Franz Welser-Möst.
Last Tuesday’s (3/25) BackstageClassical.com (Germany) includes an essay by conductor Franz Welser-Möst about the current political situation in the United States and how it affects the arts. Born in Austria, Welser-Möst is heading into his 24th year as music director of the Cleveland Orchestra. (English translation from the German by BackstageClassical.) Welser-Möst: “I understand that some musicians cancel their concerts in the USA, that they are boycotting the country—in protest against current politics. But as a conductor who has been [leading] an American orchestra for 23 years, I also understand that music and culture play a very special role in the USA: they are democratic places of a broad, enlightened society…. What would it mean for an orchestra like the Cleveland Orchestra if all guests from Europe suddenly were to cancel their concerts with us? I am quite sure that our ensemble would be compromised. Thus, an orchestra would be punished, which is supported by many humanist patrons … It would be fatal if such islands were suddenly left alone … Boycotts of American cultural institutions would probably lead to the U.S. becoming an intellectual desert. And this would support a policy that accepts exactly that: the insignificance of culture. I advocate that we (especially as European artists) engage our decisions on how to deal with the US.A. intensively with the cultural scene here before [making] decisions. That we understand their structures, their deep anchoring in society and their significance for a democratic discourse…. Would I currently appear in person at the Kennedy Center? Probably not—the politics there and the crackdown on the part of the government irritates me too much. But it is all the more important to support places where culture is celebrated as a form of debate, humanism and human dignity. Right now. We must believe in the power of music.”
