliński, Artistic Director of the Polish National Opera, Teatr Wielki,  has made the following statement (in part):

"War is a pointless return to barbarity, the only difference being that the killing is not done with spears and stones but by trained armies equipped with the latest technology, who in the process destroy material and cultural heritage built up over the generations. Like all my friends, co-workers, and fellow Poles, I am profoundly shocked by this tragedy. People with whom we have worked on international opera productions have suddenly found themselves on opposite sides of the barricade. The deluded superpower politics and arrogance of the Russian authorities have turned two nations with so many close ties against each other. This is pure evil, and history will judge it as such.

At times like these, opera is silent. The management and creative team at Teatr Wielki - Opera Narodowa have therefore decided to call off the forthcoming premiere of Boris Godunov. Let our silence speak of our solidarity with the people of Ukraine."

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(Added March 22)

On Saturday night, March 19, twenty dancers performed "Dance for Ukraine" at The London Coliseum, a charity performance in an auditorium packed to raise funds for people in need in Ukraine.  

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(Added March 22)

IATSE, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which  represents both stagehands and staff ushers at the Opera House, has made a $25k grant to assist in humanitarian relief for Ukraine and refugees fleeing the war there.  This assistance is being handled through the International and European Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).   

You, too, may individually show solidarity with Ukrainian workers by going to iatse.net/ukr.  (Right now, a 20-Euro contribution amounts to about $22.10, plus any Euro-conversion fee your banking/credit company might charge).