![]() ![]() Kliment Ohridski, said that the events "should be canceled urgently it's shameful!" It is unclear when the Sofia Philharmonic extended its invitations to Lisitsa for the upcoming concerts and neither the philharmonic nor the Culture Ministry responded to RFE/RL inquiries for this article.Īddressing Todorov, Licheva wrote on Facebook that "inviting her several years ago was possible, today it is not!” Licheva, who teaches at Sofia University's St. Lisitsa last made a guest appearance for the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra in October 2021, notably performing under Culture Minister Todorov's baton in a guest appearance.Ĭritics have praised the efforts of Todorov, who was named culture minister in February, to expand the list of guest soloists and collaborators after he took over the Sofia Philharmonic in 2017. Satire and hyperbole are the best literary tools to combat lies," she wrote in a 2015 Facebook post.ĭespite the other cancellations, the concerts in Sofia appear to be going ahead. You may find some of them offensive - maybe. "If you wish, please take the time to read my tweets. Lisitsa has defended some of her social-media posts. Valentina Lisitsa performs live on stage at the Royal Albert Hall in London in June 2012. The Washington Post's chief classical-music critic in 2013 hailed Lisitsa as salvaging a "tanking" career to become "a growing star with a big-label recording contract and concert dates with the big orchestras and in the big recital halls of the world." ![]() In 2007, she posted her first video on YouTube of herself playing the piano by 2012, she was the most popular pianist on the video-sharing platform, with her clips getting millions of views. A biography on Lisitsa's website said in 2019-20 that she was splitting her time living between Moscow and Rome. After graduating from the conservatory in Kyiv she moved to the United States in 1991 with her partner, fellow pianist Aleksei Kuznetsov, whom she later married. ![]() In May 2022, Budapest's Margitsziget Theater canceled a planned performance by Lisitsa, citing the Mariupol appearance and, in December of the same year, an invitation to play at the legendary La Fenice opera house in Venice was withdrawn by the organizers.īorn to a Ukrainian father and a mother of Russian and Polish descent, Lisitsa grew up speaking Russian. A video clip of her playing and her purported rendition of "Victory Day" were used by Russian-backed separatists and pro-Kremlin state media to propagandize for Russian "liberation." The clip's timing, May 9, appeared to be symbolic as it fell on the day that Russia marks its victory in World War II over Nazi Germany, further infuriating Ukraine's defenders on social media. She touted herself as having become adept at "unmasking fakes published by Western media."Ī few months after the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Lisitsa performed under Russian occupation in the devastated southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol. accusing "haters" of trying to "silence me as a musician."Īmong other controversial statements, Lisitsa described Ukraine's situation after 2014 as a "civil war" and repeated pro-Kremlin talking points such as the prevalence of "neo-Nazi" elements in Ukraine. Lisitsa's troubles started in 2015, when her concert with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra was canceled after controversial comments she made about the conflict in eastern Ukraine. "The thesis that we should judge the creator by their art and not by their personality is fundamentally important, but not always effective," Licheva said, calling the Sofia Philharmonic's invitations "shameful and immoral." In a time of war, she said, "art must give way to morality." Amelia Licheva, a professor of literature in Sofia, told RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service that she wants recently installed Bulgarian Culture Minister Nayden Todorov, an accomplished musician and conductor who has performed with Lisitsa and still directs the Sofia Philharmonic, to exclude Lisitsa from the April 20 and 23 concerts to celebrate 150 years since the birth of Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. The move is sparking backlash and calls for her planned performances to be canceled. But not in Bulgaria's capital, where the 53-year-old pianist is expected to play twice in April. SOFIA - After embracing Russia's war on Ukraine, Valentina Lisitsa, a Kyiv-born classical pianist and the self-styled "Queen of Rachmaninoff," has seen her concerts canceled around the world. ![]()
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