A decision by the Flanders Festival Ghent in Belgium to cancel a scheduled concert by the Munich Philharmonic has triggered outrage across Germany, after the festival said it would not allow the performance to go ahead because the orchestra’s conductor, Lahav Shani, is Israeli.
The festival claimed it could not be sure of his stance toward what it described as the “genocidal regime” in his home country.
Shani, who is from Tel Aviv, is also the music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. The Munich Philharmonic was due to perform in Ghent next Thursday as part of the festival’s programme. On its website, the festival wrote, “In light of his role as the chief conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, we are unable to provide sufficient clarity about his attitude to the genocidal regime in Tel Aviv.
“In line with the call from the Minister of Culture, the city council of Ghent, and the cultural sector in Ghent, we have chosen to refrain from collaboration with partners who have not distanced themselves unequivocally from that regime.”
The organizers said they had acted “on the basis of our deepest conviction that music should be a source of connection and reconciliation” and argued that, given the “inhumanity of the current situation” and “emotional reactions in our own society,” the concert could not proceed.
They added that the rest of the festival, which runs from Sept. 12 to Oct.2, would go ahead as planned.
The decision drew sharp condemnation in Germany. Federal Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer called the cancellation “gross anti-Semitism” and “a disgrace for Europe,” saying the festival had crossed “an imaginary red line.”
Bavarian Culture Minister Markus Blume called it a “shameful scandal,” adding: “I am shocked that a music festival is using the power of music, which brings people together, to divide and polarize.”
Dieter Reiter, the mayor of Munich, also criticized the move in a statement. “The Munich Philharmonic, as cultural ambassadors of the City of Munich, stand for openness, diversity, and dialogue — whether at home in Munich or on tour to concert halls across Europe and around the world. I find the decision of the festival’s organizers utterly incomprehensible,” it read.
