The Long View | Denouncing Putin isn’t political. It’s human.

Music and politics don’t mix. Except they do – almost always. The best composers and songwriters reflect the societies and times in which they live. Think of the social tensions of Mozart’s time, the emotional emancipation of Schumann’s, the human cruelty of Shostakovich’s and the planetary vulnerability of Ratkje’s.

Musicians have a right to stay out of politics explicitly – to keep their opinions to themselves even if they codify them in their scores or their interpretation. But the situation we have found ourselves in since last Thursday is entirely different.

Killing innocent civilians isn’t politics. Invading another country with no moral or legal basis isn’t politics. Conning your own people into enduring still more misery to let a tiny handful gain even more power and wealth…well yes, that is modern politics, but not the good kind.

Let’s call Vladimir Putin out for what he is: a criminal. Very soon we might, lamentably, be forced to add the word ‘war’ to that label. If so, I hope to see him sat in a dock at the ICC (International Criminal Court) one day, shamed, alone and exposed as the cretin he is, as both Russia and Ukraine begin to heal and rebuild.

For many of us, this is a time to take sides. For some it is not. That’s fair enough. But those prominent artists who have befriended, associated with and even aided Putin in recent years through displays of support and the acceptance of honours all while pursuing careers in the free world: you do not have a choice. As your associate precipitates evil upon Europe and continues to show contempt for his own people, you are obliged to show your colours.

Valery Gergiev is known for his close personal links to Putin and his support for the regime, all while enjoying multiple chief conductorships in Europe including that, since 1997, of the World Orchestra for Peace. Mayor of Munich Dieter Reiter was right to hand the conductor an ultimatum: denounce your friend and supporter – show us your humanity – or relinquish the Munich Philharmonic’s music directorship immediately.

Gergiev has tendered multiple resignations in the past few days. Has he taken Putin’s side, or is he yet to clarify his position? Did that orchestra really stand for peace? Is the proxy power he gleans from his position at Putin’s heel more important than morality, truth and the protection of lives? If Gergiev is lost to American, Asian and European music making forever, we will miss his musicianship. If he really supports Putin’s actions, I don’t ever want to lay eyes on him again.

Anna Netrebko, whose relationship to Putin isn’t so well defined, has come under pressure to renounce the Russian president. In statements made over the weekend, Netrebko was bold enough to express disagreement with Russia’s war. Otherwise, she dodged the issue. ‘Forcing artists, or any other public figure, to voice their political opinions in public and to denounce their homeland is not right,’ she said in a statement via Instagram, adding: ‘I am not a political person.’

Nobody is asking Netrekbo to denounce her homeland. None of the hundreds of Russian artists, writers, sportspeople and academics who have condemned Putin in recent days have done that. On the contrary: they stand with the Russian people, who will gain nothing and lose so much from this war.

Besides, Netrebko’s position is in particular need of clarification. Her move away from politics is apparently a conveniently recent development. A verifiable photograph from 2014 shows Netrebko apparently holding the flag of ‘New Russia’ that effectively claims the Ukrainian districts of Donetsk and Luhansk for the Kremlin. Also in the photo, clutching the other end of the flag, is the wanted pro-Kremlin rabble-rouser Oleg Tsaryov. It is alleged the meeting was connected with a donation from the soprano to Tsaryov’s cause. In the last week, Tsaryov’s name has resurfaced as the man Putin is lining up to replace Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

For a non-political person to be photographed in such a partisan stance, apparently in cahoots with a man famous for his controversial political stance and methods of persuasion, is unfortunate in the extreme. If we give Netrebko the benefit of the doubt and assume it was all a dreadful misunderstanding, might now be a good time for the soprano to clarify her position?

The longer smokescreens and diversion tactics abound, the more likely we are to make assumptions – and the more the cessation of careers like Netrebko’s in the West look like a very real prospect indeed. The musical losses will be significant.  

That’s one thing. It’s quite another to be caught on the wrong side of history for refusing to condemn a murderous despot who is bringing suffering even on his own people. That could prove good enough to end any career in the West long-term – and, if Putin’s war continues to backfire, potentially in Russia too.